When I was in Hongkong, it gave me the feel of being in a completely different country. They have a different language, different character set, different currency, different TV channels, different outlets, and they drive on the left! After 1997 Hongkong became a special administrative region of the PRC. With a population of “only” over 6 million inhabitants it still feels very very crowded due to an extreme density of over 6000/km².
More »
Guilin is a very beautiful medium sized city (population ~1 million) situated in Southern China in Guangxi, the Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Li River (漓江) passes Guilin and a very beautiful natural landscape surrounds it. No wonder there is the proverb 桂林山水甲天下 (guì lín shān shuǐ jiǎ tiān xià) which means that the mountains and the water, read the landscape, of Guilin are the best on earth. Thus it is a very popular destination for foreign tourists and you will easily see many foreigners in the city, which is not so common for medium sized cities in China. From the city you can already see the beautiful surrounding mountains which remind you of those ancient Chinese paintings with mountains and rivers. Furthermore Guilin has many ethnic groups, especially the Zhuang (壮族).
More »
The biggest city in China with more than 31 million people! It is one of the four municipalities that don’t belong to a province, apart from Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. It is also one of the hottest cities in China. With its location in the center of China far away from the seaside it can get as hot as 40°C in summer.
The Chongqing dialect is similar to Sichuan dialect. It is also quite hard to understand, mostly because their intonation of the words is very different from mandarin. That is also why Sichuan dialect sounds a bit like singing to me (but that’s just me) and it is very nice to listen too…
The people in Sichuan are known for their spicy food. Famous for Chongqing is its Chongqing Hotpot (重庆火锅, zhòng qìng huǒ guō). A hot pot is where you have a pot with usually red spicy boiling water in the middle of the table, and then you cook all kinds of meat, sea food and vegetables in there. But pay attention, it is extremely spicy!
As I mentioned Chongqing is the biggest city in China. So this is what buying a train ticket would look like over there…
Let’s better not have to stand in line there…
Another huge metropolis and as opposite to Beijing rather the economic center of China. There the Expo2010 will be held. By the way, its cute mascot which can already be seen everywhere, reminds me of a detergent advertisement @@. When you look at a map of Shanghai you will realize that it is much more chaotic and unstructured as opposite to Beijing, where the streets form a very even grid. The Huangpu River (黄埔江) goes through Shanghai and divides it into the two areas Pudong (浦东, east of the river) and Puxi (浦西, west of the river).
The Shanghai dialect or Shanghainese (上海话) is much harder to understand than Beijing dialect. For example Hello 你好 is pronunced as “non ho” and Goodbye 再见 is pronunced as “tzeiwei”. Furthermore it is spoken very fast, and that’s why they also tend to speak Mandarin very fast.
The view from The Bund (外滩) on the Huangpu River and Pudong is very famous. There one also sees the Oriental Pearl TV Tower (东方明珠). Furthermore the Nangjing Road (南京路) is a very big, famous (and expensive) shopping street where many tourists like to go.
Any expert on famous Shanghainese food? Please let me know ;-)
(click to enlarge)
A view from the Bund on the skyline of Pudong:
The famous shopping street Nanjing Road:
A rural old suburb of Shanghai:
The capital and political center of China and the host of the Olympic Games 2008. The weather is considered “dry” in comparison to other cities. Winter usually has snow and in addition a very freezing cold wind. The spring is known for its sand storms (->风沙), so at that time you’ll see many people with masks. In summer it gets hot and humid with about 30 degrees, which can be unusual for foreigners from cooler regions. The autumn is probably the favorite season for many people, without icy winds or sandstorms, but instead a very agreeable temperature.
Mandarin (普通话, pǔ tōng huà) and Beijing dialect (北京话, běi jīng huà) are spoken here. Note that Beijing dialect does NOT equal Mandarin, even though it is similar to it and thus not difficult to understand for people who know Mandarin. Most notably Beijing dialect has the -er (儿) ending which they like to put at the end of words and sentences however often possible ;-) It is comparable to a southern dialect in the US.
北京烤鸭 Peking duck is very famous. The historic restaurant 全聚德 (quán jù dé) is probably the best known restaurant for its Peking duck.
The TianAnMen Square (天安门, lit. “Gate of heavenly peace”) is in the very center of the city and served as the front entrance to the Imperial City.
The Great Wall (长城) can be reached from Beijing in approximately one hour. Especially the Badaling section (八达岭长城) is a popular destination for tourists.
Here I’m going to introduce some well-known cities in China (in no particular order). This might help tourists who are planning to travel to China, and give them some general information about the city they will visit.
Related or not so related posts:A few weeks ago I came back from a trip to China with some of my German friends. They didn’t know a tiny bit of Chinese at first and still came around without major problems and enjoyed themselves. However, curious as they were, I taught them some Chinese and we soon realized how much more agreeable it was for foreign travelers with just a couple phrases of Chinese knowledge. So we figured out a Survival Chinese for Travelers:
1. 不要 (bù yào)
This is probably the most important phrase for you to memorize. It’s not hard, it only has two syllables, so keep it in mind! Its meaning is “No, I don’t want!”. Let me explain: as a Foreigner in China you are like a magnet, especially to people who want to sell things to you. If you don’t mind it, it’s ok. But after some days you will probably get annoyed at the herds of Chinese trying to sell maps, souvenirs, chopsticks, food, bags, clothes, etc. etc. to you. This is where phrase No.1 comes into place. When you see those salespersons approaching you, just keep on walking bravely, keep your eyes straight ahead and don’t give them the slightest notice (this is very crucial for success!) and when you pass them say it! “BuYao!” Don’t be afraid that they won’t understand you, because they will! It is very easy to pronounce and we tried it in several cities across China. If they still don’t give up or you want to make absolutely sure, simply add a “No English!” and they will give up and disappear.
2. 干杯 (gàn bēi)
Ok, this point is arguable, because it is more for fun. But I live in Germany and this is often the first phrase people want to learn. It means “Cheers!”. Actually it means dry the cup, but it is used for “Cheers!”. And when you are in southern Cantonese speaking regions it is “Yam Zao”. This is what someone there told us and we found it very funny because we memorized it with the German “Schlammsau”.
3. 埋单 (mǎi dān)
This means that you want to pay. Note that it can also be written as 买单 which is pronounced the same way. When you are at the restaurant and want to leave, you raise your hand and call the waiter to your table. Just look and wave around and try to catch their attention. You can also call out by saying 服务员 (fú wù yuán). But usually there are so many waiters that in a few seconds someone will be there if you did it right. Then you just say “mǎi dān” and they will understand. And when you pay, remember that you don’t tip in China.
4. The usual stuff
Of course then there is also the usual stuff like Hello, Bye, etc. which are really basic and some people just like to know them. However, I think that they are not really useful, because you won’t get the chance to use them when you are in a foreign travel group. Maybe you can say thanks to the taxi driver a few times, but I don’t think they really care. And you could also start greeting random people, but that is just for fun and after the greeting the conversation usually ends. But here is still a list of some basic phrases that people like to know:
However, if you really want to connect and communicate with the locals don’t expect that a few sentences are enough. Then you have to either learn Chinese or (the easier way) find someone who speaks English. And trust me, there are many Chinese who want to practice their English with you.
Related or not so related posts: