I thought it might be a fun idea to talk about some thingsand places in China that I found enjoyable or just plain odd. Keep in mind thatwhat I will be talking about is not reflective of China as a whole but solely theplaces that I visited during my time in China.
Food & Drink
McDonald’s – probably one of the strangest experiences herebeing told that milkshakes are a seasonal product, so summer is the only time whenthey are available. Obviously considered a normal thing in China but here inthe UK milkshakes are available year round which made it hard to understand.
Dairy Queen – one place you can always get something cold isDairy Queen and probably one of my favourite places to visit whenever I have achance, I love their Oreo ice-cream. Why this US food chain has not invaded theUK yet is beyond me and I hope to see stores pop up around the country in thefuture.
Pizza Hut- I havehad many bad experiences with Pizza Hut in the UK, as have many others, but PizzaHut in China is like a whole new experience and it’s awesome. Probably the bestpizza I have had is in China, plus they serve things on their menu that the UKjust doesn’t have.
Random Food Stalls – It’s a weird feeling when you find afood stall that you like and then the next day it has a different name and sellsdifferent food but all of the same people work there.
Money
Notes – money is fairly simple to understand, but having notes that are the equivalent to 1p and 5p coins is odd… but there they are. Having said that though I’d much rather have a stack of these meaningless notesthan pockets full of useless coins.
Shops
Taobao – essentially the Chinese version of eBay, incombination with the Chinese postage system things arrive very fast so I tookadvantage of that a few times during my time in China.
Random Shops – a lot of stores all sell the same kind ofstuff, then you find these stores that are similar to Poundland that selleverything. In one particular store I found this interesting item – a NES clonewith a selection of 4-1 game cartridges, the console itself cost only £4.80 andgames 50p each. Shame I already have a NES – I wish I had the space to bring oneof these back!
Travel
Taxis – are cheap. That’s pretty much it.
Motorbikes, Scooters, etc. These apparently aren’t consideredvehicles and you will have to dodge these when you try to cross the road, turning a simple task into more of an obstacle course, they even ride on the pavement/sidewalks! Couple all of that with the image of a whole family of 3+ crammed onto a tinyscooter whizzing around in front of you, it puts a very quizzical look on your face.
For all the little oddities that may exist in China (I’msure UK looks equally as weird) you get used to them, and they even make thetime there more enjoyable.