A break from "real" classes for a trip to "Chinese Hawaii"

Andrew, my roommate, and I from the top of the rural version of the Great Wall.

So the Chinese people conveniently have a week long holiday when we should be having our second week of classes, and therefore I spent the last four and a half days in Hainan or what is known as the “Chinese Hawaii.” Unfortunately, the islands aren’t nearly as nice or as clean as Hawaii, and also tend to get typhoons! Furthermore, the trip was planned by the foreign exchange director at South West University known as “Dirty-toothed Di” (as Robb Willett so kindly nicknamed him) and therefore all of the accommodations went significantly downhill since the SPU professors weren’t in charge.

Overall, the food was subpar, we had to buy our own beverages every meal, we switched hotels 3 times, the body wash in the bathroom smelled like urine, we couldn’t put toilet paper down the toilet…, and we spent multiple hours a day riding in a tour bus with a driver who kept loudly grinding the gears when shifting, and a tour guide who spoke broken English. Not exactly the equivalent of spending a weak at a Kannapol’i resort in Maui.

Yet, before I bash the trip too much, I will admit that there were a few redeeming qualities. The first day we were there it was 85 degrees and sunny with warm water and a sandy beach to body surf at and enjoy “cold beverages” with lime for a reasonable price. Also, at one of the hotels we stayed at they had this large round pool that was about a foot deep and had probably close to 1,000 little fish in it and when you put your feet (or your whole body as some of us did) into the pool they gracefully swim up to you and nibble all of the dead/dry skin off your body (while this sounds dangerous, its actually quite relaxing especially since the water is about 80-90 degrees [see pictures]). The closest feeling I can relate it to is having dozens of cat tongues licking you at once – quite ticklish at first but you get used to it.

Another redeeming quality of the trip was driving out to a river that was about an hour from our hotel where we had a giant water war while sitting or standing on these bamboo rafts while natives paddled us down river. This sounded like a waste of time to us at first, but it actually ended up being one of the most exciting activities we did. Furthermore, though it rained off and on a few of the days, we went to the beach for at least a few hours every day and we were able to pool hop (enjoying really nice hotel pools) by playing the “oblivious white American card” and pretending we were hotel guests.

Now it is Friday morning at 10:45AM and I have a three day weekend to let my sunburn heal and get over this cold I’ve been battling for the last week or so. Below I’ve written out some of the observations I have made after a month in China.



Early Observations of Cultural Differences

1. The pedestrian never has the right of way here. Cars, motorcycles, mopeds, and bikes never slow down and wave you across the street even at cross walks. Furthermore, red lights don’t guarantee that people will stop, and people are always honking horns because this is the customary way of telling someone you are passing them. Observing this showed me very quickly why Chinese drivers have so much trouble in the States. It’s not that they’re necessarily bad drivers, they’re just used to a different system.

2. Breakfast food here is disappointing. We’ve had many buffet breakfasts during our travels (some better than others) and most of the time its this bland tasting steamed bread and watery rice porridge along with some gnarly looking steamed vegetables and cold noodles. The most filling food has been hardboiled eggs. Thankfully, however, there are some bakeries here in Bei Bei that make a variety of breakfast pastries, though most of them are quite sweet. Oh what I would give to have French Toast with powdered sugar and bacon on the side or blueberry pancakes with sausage or…. my mouth is starting to water I better stop.

3. Doing laundry is quite frustrating EVERYWHERE we’ve been in China. While food, drinks, and other items are significantly cheaper than the States, doing a load of laundry at a hotel would cost around US$25. Therefore, I bought laundry detergent for about 3.5 yuan or .50 cents in a local 7-11 and washed clothes in the sink/shower for about an hour in our luxurious Shanghai hotel bathroom. This was a bit time-consuming and the clothes took about a day and half to dry, but at least I didn’t waste 175 yuan! Furthermore, laundry at the University isn’t much better. Thankfully it’s free, but the only dryers available are spin dryers that don’t use heat and still leave one’s clothes damp and heavy. Consequently my roommate and I have two clothes lines in our room and have also hung some clothes outside on the second floor balcony. (pictures below)

4. Taxis are very cheap here especially when multiple people are riding with you. We took over a dozen taxi rides in Beijing and most of them cost around 20-25 yuan to get anywhere within 5 miles. Split 3-4 ways, one typically spends less than $1 per ride. Additionally, the underground subway systems in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing are phenomenal. In Hong Kong it would cost maybe $1.50-2.00 to get all the way across town, and in Beijing you can go anywhere in the city for 2 yuan or around 30 cents! (The buses only cost 1 yuan and were also convenient.)

5. Eating at a restaurant is different here. Besides the obvious difference in dishes, almost every meal is family style. Additionally, in Bei Bei at the university you can get a delicious meal for about 10 yuan a person (about US$1.50) – that same meal would cost about $10-15 in the States. Plus it is not customary to tip here so meals are even cheaper. And, while cheap Chinese meals are often tasty, unfortunately there isn’t a lot of variety.

6. There are a lot of people in China. Smoking is prevalent in China. Smoking is legal practically anywhere in China. Therefore one runs into the smell of smoke almost anywhere including inside our dormitory, on the bus, at restaurants at the table next to you, in the elevator, inside hotel rooms, etc.

7. While the Chinese people have adopted multiple western ideas, for some reason they have yet to succumb to the idea of the Western Style toilet. They have what we call squatters or “squattie potties.” Thankfully I have yet to use one, though with some of the food over here you never know when you’ll have to go!

8. Finally, the majority of Chinese people have no concept of God. Providence, sovereign grace, and God’s will are completely unknown concepts for them. Instead, they talk about luck, good fortune, and happiness. For instance one of our professors on the first day of class said “I hope you are very lucky in China and lucky in life.” And another said “I hope you have a happy journey in China.” This is clearly a different philosophy on life and has no doubt proven to be a tough barrier for missionaries trying to reach the Chinese people with the Gospel (more on that later).