Mainland Niceties
After a
week in Hong Kong the time came to trek thousands of kilometers on a 30 or so
hour long train ride to the mainland. Imagine sardines over packed into a
filthy tin can and each sardine has oversized carry-on luggage. This is the absolute best description for the
train ride, and pretty much all affordable public transportation in China.
Guess this is inevitably what happens when an overpopulated area meets an
underdevelopment society. There are always good memories that come out of
situations like that, when a baby is crying for seven hours straight in the car
next to you, a woman is screaming, annoying music is blaring, kids are causing
a ruckus, old men are hauking loogies and spitting onto the floor, oh, and it
is three a.m. and you are trying to sleep on the top bunk of a quadruple decker
bed. Welcome to the good life.
Like we
experienced in the train, spitting everywhere is common place in China. It is
not uncommon for people to snort and gather all of the snot physically possible
and spit chunks onto the ground in all public places. Snot rockets, or farmer’s
blow, are quite popular as well. Fun right? Especially when you accidently step
in it. Another thing I found very peculiar was that squaddie potties were
common place in all homes and public establishments. What is a squaddie potty
you ask? It is a hole in the ground that you must squat down to poop and pee in.I would have posted a picture of a squaddie potty in all of its glory, but I was too scared to take my camera into such a place because of the looming possibility that I might just drop my camera into the hole.
The
city we visited had a McDonald’s right next to where we were staying. I was surprised
to see that Micky- D’s actually had a normal, western style toilet, one where
you could sit down. This was a huge mistake for whoever ‘gave the ok’ to
install this toilet. You see, people do not know how to use this kind of toilet
after spending their entire life using squaddie potties, so you would find shoe
marks on top of the toilet as people were standing on the seat to do their
business. Hilarious.
The
city was very trendy with a lot of western restaurants like McDonald’s and KFC
but thankfully we met up with some locals who showed us some traditional
Chinese delicacies. All meals are eaten like a small buffet of sorts where
multiple dishes are set in the middle of the table (usually) on top of a
lazy-susan and each person will dish up as much as they can grab with their
chopsticks as different dishes pass by.
One thing I learned quickly- those who have poor chopstick
skills will go hungry. Without a doubt, Chinese food takes the prize for the
best foreign food I have eaten during my travels thus far. And to my delight,
the age old ‘spicy in, spicy out’ theory has been proved wrong during my stay
here.
Fun fact-: Snacks in China come in a
variety of savory Asian flavors:
Seaweed Pringles,
Cool and Refreshing Lemon Tea Flavored Lays Potato Chips,
and of course the succulent Squid Flake Crackers.
Fun fact:- 1 out of 3 people in
cities in China wears thick black frame glasses like the lead singer of Weezer.
A LOT of fun.
Keep reading-
Chronicles of China:
Chapter 5- A Remarkable Story
