![]() ![]() But when it comes to Chinese, the American experience is usually limited to Panda Express, dim sum, or a family sit-down spot equipped with lazy suzans. You can find a family style Italian hole-in-the-wall and also a candle-lit Italian restaurant serving 8 ravioli for $30. city, you can find take-out sushi joints as well as fashionable Japanese restaurants. In reflecting on Chinese cuisine, I realized that it hasn’t reached fine dining in America. ![]() Open your mind, embrace the local cuisine, and be flexible. Hungry yet? no TP here Fearless and cautiously optimistic at the Chinese buffet fried quail eggs, a local street food ![]() A final potty talk tip for ya’ll is to pack hand sanitizer, since many places have sinks but no soap. So I say BYOTP (Bring Your Own Toilet Paper) but I just carried mini tissues in my purse – wayyy more discreet. Another luxury is toilet paper – most restrooms there don’t have it. While most hotels and some establishments do have Western-style toilets, you will inevitably reach a point where you have no choice but to summon all personal confidence in your anatomy, trust yourself, and squat*. Prepare to squat*, BYOTP, and pack hand sanitizer (*= talking to my fellow females out there) Traditional Chinese toilets are holes in the ground. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure I guess? “Toitets” Many of these bikes wind up in what are now called “bike graveyards”, one of which was transformed into a work of art. As a result, pedestrian areas have become clogged with thousands of dockless bikes, often not maintained or supervised. Apparently, the problem is rooted in competition to dominate the ever-trending bike-sharing space. bikes on bikes on bikesīike waste is a recent major issue. Ironically, an industry created to promote sustainability and eco-friendly transportation is the source of tremendous waste. I still don’t really understand this phenomenon. But still, I couldn’t help but think how asking to take a photo with a random person based solely on their race is something that would never fly in the U.S. I can see why foreigners are a novelty in a country where a city populated by 5 million locals is considered small. ![]() I had heard this was something to expect here, but I still felt such a strange mix of apprehension and slight flattery when people would go out of their way to walk up and eagerly ask for a photo. Locals will ask to take photos with you if you are anything other than Asian. But apparently, Google is coming back to the country? Not sure what the official status is, but it’s still a good idea to play it safe and download Google Translate AND the Chinese language onto your device before your trip so you can use the app when you’re offline or otherwise blocked! Making friends A VPN basically acts as a personal internet scuba suit – it doesn’t give you total freedom to cruise the web, but it provides identity protection and allows you to access more sites you normally frequent – except Google – did I forget to mention that minor detail? Oh yes, for the past 8 years Google has been blocked in China. No access to social media, news apps, or Facetime, and my ability to send text messages or get onto free wifi was spotty at best. Three days into my trip, I pretty much fell off the face of the Earth. I didn’t realize how seriously dismal of a situation access to technology was and thought I could get away with a 5 day free trial using Express VPN. Get a VPN. Not that you should be tethered to technology while traveling, but if you’re planning a trip to China and want to ensure any type of connection to the outside world, I’d suggest you need get a VPN (Virtual Private Network). In Yongding County visiting Hakka Houses. Read on for some tips and insights gained from my recent trip to Xiamen, a “small” city (5 million people lol) in southeast China. Visiting Asia is an incredibly humbling and eye-opening cultural experience, and I cannot wait to explore more of the continent. Maybe the four flights and 28 hours it took to get there had a little something to do with it, but traveling to China felt like flying to a different planet. After spending 11 days in China for work, using high-speed, unrestricted WIFI to write this post feels like a blessing. ![]()
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