Coming to China, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I knew there’d be good food (obviously, if you follow our blog – you’ve seen the pictures).  I hate to admit that I know very little about the history and culture of my husband’s homeland.  If we would have had more time, I would have looked into it more.  I have been asking a lot of questions and there’s a lot for me to learn.  I mean this place is ancient!  When doing a Wikipedia search to get the Cliff notes on the history of this country, I can’t even tell how old it is.  The closest I came to is that the first form of human civilization here was more than a million years ago.

Because the little Mandarin I can say is bad, I haven’t been speaking much.  I just sit and eat when I am motioned to and grab my shoes when I notice movement.  Richard fills me in on the conversation – I’ll add a few things here and there – but for the most part it’s been nice to see him immersed in his language and with his family he hasn’t seen in 17 years.

Family

Family

I imagined I’d see people on bikes.  Thousands of bikes.  I’ve yet to see that.  I’ve seen motorized bicycles, a handful of bicycles, mopeds, motorized scooters and I’ve seen cars.  Lots of cars.  And not junky used cars.  But newer cars.  There are no rules to the road here.  Well, Beijing perhaps more than Shenzhen.  You have to be a defensive and an offensive driver here.  There is no room for hesitation, nervousness or shyness on the road.  You’ll have nightmares.  If you miss a left turn, no worries, stop in the middle of the intersection, back-up, maneuver around oncoming vehicles and pedestrians, stop, move forward, ignore cars facing you, stop, reverse a bit more, and finally move forward.  Quick note on pedestrians – I was a bit appalled at first, thinking they didn’t have any rights.  Well, turns out the pedestrians are fighting for their turf as well, and will maneuver around cars.  Doesn’t matter if the light says walk or don’t walk…they go.

There’s an air of “hurriedness” here.  Everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere.  There’s a billion people here.  You have to move.  If you get pushed, it’s not rude…it’s just how it is.  When we were at The Forbidden City, there was a throne room in one of the halls, Richard just said go for it.  I was hesitant at first not wanting to invade personal space but I soon realized, you push to get to where you want to go and to see what you want to see.  It’s organized chaos.  I heard there would be spitting on the streets.  I haven’t seen it.  Well, I think I saw/heard like five people spit in public.

I’ve gotten a lot of stares and actually had a random stranger take a selfie with me at The Forbidden City.  More than anything I think it is curiosity.  I didn’t take offense to it.  I look different.  I am not your typical tourist.  They are probably trying to figure out where I am from and why am I walking around with this Chinese dude.

I’ve been saddened to see that the majority of advertisement in the cities feature more European like women and men.  Very few ads feature Asians.  There was one particular advertisement in the expat area in Beijing for a plastic surgeon and had a Chinese woman who had undergone double eye-lid surgery, was wearing blue contact lenses, and had blonde hair.  The caption to this poster was “Be your best self.” Ugh.

China is a hard place to visit for those that may be weary of adventure. The language and food are vastly different.  That being said, it is a very cool place and it is a place you should see.  The history here is astonishing and the people that I have had the joy to be around, have been incredibly welcoming, nice and giving.