Travel with us!
Beyond Voyage
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Destinations
  • Gallery
  • Pack
  • Tunes
  • About

Amusing Observations In China

11/3/2013

4 Comments

 
After our visit to China, we thought it would be fun to recap a few tidbits that made us laugh, think, or just scratch our heads.

1.  Street-sweepers in Guilin blast It's a Small World while they're driving around.  Kind of like ice cream trucks in the US, but they drive even slower.  Just when you thought driving a street-sweeper around all day couldn't get any worse, boom - you have to listen to It's a Small World on continual loop while people on the street give you the death stare. This must be one of Dante's stages of hell.

2.  The Chinese love to take photos.  In particular, they love to take photos of whatever you are taking a photo of.  If you are admiring a view and taking a photo, someone will be waiting there to take your spot and capture the exact same shot (not from a foot to the right or left, but from exactly where you were standing).  We tested this theory by taking photos of mundane subjects such as phone booths or old plastic chairs.  Sure enough, someone would be waiting to snap a photo of the same object when we were done!  
Picture
Testing our theory by posing next to mundane objects.
3.  One day at breakfast in the hotel dining room we heard a familiar tune from our distant past.  They were playing the instrumental theme from Kindergarten Cop.  We thought this was hilarious.
Picture
Breakfast anyone?
4.  Nearly all the ads feature Western models - even those for Chinese brands.  It's very rare to see ads using Asian models which is really peculiar.  There are so many beauties in China, I could have picked out ten runway models in one day in Beijing. 

5. In Shanghai, a man selling music sits on the street corner near the Grand Central Hotel. He blasts Bette Midler's The Rose every day on repeat ALL DAY LONG.  We had a few theories about why he did this:
- It's his favorite song. 
- He tested various tracks one week and The Rose was the one to lure in the most sales. 
- Our hotel pays him to help patrons who get lost easily...just follow Bette's voice! 
Picture
This song used to make me thing of 6th grade music class. Now I will forever associate it with Jiujiang Road in Shanghai.
6.  A common sight in China is a toddler missing a critical component of his wardrobe.  They call these toilet training pants or split pants, and they feature big opening in the crotch area (no diaper).  The parent/grandparent will regularly fold the kid in half, bum towards the ground, and urge the baby to take care of business.  You see it happening everywhere - on the sidewalk, in the park, over a garbage can at the train station, etc.  One can't help but wonder why it doesn't happen over the toilet?  Anyway, we took extra care to avoid all puddles after seeing this! 
Picture
We took this one outside the Forbidden City. Nice choice, kid.
7.  Cat ears are in.  You often see gaggles of teenage girls sporting them.  We were admittedly a little jealous at times.
Picture
8.  There is no shortage of toothpaste.  In addition to the normal hotel toiletries, it is commonplace for Chinese hotels to provide you a dental kit, consisting of a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste each day.  Of course, we amassed a stockpile for the rest of our trip.
Picture
It is important to save where you can on every round-the-world trip. So who are we to refuse free toothpaste?
4 Comments
Joyce
11/3/2013 04:32:23 am

I loved seeing and reading about your trip through China, it brought back memories of my 2011 trip! What did you guys think about the air quality in places like Beijing? I don't know if it was psychological or really that bad, but when we visited in November, I felt like I could smell the polluted air in our hotel rooms. Shanghai was a breath of fresh air in comparison!

Reply
Chris
11/3/2013 10:04:24 am

Totally agree. When they talk Beijing smog, they are not whistling Dixie. Sometimes it was hard to breathe sitting in traffic. We even got a little of this in the countryside, surprisingly. We were lucky though. Supposedly it was much worse about a week before we arrived, and they even shut down the Beijing airport a few times!

Reply
Mom Barbier
11/3/2013 06:55:45 am

If only I'd known how much money I could have saved on diapers!
:D

Reply
Chris
11/3/2013 10:59:00 am

It was money well-spent.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Eva has been traveling for 15+ years, including an 8 month journey around the world.  

    Archives

    October 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Amalfi Coast
    Amazon Rainforest
    Amsterdam
    Argentina
    Art
    Aruba
    Asia
    Austin
    Australia
    Austria
    Award
    Baby
    Bali
    Barcelona
    Beijing
    Belize
    Berlin
    Bogota
    Boston
    Brazil
    BVI
    California
    Cambodia
    Cambridge
    Canada
    Cape Town
    Caribbean
    Cartagena
    Central America
    China
    Colombia
    Connecticut
    Costa Rica
    Cuba
    Culinary Delights
    Cusco
    Europe
    Family
    Family Travel
    Flights
    Florence
    Florida
    Food
    France
    Germany
    Hawaii
    Hong Kong
    Hotels/resorts
    Iceland
    Indonesia
    Ireland
    Italy
    Itineraries
    Lake Titicaca
    Live Like A Local
    Luxury
    Machu Picchu
    Maine
    Malaysia
    Massachusetts
    Mexico
    Nantucket
    New England
    New York
    New Zealand
    North Carolina
    Pacific Northwest
    Pack
    Paris
    Peru
    Pisa
    Planning
    Prague
    Provence
    Puerto Rico
    Puno
    Rhode Island
    Rincon
    Rome
    Rtw Trip
    Safar
    Safari
    Shanghai
    Sharks
    South Africa
    South America
    Spain
    Switzerland
    Thailand
    Travel Education
    Travel Tips
    Tunes
    Turkey
    Usa
    Vermont
    Washington
    Where To Stay

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.