There is often a mention of ‘aunties’ in your posts. What does that mean? Any older woman? A poorly dressed older woman? An annoying older woman? And are older men referred to as ‘uncles’? - by TwoChihuahuas It’s technically used to refer to any middle-aged woman, anywhere from 45 to 65 (older than that and you’re definitely a grandma). There’s a lot of stereotypes associated with “aunties” though, that they’re usually loud, nosy, boisterous, very colourfully dressed, straight forward, ready to throw down, loves dancing, etc. There’s definitely “uncles” too, but they’re more often stereotyped as quiet and reserved and loves fishing, and don’t tend to come up in people’s stories of “interesting encounter I had today” very often.
I think they were all over: they had almost 4 weeks and basically did a tour of (some of) the highlights – historical, cultural, natural – with several train journeys and domestic flights.
First time commenter here, thank you for the informative posts!
Re traveling to China, my parents had a very good experience in summer 2019. They went alone (i.e. not with an organized group) and did a LOT of homework beforehand. One minor hiccup was they didn't realize that you can't buy a local SIM card as a foreigner, but luckily they managed to contact their regular cell service provider and purchase a "traveling abroad" package. This actually turned to the good since they did get to use google maps and access all the regular internet things. In my country China is stereotyped as a place where people will cheat you at every opportunity, but my parents remarked that they didn't encounter anything of the sort.
So, as I said they went in late summer 2019 – and got back with a pneumonia! Pretty scary in retrospect! But they had a blast and immediately started planning their next time, this time to arrive from the other side via the Trans-Siberian train. But first Covid hit, and then the war in Ukraine... So that's not happening anytime soon.
As for why not go to Taiwan, they had already been there several times for my dad's work, and I think it actually whet their appetite for mainland China.
Oh, that's awesome! What part of China did they go to? I've been wanting to do more domestic tourism in China for forever, and between covid and having kids, I don't think I'll find the time any time soon either.
Thanks! I don't know what I expected about Western foods in China, but not cupcakes and KFC. :D Interesting that they like it less sweet. I had sticky rice cake at a Chinese place the other day and it was super sweet. Another case of Chinese restaurants adapting their menu to local demand maybe.
And thanks a lot for the travel advice, I didn't expect road safety to be such a concern! I've been following this vlog of an American girl in China, and she gives such a lovely impression of the millions of niches of cultures and villages and landscapes... https://www.youtube.com/@kats_journey_east
Oh yeah, all the western food that gets adopted in China are changed to suit Chinese tastes too. Like McDonalds has barbecued chicken wings in China. And KFC adds seaweed and sesame to their breading. And even pizza crust is...kind of crispier? than I've seen in America, and I feel like a lot less greasy. If you do end up going, you should try them out!
The problem isn't as bad in rural areas because fewer people can afford cars. The US has almost 1 car per person. China has about 1 car per 5 people. And that's highly concentrated in urban areas with more than half of urban households have a car while less than a third of rural ones do. This is downstream of Chinese households having much lower consumption rates than peer countries. (Mexico and Turkey both have about double the rate of car ownership, for example.)
Also, keep in mind anyone regularly broadcasting from China is doing so with the tacit permission of the Chinese government. Even if there's no direct payment or pressure they know they have to portray China in a positive way to stay on air. Even on YouTube. And the Chinese government is quite generous with payment if you're willing to play ball and quite quick on the trigger to deport you if you say anything negative. There is a lot of China that is lovely. But you will never see the negatives and everything will be put in the best possible light.
I assume for people vacationing in China that they won't end up in the rural areas, because there's not a whole lot to do there? Any rural areas that has a tourist attraction (like pretty mountains or lakes) are going to be cram full of Chinese tourists and have a fair amount of traffic anyways.
In general, I still think China is probably safe and perfectly fine to vacation in, all things considered, because the chances of dying young in a traffic accident is still fairly low. Most people still live to die of cancer or heart disease in old age. But like, why not just go to Taiwan instead. Taiwan is great. And you don't need a visa.
The channel he linked is specifically a girl who shows off natural beauty in rural China. Goes to small villages and all that. I'm not denying that exists, just explaining why (I'd guess) she doesn't seem to run into many cars or road trouble.
