There are a few things I have learned after a week in mainland China：
1. Everyone seems to be younger than they seem. As soon as I assumed the small, slim photographer who took our family pictures was barely 30, she turned out to be 40 years old and a mother to boot. Likewise, I met one of my distant cousins, who, fresh-faced and smiley with a short mushroom haircut and no make-up, looked to be about my age. She in fact just graduated from college. Oddly, everybody actually thinks I’m in my mid-twenties instead of just 17. What a foreigner I am.
2. After the initial hello and pleasantries about the weather, Chinese guests greet each other with either “you seem thinner” or, just as acceptably, “you look fatter”. I can already imagine the horrified reactions a greeting like that would garner in America (or, indeed, any other part of the world). But it was refreshing to hear everybody speak so frankly.
3. Sea cucumber is a delicacy. The animal is black, with small tentacles that resemble soft spikes, and is shaped (surprise) like a cucumber. It’s slippery and almost jelly-like in consistency after being cooked and tastes like, well, nothing. My family has been invited to too many fancy meals with too many old friends that I can’t seem to remember, and as grateful as I am for their generosity, I have eaten one at almost every meal and am continually baffled by the interest in this tasteless wormy sea creature.
4. Speaking of fancy meals, in China fancy restuarants are typically in the same building as fancy hotels. There are hostesses, waitresses and other personnel that seem to be a mixture of the two standing around, bowing as you walk by and saying “Welcome, customers”. When my family was being led up to our room in one particularly nice restuarant, at every few steps the hostess indicated the floor with her hand and reminded us to be mindful of another step. The employees at these restuarants, I have realized, state the obvious quite often and are very focused on their jobs. Or I’m just not used to the treatment at these high-class eateries.
5. The pollution actually is quite bad here, and noticeably so. After a week in Qingdao, there was only a half-day of sunshine and blue sky. Otherwise, the skies are gray and foggy; in the mornings I could barely see across the street, and even when the sky cleared, the pale blue didn’t come close to the vivid cerulean color of the sky back home.
6. Grocery shopping is a daily thing. Fresh produce is a must. Breakfast is never ignored; in fact, it’s just as important as lunch or dinner, with multiple dishes. Rarely is pre-packaged food, like cereal, served. The closest I’ve seen to processed food is sliced bread, and half the time that comes fresh from a bakery. There also is some sort of corner store at every corner with fresh produce. Sounds redundant, but literally.
7. It seems to be common knowledge that China’s population is huge, but seeing it is another matter. Qingdao has a population of about 8 million, compared to Houston’s 2 million. However, the huge ocean that is Beijing holds over 19 million people, making Qingdao look like a pond and Houston barely a puddle. At any given street corner or plaza, people are milling about, walking, chatting. Everybody seems absorbed in their own business at first glance, hurrying in different directions and dressed differently, in unorthodox combinations like heels and sweats or tennis shoes and evening dresses. What amazes me is how easily street vendors strike up conversation with their customers not related to their products; the way taxi drivers tell their passengers about the city without prompting but simply because they enjoy sharing. Sometimes it seems that with forced contact and crowding, the people here actually stop to care about a stranger’s life.
Note: Senior County Line co-editor, Amy Yu, is traveling to China this summer and will post story updates on her experiences.
