Final thoughts and Zai jian China

Well this will probably be my final blog before i leave. Flying out to hong kong in a couple of hours to do touristy stuff for 6 days,then back to home and the drudgery of real life :(
I am missing home and all friends and family of course, but after a few weeks at home i'll probably be missing travelling again!

For this final blog i'm just going to talk about random small and quirky things and share final thoughts about my time here in china.

1) They love inflatable the inflatable arches. To me they look so tacky and remind me of inflatable jumping castles. but whatever floats your boat i suppose.

2) Almost every entranceway into a building has these annoying plastic door flaps to keep the heat in. They're so so annoying, especially the multiple flap ones. i've been whacked in the face so many times with these, and sometimes you can't see if someones coming from the other direction! maybe they get rid of them in the warmer months.

3) It's well known alot of people smoke in china, but it's very hard to see a female smoking in public. Well maybe in the bigger cities like beijing it's easier, but in xi'an i seldom see them. Men smoking, absolutely everywhere, but women no. I asked shu shu the other day if actually there are just as many women smokers but that they don't smoke in public because of the bad stigma attached to women smokers. He said thats partly correct but also that very few females smoke anyway.

4) KTV (karaoke tv). Like any other asian country they love karaoke. what is it with asians and singing? i reckon maybe it's got to do with the language, since you have to pay close attention to the four different tone marks when you pronounce words. maybe this somehow gets u'r mind interested in striking different notes?! If you see big buildings with lotsa bright lights here in china, chances are it's either a restaurant or ktv. Most of these places are 24/7. During the 3 months here I've been dragged along to karaoke more times than i would've in 3 years back home. I'm still working on being able to sing an entire mandarin song without having to hum through some parts. and the english selection here is just as bad as the ones back home. most of the videos aren't original, just some cheap clubhouse singer with random footage of a couple from the 80's frollicking around a beach or park.
when i gave up on the chinese songs i belted out the usual 'wet wet wet', all-4-one, and boyz to men hits to be received by polite applause *LOL*(since the people i'd been with had never heard half of these before)

5) seems like everyone is selling something. chinese people sell anything! it's had to find a street without a person with a layed out blanket in front of them selling stuff. Obviously most of these vendors aren't registered businesses, so if you added up the value of all the goods that was on sale china's GDP would blow out! Check out the pic of this girl with her custom mobile hot-dog bike.

6) people talk loud. I mean REAL loud.. i can't figure out half the time if people are quarreling or just talking. (wonder if it's rubbed off on me? please tell me if it seems like i'm shouting at you next time we chat). it's so loud i feel i have to physically take a step back from some people when they talk. whats the reason? dunno. maybe it's all the years of exposure to firecrackers.

7) spitting doesn't bother me as much anymore. i'm used to it. i still don't do it myself though. it's the nostril clean out that still buggs me. block one nostril and blow out the contents of the other one onto the pavement. charming! save it for the shower please.

8) i swear this last one is very true. For almost 3 whole months i haven't heard a single kid or baby cry. it was only last weekend on the bus that i heard one, thinking:now thats something i haven't heard in awhile! I don't know what it is, but kids and babies don't cry or chuck tanties. Is it the way they're brought up? is it in the genes ? (no, because i remember i used to cry heaps), or is it in the diet? (i won't make melamine jokes here cuz it's inappropriate). maybe cuz most families still only have one child they give him/her anything they want and take good care of them?so no reason to get upset! but then seems that most chinese people are pretty humble.

And that's it. That's my china experience. I hope you've found it interesting, if not long-winded!
I hope i haven't scared you away from china! i've been only picking out the weird and interesting things that might have horrified you, and haven't been talking about all the normal or good things (because they're just boring to write about!)
it really is a fantastic place with fantastic people. One thing i admire about the chinese is how they all seem to get on with things, and make the best of the situation. the vibe on the street generally seems to be one of happiness. That's what i've felt it xi'an anyway. maybe bigger cities like beijing and shanghai might be different. I don't know if i'm describing it properly, so you'll just have to come experience it yourself if u've never been here. And they loove foreign looking people. no animosity there at all. i've never felt endangered here at all either, just watch your belongings obviously, and make sure u bargain!

I think i'll definitely come back in the future to see other parts of the country. Maybe go back to the old ancestral home region of fujian. Don't think i'll try to learn the dialect though, since mandarin is enough on the plate already!

