12 Observations from 12 Days in China
I recently completed my first trip to Asia in which I visited three Chinese cities: Shanghai, Beijing, and Hangzhou. These are my observations.
- China: Car Manufacturer?
I fancy myself as a bit of a car enthusiast, and I know of a lot of car manufacturers not found in the US — or so I thought. Left and right, I continually saw cars I have never seen in my life. BYD? BAIC Group? Zotye Domy!? I don’t know what they are, but they look goooood.
I’d guess that maybe 85% of the cars in Shanghai and Beijing are either German, Chinese, or American. You don’t see as many manufacturers from Japan or South Korea.
Also, Buick is popular in China — who would have guessed it? They make models in China I’ve never seen, which — in my opinion — look better than their US counterparts.
2. Stuck in the middle (class) with you
Being an American tourist does not make you wealthy in Asia.
You’ve heard your friends say things like this before: “I’m going to Asia, and I’m going to live like royalty!” This has some validity in specific areas of Asia, but it is certainly not true for major Chinese cities.
China has a strong middle class that continues to grow. I recently visited a large mall for locals in Beijing’s residential Haidian District. My initial impression was that the area doesn’t look too wealthy.
Firstly, I noticed a local parking lot: Audi, Porsche, BYD, Tesla, (insert new, sexy car here).
Interesting…
Then, inside of the mall (more on that later), I saw of frenzy of people barraging a Polo pop-up store in the middle of the mall. The words “sale” and “60%-80% off” were written in every direction. My American biases led me to believe that these shirts were being sold for dirt cheap prices well below US levels. They’re made in China anyway, right? That’s why these Chinese people who make less money than Americans are scrambling to buy these bargains.
Nope.
Even with the 60%-80% discounts, these prices were very comparable to US outlet prices. ~$30 for a polo shirt. ~$40 for a dress shirt. And so forth.
Too pricey for me. I looked elsewhere.
3. Subway to Heaven
Public transportation and “ew” are practically synonymous in the US, especially in the Bay Area. In Shanghai, which has about three times the population of New York City, it was a cheap, outstanding delight.
Shanghai’s subway system is not only the longest in the world, but it may be the best. Why?
- The lines and transfer points are easy to read and understand, even for foreigners.
- The tickets are cheap (most one way tickets cost me approximately 30 cents).
- Subway staff is everywhere.
- Each entrance to each station has a security checkpoint
- The subway cars are clean, and they each have live maps of the train and it’s route. Each station has serviceable public restrooms
- The train intervals are typically 2–4 minutes (for comparison — SF BART intervals are 15 minutes at peak times if nothing has broken down or failed that day — BIG IF)
- The subway line is connected to every major airport and train station
Within one day, I was able to navigate Shanghai like a local. Several days later, I’m still in awe.
For comparison, this is the most reasonable cost effective way to get from my home in San Jose to SFO Airport: Uber Pool to San Jose Diridron CalTrain station. CalTrain to Millbrae. Transfer to BART. Take BART to SFO. Take SFO tram to appropriate terminal 😑 Painful.
4. What’s a white person?
Shanghai, Beijing, and Hangzhou collectively have a population of over 50 million people. They have their fair share of white tourists. However, I still met plenty of people (likely tourists from smaller Chinese cities) who have never talked to a white American or European. We somehow managed to communicate through a mix of broken English and broken Mandarin.
Aren’t we adorable?
The result was me achieving mini-celebrity status and being asked to take photos with people, especially in Hangzhou where Americans are a rarity. Most of the time, though, people attempted to take stealthy selfies with me in the background 😂
5. Meds are affordable, coffee is not
When I’m on vacation, I drink a lot of coffee. About 4–5 times a day — Starbucks, Costa Coffee, local coffee shops — everything!
And you know what? These cappuccinos are costing the same in China as they do in the US, sometimes more.
Let’s put $5 cappuccinos in context though. My quick Google search tells me that the average person in Las Vegas, NV, makes about four times as much than the average person in Shanghai.
That’s like paying $20 for a cappuccino! It’s for the rich.
Meds on the other hand? I started developing an ear infection during the trip and sought to remedy it immediately. I visited a local Beijing pharmacy and received antibiotic drops for less than $2 without a prescription.
Again — for context — the same drops would have cost me about $30 (with insurance) and an additional visit to the doctor to receive a prescription for the drops. Without insurance or without meeting my deductible, that visit would be about $250. Yikes.