And yes, I've heard nothing but good things about Taiwan while I've heard some bad things about China.
I'll also note that just because people don't have cars, doesn't mean you couldn't get fucked up in a traffic accident :P Because rural people still have bicycles and scooters and sometimes even motorcycles. And people are a lot more reckless with those than with cars, because they're used to weaving in between pedestrians all the time.
My grandma was ran over by a scooter, and while she survived, her leg is really fucked up now. And a big reason is because if you get ran over by a scooter in a rural village, there's not gonna be a decent hospital anywhere around. My grandma's leg surgery was a year ago, and she still has absolutely no feeling in that leg. We're pretty sure they did some kind of nerve damage on her. The only treatment plan they have to offer is massages. So, yeah. Never underestimate how much damage a scooter can do.
I'm sorry to hear about your grandma. I have heard that rural policing and health are not great. That a lot of basic enforcement of stuff like traffic fines doesn't happen (or is just corruption). Not sure if it's true though.
I was in Italy once (not even a major city) when some young idiot on a moped raced up and started zipping around crowds and laughing in pedestrian zones. Some of the Italian police waited for him to slow down and then physically tackled him off the bike. They dragged him away in handcuffs. Because I wasn't as familiar with mopeds I thought of it as a little excessive. But the Italians were uniformly of the opinion it was justified and explained to me he could have killed someone. They said it was exactly the same as a car. That's been my updated attitude ever since.
Rural area policing isn't great, but the police *will* do something if a foreign tourist got robbed or whatever, so it won't be as bad as if you're a local. There's nothing they can do about the traffic problem though. Nobody weaves around in a flock of pedestrians on their scooter because they genuinely think they might run someone over. They all figure they've got this, until they don't.
And yeah, there's a lot of illegally modified scooters in rural China, where they'll put in a much more powerful engine than it was originally outfitted with, so scooters can potentially reach *highway speeds*. And because they're slim and nimble, people will casually pass within a hair of you on these ridiculously powerful scooters. It's super scary.
You're welcome! As for your question about my family, I'm hesitant to write too much about them because I don't want to be doxed. I don't think I'm doing anything too controversial, but I still don't want to find out if the CCP approves or not :P And I've still got a ton of family back in China. I really need to think over every story I tell about my family to make sure there aren't any details that'd be too identifiable.
I think they were all over: they had almost 4 weeks and basically did a tour of (some of) the highlights – historical, cultural, natural – with several train journeys and domestic flights.
Oh wow! That sounds like a lot of fun, tbh. I really need to do more Chinese domestic tourism
First time commenter here, thank you for the informative posts!
Re traveling to China, my parents had a very good experience in summer 2019. They went alone (i.e. not with an organized group) and did a LOT of homework beforehand. One minor hiccup was they didn't realize that you can't buy a local SIM card as a foreigner, but luckily they managed to contact their regular cell service provider and purchase a "traveling abroad" package. This actually turned to the good since they did get to use google maps and access all the regular internet things. In my country China is stereotyped as a place where people will cheat you at every opportunity, but my parents remarked that they didn't encounter anything of the sort.
So, as I said they went in late summer 2019 – and got back with a pneumonia! Pretty scary in retrospect! But they had a blast and immediately started planning their next time, this time to arrive from the other side via the Trans-Siberian train. But first Covid hit, and then the war in Ukraine... So that's not happening anytime soon.
As for why not go to Taiwan, they had already been there several times for my dad's work, and I think it actually whet their appetite for mainland China.
Oh, that's awesome! What part of China did they go to? I've been wanting to do more domestic tourism in China for forever, and between covid and having kids, I don't think I'll find the time any time soon either.
Thanks.
Thanks! I don't know what I expected about Western foods in China, but not cupcakes and KFC. :D Interesting that they like it less sweet. I had sticky rice cake at a Chinese place the other day and it was super sweet. Another case of Chinese restaurants adapting their menu to local demand maybe.
