Intro to China

Imagine this! You have just arrived in a new country, of over a billion people (nearly 1.3), most of them which seem to be outside the railway station exit as you struggle through the crowds, or at the sights. There are Chinese tourists everywhere! Apparently orderly lining up is not apart of the culture and pushing in is. Rubbish is not a problem - to throw onto the ground that is, and spitting (with the associated bringing it up from the back of the throat as noisily as you can) is a must. There are loads of bikes in wide bike lanes, loads of cars and motorbikes. Some of the motorbikes are actually electric, which means that you can't hear them and they can sneak up on you. All of which tend to use the sidewalks every now and again. You have to be careful crossing the road, even on a green man, as the turning traffic appear to have the right of way, even though you have a green light. The cars like the horn and the louder the better, just to let everyone else know that they are there, even when there is a bike 100 meters away. There is a lot of weaving in and out of traffic and surprisingly no one seems to get hurt. Bigger vehicles have more power on the roads, however, bikes and pedestrians don't seem too worried about edging out onto the road, as the cars will actually swerve around them. The rubbish trucks play very loud music for some bizarre reason. You will feel most of the time that you are actually the only Westeners in China, which isn't such a bad feeling. At the sights you will come across your own kind, but only a hand full. It is important that you carry a Chinese (Mandarin) phrase book as most people don't speak English, and if your taking a taxi you'll need to point to the Chinese name in a book or have your destination written for you in Chinese. This may pose some difficulties booking train tickets at the station, as it's one thing to ask for something by pointing at a book and sign language, but it is another if you are asked something back and you have no idea what they are saying. More often than not you may have to just bite the bullet and pay commission for your hotel / hostel / or travel agent to arrange this for you. You may feel that you are being constantly looked at, and you will get surprised looks when you say hi in Mandarin (Ni how). Chinese people want to take your photo and practice their English skills. They will refer to their English as Ching-lish, and don't believe they are very good at it, often apologizing. The times you may struggle someone tends to come out of the crowd to help you. The Chinese are friendly, forever smiling and helpful, even though they may have tended to think us strange. Babies have their bottoms exposed through a split in their trousers, to enable easy side walk access to going to the toilet. The food is beautiful and everything from dumplings to sweet and sour pork may be part of your daily food intake. A lot of restaurants do have an English menu, if not a small portion of it translated, or you may have to point to other people's meals, or all the fresh ingredients lining the side walk. Things seem to work out. A calculator (or more affectionately referred to as haggle-later) is a must, if not only to try and understand what a price is, but to haggle down a price. And then there is a compass (compy) who will also be a dear friend in times of trying to follow the guide book when you exit a railway station and it says to go south. China's culture is one of the oldest of the world, with fossils of an ancient humanoid dating back 1.7 million years. The 22nd to the 17th CenturyBC is the first dynasty recorded, and the Chinese modern history begins with the 1840 Opium War, which was fought between China and Britain. Under treaties, Western nations were able to strip China of its resources and take advantage of its people. It was during this era that China lost control of Macau and Hong Kong. There was an anti-foreign movement, a revoluntionary overthrow, a Republic formed, an overtaking by a northern warlord, a social revolution in line with a political one, the Communist party and then the Nationalists forming. After the war with Japan in 1937, the Communists defeated the Nationalist who retreated from the mainland to Taiwan. The main five religions include Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism. The tip is that a 30 day visa in China is so not enough - so we extended ours for 2 months. So begins our travels from the north, to the east, to the west, to the south to the east.