(This isn’t a political statement on healthcare or ideology — just facts)
6. Debunking American myths about China
The two most prevalent things I was told before I visited China:
“Careful what you eat! Everything is much dirtier over there!”
“It’s not safe. People will easily steal your phones and wallets.”
To some extent, these statements could have validity. Then again, that could be said for any place, depending on the vendor or the neighborhood.
My experience?
Food: I by no means ate at fancy restaurants. My meals averaged maybe $11 per person. I avoided street vendors but I ate at local eateries. The cooks usually wore hats and gloves. And nowhere did I feel that conditions were filthy. I’m notorious for becoming quite ill on vacations, but not here!
Safety: Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I felt as safe as I did in China. Cops were everywhere. People were nice and helpful. Underground walkways and subway stations were well lit. And security cameras… everywhere! I veered away from tourist-ridden areas and still felt safe. The worst was probably taxi drivers trying to scam me for a few extra bucks here and there — that’s it!
How many cameras do you see on the lamppost above? 7?
7. One billion to employ
This is likely a result of its communist / socialist roots, but China has done a good job of finding employment for its one billion plus residents — at least from what I could see.
As I mentioned in this article, the two of the longest subway systems are in China. Each entrance to each station has several security guards at the security check point. Then you have service stations. Then workers at each platform. That’s a lot of jobs!!
I noticed the same thing in other areas too. There are people cleaning the streets in every direction. Three ladies walked around the food court of a mall doing nothing but cleaning tables. Most stores also likely had more clerks than necessary.
From a capitalism perspective, it’s a terrible way to manage a business by having unnecessary workers. But here, the goal is different. It’s to employ an extremely large nation. And that they do.
8. You don’t need paper towels, napkins, nor tissues
That’s a lie. I do. I need them all. And a lot of them! However, China doesn’t seem to agree.
Coffee shops frequently have sugar, stir sticks, etc. No napkins.
Bathrooms? Rarely have paper towels (and even toilet paper sometimes).
Some places give you a napkin, but a very small one that serves more as a tease than it does as a useful item.
At one restaurant, my hands were filthy and I asked for a napkin. I was referred to the cashier who sold small packs of tissues to the public.
Why is this? I’m not really sure. But I learned a pro tip: always stay strapped with napkins and tissues!
9. QR Code everything
China runs on QR codes.
I don’t think I’m even exaggerating too much with that statement. Wifi? Scan this QR code. Learn more about any advertisement? Scan that QR code. Pay for bus fare? QR code that bad boy too.
As I’m writing this story, I’m looking at this:
Many vendors I visited accepted WeChat pay (QR code based payment) but not MasterCard or Visa. It was quite the surprise for which I was not prepared.
10. Malls are back in style, y’all!
I remember reading articles years ago how malls were slowly dying in the US as they began expanding rapidly in China. These articles were spot-on.
For one, they’re everywhere. Downtown for tourists and residential districts for locals (these are my favorite).
The large mall I frequented in the residential Haidian District of Beijing was my favorite. The eastern most corner had nothing but high-end apparel and accessories. The remaining 80% was a mix of mid-tier Chinese and foreign brands and restaurants as you’d expect.
However, this mall was also seemingly built as a getaway for the entire family to complete everyday activities. For example, mom could visit one of the many hair salons while dad shops in the large grocery store in the basement and while grandma plays with the kids at the rock climbing gym on the ground floor.
I’m not sure how to explain it, but malls seem to be more directed toward everyday life compared to the malls we see in the US, which are built for tourists or rare excursions for families. Be sure to visit at least a few and see if you agree.
11. Different classes, same road
In every large metropolitan area, there is a clear divide between the rich and the not so wealthy. Beverly Hills, for example, is flooded with $100,000 sports cars and multi-million dollar mansions in gated communities. Compton? Not so much.
Though there is a clear divide in China as well, there is a lot more co-mingling than I would have imagined. So many times I’ve seen an elderly man riding an unstable 20-year old motorized tricycle transporting his family of three followed by a brand new Mercedes E Class on the same road.
Too rich or dirt poor, they’re sharing the same road.
12. You don’t need to speak Mandarin to explore China
Really, you don’t. Though less locals spoke English than I imagined, it wasn’t that difficult. Why? So many signs are written in both Mandarin and English. Street names. Subway maps. Mall directories. Restaurant menus (sometimes). For everything else, there’s Google Translate.
I speak very, very little Mandarin and had little trouble using public transit, ordering food, visiting attractions, etc. If you’re on the fence about visiting because of the language barrier, just visit!!
