China: Where No Assumptions Come True
This is a guest post from a Dutch friend of mine that I met via a Couch Surfing get together here in Rotterdam. Having lived for four years in China, she offered to do a guest post for me on the subject – to which of course I readily agreed. It’s an excellent post with a wealth of information, thanks Chantal!
A perpetual motion machine may be a scientific impossibility; but China comes pretty darn close to it. There are always old ladies walking by, children peeing on the street, men hocking up loogies, dogs barking, or cars screeching to a halt in near-collision. It is the only safe bet in this country–there will always be someone around–and there’s actually very little else you can rely on when visiting China. You may think you know what’s coming, only for things to turn around on you when you least expect it.
For example, communist as China is in its core, surprisingly, capitalism runs rampant on the outside about as much as in the imperialist USA. Here too you find 24-hour McDonald’s on city street corners and hip young students whatsapping with their friends. Look closer though: McDonald’s sells shrimp burgers and the students are using a Chinese knock-off version called QQ. Nothing is at it seems in China and that’s why the number one, numero uno, “di yi” rule is: never assume. What does that mean practically?
Never Assume That Someone Will Be Around Who Speaks English
China Bus Stop Line Overview; Good Luck Figuring This Out
In practice:
At all times, know in Chinese where you’re going and where you came from. Of course, you could write it down phonetically, but this tonal language may stump even the most linguistically inclined. Much better would be to get a Chinese person to write down information in characters, which you can then show to the cab driver or desk clerk.
Hotels and hostels have business cards on the check-in counter with their (Chinese) address and phone number, so grab one right away as they can be a life-saver. Also, before buying a travel guide or map look carefully whether it shows locations and streets in double or triple: Chinese characters, pinyin (transliteration) and preferably also an English translation. Next, try to pick up some useful Chinese characters as you go along.
For example, 北 is north, 南 is south, 东 is east, 西 is west, which helps a lot since they use these frequently in street names. A final tip is to get a visual dictionary, either the wonderful Mandarin Chinese-English visual dictionary from DK Publishing or more practically a Point It booklet.
Never Assume That You’re Getting A Fair Deal
“Laowai” (old ones from abroad) will get ripped off; it’s inevitable. They assume that your un-Asian skin means you’ve got money, and compared to them this is generally a fair assumption, but nobody likes to pay too much more than the locals. Hone your bargaining skills because you’ll need them at the markets and sometimes to get around. Haggling in China is generally a friendly affair. Whatever you do, don’t lose your temper as that would be the biggest loss of face for both you and the seller. Keep smiling and bargain hard.
In practice:
Become familiar with the Chinese gestures for numbers 1-10 as this will greatly help your bargaining even if you don’t speak Chinese. Official taxis must use the meter, so insist. If you do decide to use an illegal taxi, always agree on the price before you get in and be willing to walk away if you’re not getting the price you want. Realize that the driver’s estimate of the distance tends to be inflated, so if you can, ask a neutral person first how much the ride should cost. In supermarkets and restaurants prices tend to be fixed, but in the market there’s always room to bargain. A general rule of thumb is to start out with 30-50% off the originally quoted price and then end up around 15-20% off.
Never Assume That A Line Is Meant For Waiting
The Chinese don’t like to wait in line, so much will be clear to any visitor of the country. Why don’t they line up, though? There are about as many theories as there are Chinese people. Some say it’s because the Chinese resent it after all the queuing during the Cultural Revolution; others maintain the western individualistic influence has made people selfish. Yet another explanation goes simply that the undereducated jump the line and that Chinese face culture stops anyone from commenting and correcting this behavior. Whatever reason may be behind it, it will at some point happen to you that you are shoved aside on your way to the bus, that you find someone placing their products on the counter before yours at a convenience shop, or that some wrinkled granny butts in front of you to buy her ferry ticket.
In practice:
If queue-barging bothers you, find a way to express your annoyance in private as your interference in Chinese lives is seldom appreciated. The ones who jump the line won’t change their ways because of you, and the ones who don’t, get upset about the bad image China is then presenting to the foreigner. The plus side is, though, that the laowai status can be beneficial in that you are at times magically ushered to the front of a line.
