1st month in China!

These are some things I've noticed.

September in Hangzhou is incredibly hot and humid, rises early and gets pitch black at 7pm.

1. first time I’ve ever seen someone with a mole right on their lip

2. many people have moles on their lips

3. burping here is normal and they don’t hide it

4. chewing loudly is okay

5. spitting on the streets is normal because in ancient times spit was considered residue  of the body and bad spirits that could hurt you

6. spitting on the plate what you’re not gonna eat is normal

7. all car windows are tinted

8. they only drink hot water and tea even when it’s disgustingly hot because tap water isn’t safe to drink

9. public washrooms are just holes on the floor  and they’re always fucking disgusting and there’s no toilet paper EVER

10. they smoke a fuck ton

11. you can smoke in hotel dining areas and in a ton of closed public spaces

12. people do talk about communism

13. they do talk about the leader

14. Winnie the pooh is NOT banned at all

15. everyone rides scooters

16. they got big ass grapes

17. weird fruits in general

18. they’re obsessed with sun damage

19. they’re obsessed with being thin

20. they’re the kindest, they’ll always help a foreigner

21. Chinese people are so fucking nice

22. the art of complimenting is really something else

23. they drive fucking terribly

24. they think Japanese people are more similar to Americans than to Chinese

25. they don’t mind screaming on the phone in the subway

26. they don’t say thanks to drivers when they cross/ Uber/ bus etc.

27. there’s 0 interactions on the street or subway/ public places

28. unblended white faces everywhere

29. restaurant food is great and cheap

30. people kinda wobble when they walk

31. asian squat everywhere

32. most will be amazed when they see a foreigner

33. soldiers in the metro

34. they’re on their phone the whole fucking time

35. roasted sweet potato dispenser??

36. not everyone has a car here because the license plate has to be earned because of pollution and overpopulation

37. they pay you for watching Chinese TikTok??

38. they eat yogurt with straws

39. you can order ANYTHING from ANYWHERE at ANY TIME and it will be delivered to you in minutes, anywhere you are…

Overall impression

Big cities are kinda like ant farms, they live in MASSIVE buildings completely symmetrical to each other, with the same structures and same style. The cities are very gray because of pollution, and personally, when I first visited a big city like Shanghai, the first feeling I got was of some sort discomfort... Almost like if everything looked a little forced or imbalanced. kind of like a toy city. A massive mall with an ancient-looking restaurant beside it, little dogs and exotic animals being sold on the streets next to night clubs...

There’s TONS of people on the streets at all times but you can mostly hear nothing because almost all cars are electric and people are extremely quiet. All you hear is honking from cars and scooters because honking is a universal action that they use for everything. To cross, to let someone cross, to warn you that they’re behind you, etc. watching people drive from inside a car is kind of funny, because all controls are so easy and yet they struggle to drive in straight lines and keep a normal pace, it gives me a very childish feeling, it's like if driving a car was like playing a video game for them. Same with scooters. It’s all a fucking mess, they drive wherever they want and there’s literally no rules, no priority, no nothing. They bump into cars all the time, people, and other scooters. 0 intersections still. No sorry, no gesture no nothing. They just sigh and keep going!

I feel like it really all comes down to the fact that there are so many people. This is the main reason why a lot of things work the way they do, and seem so surreal to us in the west.