Not Your Typical Tourist

A Life Between Two Countries, And All In Between

All In Between

Ni Hao China 8D7N: Why China?

Why China? Friends and family were surprised, hearing about our recent trip to China. China was never in my to-visit list. I am also not a fan of China, and ashamed to admit that I have always looked at the Mainland Chinese in an unfavourable light.

Meeting Zhou Minghu in Kathmandu, Nepal

Flashback to a few years back somewhere in between Hanoi and Lao Cai, Sapa in Vietnam, two Chinese guys helped me and bf when our train got stranded in the middle of nowhere. No English spoken; we had no idea what was going on. These guys happened to speak Vietnamese, and got the necessary info from train officers. They translated the info to me in Chinese. Not only that, they treat me (fellow Chinese) as their 大姐 (big sister), and helped me without me having to ask. The situation was chaotic, as passengers were scrambling for other options. These guys arranged for a vehicle, negotiated for a good price and made sure that we got onto the vehicle safe and sound.

Last year, Zhou Minghu, a Chinese photographer we met in Kathmandu, Nepal opened our eyes to Chinese’s hospitality and the beautiful landscape via his photos.

To know someone is to love her. To learn and to accept, something that I’ve always preached .. and isn’t that what travel is all about? To learn about other people’s culture and way of living? After spending a week in China, I have grown to understand the Chinese’s culture. And really, once you adapt to their behaviour (and-is-it-necessary-to-speak-so-loud?), they are really decent human beings.

Getting that perfect picture
Getting that perfect picture

In their country, no one bats an eye lid when they speak loudly. Neither people react to their “creative way” of getting the best shot of that god-damn statue. No, others will just raise their voice accordingly … and mimic exactly the other person’s action. Weird, but true.

Are rules are made to be broken?

‘No smoking’ sign means nothing to them. They literally smoke every where.

The thing is, is that they do not realise that their behaviour is a taboo outside China.

At Wulingyuan, a guy on a motorbike saw us looking lost .. he made an u-turn to see if he can help us. He pointed the direction to us, and then drove off. At Wulingyuan hostel, we didn’t show up on our first night of booking .. not only we were only charged for the second night of stay, the owner was more concerned about our well-being, than not making the profit.

I used to be a ‘hater’, but I ain’t no more. But, I’ll really appreciate if they can speak softly … *chuckle

Not Your Typical Tourist

Travel opens up a whole new world, which is cliche but true. I am a strong advocate for independent and solo travel. I was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia but now live in Bangkok, Thailand, resulted from a chance encounter in 2009 with my why-are-you-Thai bf. I am now split between two countries. One country for my bf, another for the family, for the occasional weekend together.

4 thoughts on “Ni Hao China 8D7N: Why China?

  • Queenofbee

    Ni hao!

    • Notyourtypicaltourist

      Wo hao. Ni hao ma?

  • I think it is just their culture, talk very loud and rude. Maybe next time, we can go China together.

    • Notyourtypicaltourist

      So that we can practice our broken Mandarin together? : )

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