China is changing so rapidly though, so who knows what i'll find when i come back in the future. In any event I'm sure there'll be more blogs to fill!

Zai jian China!

Meet Ah Yi and Shu Shu

My host family, or who i refer to as ah yi (aunty) and shu shu (uncle), have been giving me a home throughout my stay here in china. To me they seem like the typical chinese sort of parents - modest,
wholesome and simple. They're not religous though, or even budhist for that matter. Actually I was surprised when they told me most people in china aren't religious!

I mentioned in one of my first blogs that uncle seemed like a mellow guy and aunty seemed a bit rough around the edges. well almost 3 months later i'll stick to those descriptions, but at least aunty has warmed to me. She definitely seems to be the dominant one though.
They're both in their mid fifties - aunty has already retired from hopsital management while uncle is still working as a renal(kidney) doctor in one of the local hospitals.

I'm not the first boarding student to stay with them. They began taking students in last year and had a whole bunch of europeans before me. I'm the first 'chinese ethnic' they've taken in though, and somehow i think they feel a closer kinship to me. I mean, it's not like they treat me any better than past studennts, but i think they treat me in a different way.
And as such, i think they expect me to regard them differently than past european students have, expecting me to show alot more respect as afforded by their age. I do of course, but probably not to the extent shown by a local chinese youth, and they do sometimes frown upon this. One example is when auntie calls out 'dinner ready', uncle immediately repeats and calls this out to me. Sometimes i'll hear it, acknowledge, and just take another minute or so to finish off whatever i'm doing, but he'll call out again if i don't immediately come running out!

They always like to explain chinese culture to me, and tell me about the regions of china my grandparents were orginally from - fu jian and hai nan island, telling me i should go visit there one day with dad. I think they're extremely happy and proud that i've come back to 'the motherland' to check out the culture and learn the language, and they keep reminding me 'you are chinese'!

Like typical chinese people, they are very frugal, and when i say frugal, i mean SUPER frugal. I consider myself a frugal person back home, but compared to them i look extremely wasteful.
Like typical chinese many remote controllers are still covered in the original plastic wrapping they were bought in. (or in custom made pouches at my place!), and all coffee tables have a plastic sheet over the top. But you know someone's taken 'frugal-ness' to the next level when u see the computer keyboard is still in its original wrapping *LOL*
i could hardly type properly with the wrapping, and was soon putting holes in the thing after half an hour of use (obviously it was the original wrapping from years ago).
Since the shower room is attached to their bedroom, some days i don't get a chance to shower if i come home after they've gone to bed. One day i missed my shower and had to have one the next morning. I then had another shower later that afternoon as per usual, and i remember they weren't happy about that. (I can always tell they aren't happy as soon as i hear the loud whispering!) So i had to explain to them that i felt dirty when i woke up this morning and then was dirty again when i came back from school at the end of the day, and that i wasn't 'wasting' their water!
On another occasion i was about to do my own hand washing and when aunty found out she came running into the laundry room to 'help' me measure out the washing powder. I remember looking at the amount she dished out thinking my clothing is not going to be clean after this 'rinse'.
And it's not like they're scraping the bottom of the barrel. they live in a nice appartment, and shu shu is still working as a doctor (though probably the doctors in china don't get paid as much). Maybe they're planning to leave a big inheritance to their daughter?
Ah yes, Fei Fei. They do have 24 year old daughter, though she only comes home on weekends from dental school. She's ok, though she doesn't seem interested in chit chat when i try to strike a conversation. As far as i can tell she doesn't have a boyfriend since there was never any reference to one. One of the first questions they asked me (actually alot of chinese elderly do this) is 'do you have a girlfriend?'. To make things a little easier i tell most people here in china that i'm seeing someone. but ah yi and shu shu do ask some strange questions sometimes, like is your girlfriend about the same height as our fei fei, ect.
i don't know if they would've tried setting me up with their daughter if i'd told them the truth. Conversations would be a bit dry.

shu shu loves watching basketball, esp the NBA. He doesn't play though. Currently he's taking driving lessons to go for his licence.Once he's passed they plan on buying a car to use for weekend car trips (maybe that's why they're so frugal!!) . It's hard for me to think of shu shu behind the wheel amongst all the other agressive chinese drivers. he's such a mellow guy that i'm afraid he'll be stuck at junctions for hours. He also seems to be interested in animal docos, since he watches them before dinner every night. Oh and his final passion is learning english. He loves practicing his english with me, for which i'm thankful for when i can't understand their chinese! It's very beginner level though, and he speaks very timidly. He's so keen to learn though, always jotting down words i teach him and asking me to check. good on him i reckon.