On the whole, the best way to deal with it is to go with the flow, or better said, extend your elbows and go for it.
China - A Quiet Day At The Forbidden City
Never Assume Yes Means Yes
“Do you still have a soft sleeper train ticket to Shanghai?”
“Will there be a bus back at 11.30 pm?”
“Do you have any gungbao chicken?”
“Do you have a direct flight from here to Xi’an?”
All these questions will probably be answered with yes, even if it should be no. In Chinese culture one cannot answer a question with no; instead, they will simply not answer or give you a slightly hesitant yes. It may sound like lying to you, but to them it’s much more polite and it saves face, the number one consideration to any Chinese. As a traveler you probably won’t get enough China exposure to learn to read their no-yesses, so be aware of this phenomenon.
In practice:
Confirm any agreements you make several times, in writing if you can. Stay polite, relaxed, and smile if things turn out to be different from what you thought you had arranged. Becoming upset will have a completely opposite effect to what you hope to accomplish since the Chinese won’t understand your anger. Didn’t they clearly give you a no-yes?
Never Assume That They Sell Western Products For Cheap
China, isn’t that the land where all our stuff is made and everything is cheap? Yes, but considering everything is made for export, it ends up leaving the country and rarely is for sale in China itself. And sure, things can be cheap in China, but realize there’s a whole other level of quality under what we would already consider bad. The phrase “Chinese crap” takes on a completely new meaning in China. If you want similar quality as at home, you’ll pay a similar price. On top of that, technology tends to be a few years behind and western food items are only to be found for inflated prices at specialized western food stores. Western food includes such basics as fresh milk, unsweetened bread, breakfast cereals, butter, pasta, and candy bars. You simply will not find these in regular supermarkets, not even the big ones.
People who think they’re going to score big on clothes or shoes have another surprise coming. Asian fashion is usually not to our taste, but they do have western brand shops as well, so you think you can stock up there. Think again. First of all, the prices are going to be the same or even more than at home, and your size might be simply unavailable. Their sizes are two under ours, so an S here is an L there, and they usually don’t sell much bigger than a large. As far as shoes go, the women’s sizes go to a European 39 and for men it’s 43.
We all know the Chinese are a small people, but you don’t fully realize the implication until your attempt to squeeze into the largest size available has failed miserably.
In practice:
Don’t buy stuff in China. It’s as simple as that. There’s a reason the Chinese themselves flock to Hong Kong for their shopping: it’s cheaper, it’s better, it’s newer. If you have specific dietary requirements, bring these items along from home or surrounding countries. And if those requirements include a regular craving for chocolate, either stock up or prepare to go cold turkey.
7 Responses to “China: Where No Assumptions Come True”
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I’m Chinese born in Canada, and I’m pretty sure I’d be ripped off if I was travelling through China.. just saying..
As a CBC you may get a slightly better deal than the laowai, but that would also depend on your Chinese skills. In general, any traveler gets ripped off when going through China; however, skin color seems to have some effect in determining exactly how much you’d get ripped off.
Nice post – Ive been to China 5 times and love it to be honest – even if you get ripped off its still a hell of a lot cheaper than most countries. I spend a maximum of $10 US a day when in China. Jonny.
Nice one Jonny, I haven’t been to China yet (this was a guest post), but it certainly looks amazing in certain places!
YES/NO.
Europeans and Westerners answer questions with yes or no. But for Asians it is more of “you are correct or incorrect” terms. This is more prominent in the older generations. For certain questions, you would get YES (in Eastern term) and NO (in Western term.) Also in many cases, language context is lost in translation. All some will hear is the actual “word” and will answer based on what the word means. Like “read.” Is it “reeeeead” or “reaaaaad”?
I find it best to stick with the KISS principle. “Keep it simple stupid!” 🙂 Avoid long and complete sentences. Stick with pidgin (short broken form.)
Hey Mike! All great tips there, thanks for adding value to the article. Using Pidgin is always handy in Asia!
I used to be her students, and I must say that this woman is dumb for real. Spent four years in China without acquiring a single Chinese word, keep blaming China everyday, but actually there are tons of Western people working and living in China, what she said is filled with pride and prejudice. She needs to keep in mind the city of Xiamen is much more modern than the city that she is living now.