When people ask me what China is like, how it is to travel to China, my answer is generally the following: it was a tiring journey and it put me to the test. People look at me a little surprised, maybe we always expect to be told how much we liked or disliked a country, I don’t know. How positively the culture of that place hit us.
Being a traveler for some time now, I am aware that each place visited arouses different sensations in us, which can vary according to our mood, a particular phase of our life, or the people we meet on our way, the climatic conditions found, a series of variables that will inevitably condition that journey.
WHAT ARE THE FACTORS THAT MADE MY TRIP DIFFICULT AND NOT ALWAYS APPRECIABLE?
1 – THE SENSE OF ISOLATION
I never felt alone like during that month spent in China, lonely surrounded by millions of people. Often, when I was at the station and on the trains, I was the only foreigner surrounded by millions of Chinese, who obviously could not communicate with me. In general, being the only foreigner among so many locals is an aspect I am looking for because I believe that a more authentic journey is the one where you mix yourself with the locals. I’ve always looked for the different, but at the same time, I like to meet some foreigners along the way with whom to share stories and difficulties, however, during my trip to China, every time I found myself in stations as large as airports, without knowing where to go, every time I spent hours on the trains in economy class, I never met anyone. Fortunately, once I arrived in the various destinations, I met other travelers with whom I shared excursions/trips, as well as impressions of the country, and talking with them, I discovered that I was not the only one to feel like this, and this obviously consoled me. The sense of isolation is therefore an aspect not to be underestimated and to consider if you are deciding to take a trip to this huge country, especially if you are traveling alone like me.
2 – THE CULTURAL ASPECTS
I have met many people who have helped me and have been kind to me, although we could not communicate, however beyond curiosity, in general, Chinese people will never try to approach the foreigner, nor will they seek contact and will hardly show empathy. Other cultural aspects make everything more difficult and sometimes exhausting. For the first time, I found myself in a country where I preferred to meet fewer local people. But in fact, it is impossible. The Chinese are used to traveling in a group. Especially if you are visiting the highlights of the country, prepare to be surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of people. 98% of Chinese tourism is made up of the Chinese themselves. Large buses that move from one part of the country to another and that you will see parked outside the sites. They are rowdy, they eat continuously, made lots of photos; they’re also shrewd and often when you are in line they will try to overcome you as if you did not exist. So the only thing you can do is be patient and be smart!
3 – LANGUAGE BARRIER
The trip to China was not for me the first in a country whose language I was unfamiliar with. It is difficult but feasible and I believe that despite the language barriers it can make interaction with the local population more difficult, curiosity and the right approach can help to reduce this gap. But the Chinese are not very curious, or at least not enough to approach a traveler. Given the minimum number of travelers on certain long-distances trains, the traveler is probably just something to talk with friends and relatives about. This is probably due to the awareness that not knowing the English language and me the Chinese language, communication would have been very difficult and this is perceived even when dealing with the staff of the accommodations you’re staying and train stations. Fortunately, on several occasions, I happened to meet young people who could speak English or wanted to learn it better, and they were very interesting meetings because on both sides we had the opportunity to ask each other many questions, I to get to know the country in which I was better and better understand some aspects (dictatorship and limited freedom on the web and in information for example), them to better understand the world and the culture where I come from. Except for a few cases, the Chinese guesthouse or hostel managers were also super nice and nice.
4 – FOOD
As I am vegetarian, the searches for food was for me like a hunt, sometimes easy, sometimes exhausting. Although I prepared myself with phrases like “I’m a vegetarian”, “I don’t eat meat, I don’t eat fish”, “I only eat vegetables”, it was hard to make myself understood, and sometimes, especially at the beginning, my main meal was reduced to rice, with herbs, barely visible, that’s all. But with the passing of the days, it went better and better and I realized soon how much the Chinese cuisine is very varied, and above all, it changes according to the provinces. Finally, I was able to taste foods and streets food with curiosity and joy.
5 – TRAVEL AND LONG DISTANCES
Traveling in China means having to deal with a set of procedures which, if not known, can somewhat destabilize. Whichever means of transport you take, metro or train, you will have to go through the baggage check, when you enter a station for the first time, you will not have the faintest idea, where to go, what to do, it will take you some time to orient yourself in the immense stations or more generally with the system of rules in force. Traveling in China means traveling to one of the largest countries in the world and this is an aspect that should be remembered and that I probably underestimated too. Let’s say that despite my travel arrangements, I decided to visit different places, present in different provinces. This is because the cost of the visa is not low, and therefore I wanted to take advantage of it as much as possible, under one condition, not to take any plane because I would rather have preferred to remove someplace from my itinerary. If you are a low-cost traveler like me and decide to travel in the economy class, then prepare for long and endless travel on rigid seats and obviously not very comfortable. Get ready to see Chinese eating, instant meat or noodles next to you.
I guess you may be wondering, who made you do it? The answer is really simple. The desire to explore, to know new places and cultures, that is for me the push enough to make me want, long to leave, that only feeling of putting the backpack on your shoulders, a one-way ticket, ready for adventure, intoxicated with an indescribable sense of freedom! Why China? Well, maybe you will understand better in the next post!