ah yi is much simpler compared to shu shu. She only seems to go out during the day to buy groceries. I'm not even sure she keeps in contact with friends, since i've never seen any come around or call her up. I even asked her the other night what her hobbies are, but she couldn't answer. She does seem to love the chinese ancient time drama-series though, closely following the episodes each night. oh and she knits as well. She'll also watch a certain cooking show every morning, though ironically she always cooks the same vegetable dishes almost every night. That brings me to my last point. They don't usually eat meat. I don't think they're vegetarian, but i think they just choose to eat meat only on special occasions, citing 'bad for your healt; for avoiding it. They do cook meat for me though. Overall the food has been ok, though some dishes i've found to be a little too salty!

Dreaded buses

I absoultely hate catching buses in xi'an. I don't think i've ever had a comfortable bus ride during my entire stay here. There are 2 types of buses that operate - the larger proper sized buses and the mini buses which are about half the size of a normal bus.

I don't know if either of them are private or government, but it would seem they're privately operated judging by the way they are run - as fast as possible. I don't think there's a timetable, they just try to make as many rounds and pack on as many people as possible to make the most money. This is one of the reasons why everytime you see a bus pull up people actually scamper and run to board the bus for fear of being left behind.
The little buses in particular are nasty. On those types they always have a ticket conductor (it's alway some short and stumpy aggressive woman) who ushers you in and out of the bus as fast as possible. Be prepared to have your shirt sleave pulled into the bus.
Sometimes they check where you're going as you get on. i was unfortunate enough to get the wrong bus one time and when the conductor realized i was just about to get on the wrong bus and waste 2 seconds of their time she physically gave me a solid push back down the stairs onto the road, scowling 'wrong, get off the bus get off the bus'. These conductors also act as crowd directors during peak periods when it's absolutely chockers inside the bus. she'll call out 'who's getting off at the next stop?' and then direct other people to move aside to allow those getting off to get close to the door.

The bigger buses aren't much better. Theres hardly any chairs in these types, but somehow every bus is still packed. Sometimes it's so packed with people you don't have to hold onto any railings since theres no space to fall into. It's amazing as to how many people they can squeeze into a bus. even when you thought theres no way they can fit any more passengers, the bus will still stop at the next stop to try and squeeze in more. Then they play that recorded voice other the speakers in chinese 'please proceed to the back of the bus, please proceed to the back of the bus', about 20 times even though nobody can physically move down any further. Prepare to have no personal space during commuting time, cuz for sure you'll have all manner of limbs across your face and bums rubbing against yours. It's a good idea to perhaps stick an elbow or knee out if theres room around you, in attempt to reserve some personal space.
Another thing is you have to know when you're getting off, and not rely on announcments over the speakers. more often than not the announcements are usually lagging behind by one stop.

And the drivers are something else. They drive buses like they're driving sports cars. I've seen a woman flung halfway across a bus before. If there is room for you to fall, you really have to hold onto dear life when you're standing. not suprisingly of course buses get into their fair share of accidents. I've been in one bus involved in a little collision, and the whole busload of passengers had to wait around for 10 minutes while the bus driver and the taxi driver had their arguement outside on the road. They didn't even move their vehicles to let traffic pass. Meanwhile passengers who were sitting close to the collision spot were shouting out the window giving their 2 cents on what happened. At least the government has recognized the problem though, and is currently building a metro. In typical chinese fashion it'll be ready in record time, sometime this year or next i believe.

Love for the military

Here in china it seems like the military is heavily embedded in the culture. Everywhere you look you can find some sort of militaristic reference.

I've noticed many older male civilians like to sport the jungle camouflage-coloured pants and tops (very stylish). It's not uncommon to see small shops devoted to selling military type equipment and clothing. I'm sure the chinese government don't expect their soldiers to BYO gear, so surely this must be for those civillians who want that military feeling.

