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First time coming to China? What to prepare when coming to China?

A lot of foreigners think that China is outdated, and I’ve crosschecked it with my friends! Funnily, though they are foreigners from different friend circles of mine, but the thing that they said was similar! They said that, “I’ve never thought that I would see tall buildings in China!”

Lujiazui, Shanghai

Welcome to China!

A Spanish friend told me,

“For me, first time I came to China the first thing I thought was too many people everywhere and so noisy! Also I was expecting Chinese to speak more English, I think at the beginning it can be very chaotic as everything is in Chinese and everywhere is so far from everywhere. But at the same time, Chinese are very helpful and they are always trying to help you, even if you don’t understand each other, everything feels different here, but if you’re curious you will try everything. A friend of mine just told me that, wherever she is, too many people everywhere, but at the same everybody looks at you and it makes you feel special. But definitely is the people, you don’t know what overcrowded means until you come to china hahaha”

OK, so……..

Rule no. 1 : Embrace the crowd

If you are Caucasian or African or Indian, be prepared to be Chinese people’s ‘center of attention’. But, if your face looks Asian, they won’t notice you, UNTIL YOU TALK!

Funny thing! I was sitting on a bus with my friend, and we chatted using our own language. Because our face looks like Chinese (well we are Chinese descendant), they didn’t notice us at first. But when we talked, people beside, in front, and behind us were looking at us and worse, one Ayi (old woman) behind us, moved her head closer to us to hear what language we were talking (to take in notes, China has a lot of dialects!), and finally she said, “听不懂，听不懂”. An expression that means “I don’t understand“.

Embrace the crowd, be patient when Chinese snatch your queue, be patient when they shout on their phone talk, be patient when they elbow you in the crowd.

True and unedited crowd at Nanjing East Road, Shanghai, China

Rule no. 2 : Beware of your belongings

Travel safe! Just like people used to say. Though you may hear this in a lot of places, but it’s true! I mean, you are in a foreign country, and moreover you are in the world’s most populous country! Instead of bringing your passport, visa or other important documents with you, take picture or bring the copy only! Keep your phone, pockets and other valuable things in a safe place, e.g., in the depth of your bag.

I lost my 5 months old new smartphone when queuing to get on the bus. Several friends lost theirs when buying food. Friend of mine felt that someone stealthily opened her backpack zipper and when her sister saw the thief, the thief flew away.

Rule no. 3 : Take your hotel’s business card with you

This is very important. You also may take postcard or brochures that indicate your hotel’s address. Once again, do not expect them to speak English.

Rule no. 4 : Don’t get surprised if your taxi driver take another passenger with you

To maximize their revenue, if the taxi seats have not fully occupied with passengers, sometimes the driver will take another passenger with the same direction like yours. If you don’t want this to happen, just say, “Bu yao, shi fu!” meaning, no!

Rule no. 5 : Always check your change

This is very crucial! The simplest thing that you can do to check whether the money is fake or not, is by fingering the money. The fake money will be felt thinner and softer, whereas real money will be felt thicker and rougher. 100 Yuan note is the number that is widely counterfeited. During my 4 years living in China, I’ve received fake money twice. Click here to know more how to differentiate the fake or the real Yuan.

Rule no. 6 : Be careful when you are crossing the street

Chinese people don’t understand the rule of ‘pedestrian’s privilege’, unless public bus’ driver. Just be careful! The way Chinese people drive is crazy!

Rule no. 7 : Be healthy!

If your stomach can’t really stand a ‘dirty’ food, don’t try the street food carelessly. It may be very tempting, but, I can’t guarantee the safety. For your information, China has a very serious issue in the food safety. Prepare some medicine to neutralize the toxic.

Rule no. 8 : Say yes to UBER!

If you have uber, you can use it! It’s safer and cheaper as usual. But, beware of the address using Chinese Character and Chinese speaking driver.

Rule no. 9 : Beware of any fraud

When my family came here to visit me, we visited Suzhou, city in China where we’ve never been. I have to accept we were brave enough to accept an offer of a black cab driver who offered us a half day drive trip around Suzhou. We agreed on a price. But, before we went back to the train station, the driver altered the price (though they spoke Chinese the whole conversation, but the deal was well understood as we also used writings to bargain the price, that was why we knew that he wanted to trick us). If you are first timer to China, or even if you have come to China many times, but can’t speak Chinese, I suggest you to refuse the offer!