And thanks a lot for the travel advice, I didn't expect road safety to be such a concern! I've been following this vlog of an American girl in China, and she gives such a lovely impression of the millions of niches of cultures and villages and landscapes... https://www.youtube.com/@kats_journey_east
Oh yeah, all the western food that gets adopted in China are changed to suit Chinese tastes too. Like McDonalds has barbecued chicken wings in China. And KFC adds seaweed and sesame to their breading. And even pizza crust is...kind of crispier? than I've seen in America, and I feel like a lot less greasy. If you do end up going, you should try them out!
The problem isn't as bad in rural areas because fewer people can afford cars. The US has almost 1 car per person. China has about 1 car per 5 people. And that's highly concentrated in urban areas with more than half of urban households have a car while less than a third of rural ones do. This is downstream of Chinese households having much lower consumption rates than peer countries. (Mexico and Turkey both have about double the rate of car ownership, for example.)
Also, keep in mind anyone regularly broadcasting from China is doing so with the tacit permission of the Chinese government. Even if there's no direct payment or pressure they know they have to portray China in a positive way to stay on air. Even on YouTube. And the Chinese government is quite generous with payment if you're willing to play ball and quite quick on the trigger to deport you if you say anything negative. There is a lot of China that is lovely. But you will never see the negatives and everything will be put in the best possible light.
I assume for people vacationing in China that they won't end up in the rural areas, because there's not a whole lot to do there? Any rural areas that has a tourist attraction (like pretty mountains or lakes) are going to be cram full of Chinese tourists and have a fair amount of traffic anyways.
In general, I still think China is probably safe and perfectly fine to vacation in, all things considered, because the chances of dying young in a traffic accident is still fairly low. Most people still live to die of cancer or heart disease in old age. But like, why not just go to Taiwan instead. Taiwan is great. And you don't need a visa.
The channel he linked is specifically a girl who shows off natural beauty in rural China. Goes to small villages and all that. I'm not denying that exists, just explaining why (I'd guess) she doesn't seem to run into many cars or road trouble.
And yes, I've heard nothing but good things about Taiwan while I've heard some bad things about China.
I'll also note that just because people don't have cars, doesn't mean you couldn't get fucked up in a traffic accident :P Because rural people still have bicycles and scooters and sometimes even motorcycles. And people are a lot more reckless with those than with cars, because they're used to weaving in between pedestrians all the time.
My grandma was ran over by a scooter, and while she survived, her leg is really fucked up now. And a big reason is because if you get ran over by a scooter in a rural village, there's not gonna be a decent hospital anywhere around. My grandma's leg surgery was a year ago, and she still has absolutely no feeling in that leg. We're pretty sure they did some kind of nerve damage on her. The only treatment plan they have to offer is massages. So, yeah. Never underestimate how much damage a scooter can do.
I'm sorry to hear about your grandma. I have heard that rural policing and health are not great. That a lot of basic enforcement of stuff like traffic fines doesn't happen (or is just corruption). Not sure if it's true though.
I was in Italy once (not even a major city) when some young idiot on a moped raced up and started zipping around crowds and laughing in pedestrian zones. Some of the Italian police waited for him to slow down and then physically tackled him off the bike. They dragged him away in handcuffs. Because I wasn't as familiar with mopeds I thought of it as a little excessive. But the Italians were uniformly of the opinion it was justified and explained to me he could have killed someone. They said it was exactly the same as a car. That's been my updated attitude ever since.
Rural area policing isn't great, but the police *will* do something if a foreign tourist got robbed or whatever, so it won't be as bad as if you're a local. There's nothing they can do about the traffic problem though. Nobody weaves around in a flock of pedestrians on their scooter because they genuinely think they might run someone over. They all figure they've got this, until they don't.
And yeah, there's a lot of illegally modified scooters in rural China, where they'll put in a much more powerful engine than it was originally outfitted with, so scooters can potentially reach *highway speeds*. And because they're slim and nimble, people will casually pass within a hair of you on these ridiculously powerful scooters. It's super scary.
Thank you!
You're welcome! As for your question about my family, I'm hesitant to write too much about them because I don't want to be doxed. I don't think I'm doing anything too controversial, but I still don't want to find out if the CCP approves or not :P And I've still got a ton of family back in China. I really need to think over every story I tell about my family to make sure there aren't any details that'd be too identifiable.