At one of the tourist attractions, The big wild goose pagoda, theres some 'regiment' of women who stand and parade around the grounds. They've got an information stand, but i still can't figure out what their role is! Maybe giving tours? The sight of these girls marching around is so bizarre since most of them are quite y0ung and attractive. it's like a regiment of marching models. (see below for video)
But then it's not just here you see this sort of military like drilling. At the start and end of work shifts you can see staff from some restaurants and hotels line up outside their establishments in military like fashion to receive a sort of debriefing or review. On occasion i've even heard warcries and shouting. One morning i stumbled accross some office where all the female staff where out the front doing some sort of techno dance routine? (see below for video)Nothing like a bit of techno dancing to encourage team morale....

And then on tv later in the night i've seen a military news report, complete with news presenter dressed in uniform! I've seen another show that followed the progress of a couple of soldiers through some sort of endurance/kung fu course. Reminded me of a gameshow.

At most of the variety shows or commemorative concerts you'll usually see the front few rows filled with members of the military. But the most bizarre thing i've seen is the chinese version of Idol. The format of the show is not the same as idol, and the weirdest thing is they've got members from the military as judges! what the?! What possible qualifications does somone from the military have to make them suitable to pick china's next pop sensation?! and i thought letting
Ugly Phil judge on australian idol was bad.
I know most navies and armies in the world have a military band, but unless china's military has a 'pop idol' division then i'm afraid the qualifications fall short!

A local friend later explained to me though that china's military has a division devoted to the entertainment industry. i'm not sure if i understood this right, since my friend may have translated wrong. if she did translate right, it's very bizarre. when i think of the military i think of war, not music. I wouldn't like it if the federal taxes i'm paying is going towards making music. That might explain though why one of the contestants on the show was dressed in uniform, and why there were so many members from the military in the audience!



Marching regiment of models
Team morale dance

Military karaoke video!

Foot massage + Xi'an city wall

xi'an city wall is one of the best preserved city walls in all of china. today it only encompasses the city centre where the ancient city used to be. The southern part of the wall is the most picturesque and well restored, since the majority of the traffic coming into the centre flows in from the southern suburbs.

up on the wall theres also a few battlements and towers. some have been preserved while some have been turned into amenities for the tourists! You can navigate around the entire circumference on foot which takes a few hours, or you can rent out single or double bikes, pay for a rickshaw or motorized mini train ride. I decided to bike it, and luckily i could still remember how to ride since my times in cambridge almost 4 years ago! The tyres had almost no air in them but it was probably a good thing in the end since the brick surface was so rough. At times i had to ride with my butt lifted up off the seat, but I was still pretty sore afterwards!

yes theres my very sexy bike.

the entire city is laid out in blocks, so it's easy to navigate around xi'an if you know which direction you're facing. The city wall has 4 gates, each at a directional compass point.

at the time i went up there they were setting up decorations and displays for the chinese new year. the chinese seem to love these lit up displays, and i must say they look pretty cool. all the props have different coloured fabrics wrapped around a metal wire frame, with the lights inside.

One afternoon after class the school organized an excursion for us students to go to a foot massage parlour. I don't think it's a xi'an specialty, since they also have them everywhere in bj. It's mainly a foot massage but they also do a bit on your upper body. I think depending on where you go you can get all sorts of massage variations, from pure foot to whole body.

You can usually choose your masseuse, and if you like them you can request the same one whenever you come. Obviously since this was our first time there we let our guide choose for us. All the rooms have tv's, and nice comfy arm chairs that recline all the way back. Theres also a menu you can order snacks and drinks from while u'r getting massaged.

The first thing they get you to do is dunk your feet in a bucket of hot water. At the time we went it was still pretty cold in xi'an and my feet were constantly numb, so this in itself was already therapeutic! they then open a sachet full of medicinal herbs and throw it into the bucket with your feet. Looking down at the bucket reminded me of 2 minute instant noodles.
Good thing they do this first since i was feeling a little awkward at having someone have to massage my grotty feet. When the do the foot massage they periodically rubb in some special moisturiser and although most of it is done with their own hands they do sometimes employ a wooden nobby implement to massage. Sebastion the german student was with me when we went, and i felt sorry for the girl massaging his feet since his are so massive!
the price is pretty cheap by western standards (70 yuan or about 17 aus dollars) , but i can't say it's the best massage i've ever had. thailand still wins there. maybe it's because here you keep your clothes on when they do the upper body massage. just doesn't feel the same wtih all those layers of clothes in the way.