Limited windows for wi-fi is becoming an issue so I’m going to try to post as often as I can!
This post is going to be about a few cultural differences I noticed during my time in Beijing. I will include separate posts about my time so far in Lijiang and Shangri La.
When I went on my trip to Greece and Italy last year, my professor would constantly remind us, “It’s not bad or weird, it’s just different.” He said that this is a travel quote to live by, and it is definitely applicable for my travels to China thus far. For our first full day in Beijing when we visited the Olympic Park and other areas, I immediately noticed the smog in the city. When I woke up, the sun was barely visible at 7 a.m. The city on this day felt a little dreary to me, in my opinion. However, the next day was very clear, with almost no smog. I began to notice a lot more energy, and I saw a lot more personality of Beijing, including how open the city is and how advanced the modern architecture is. It is very interesting to reflect on the idea that people live here everyday and aren’t just visiting like myself. In Chicago, the weather changes daily. However, in Beijing, the weather can stay the same for two days, but you can have completely different experiences due to things like smog.

Something else that Beijing taught me was how I am going to have to communicate for the rest of my trip. Unlike Greece and Italy, the majority of Chinese do not speak English. Many places even have everything written or advertised in Chinese. This has taught me to act quickly on my feet to come up with methods to effectively communicate. I’ve found out that numbers are pretty universal, therefore, use fingers to display numbers has worked well. Myself and five other students ate at one restaurant that had a completely Chinese menu, however, pointing at menu pictures, combined with a server who had a translating app on her phone, allowed for us to get all of the food that we wanted. Some things that are not as beneficial are using hand motions, like motioning the swipe of a credit card or trying to convey the way a product works. This is not an effective way of communication between English and Chinese.
These cultural differences are extremely interesting to be a part of, and is something I would have never experienced had I not traveled. It’s easy to think that the Chinese act like they are almost in a different world, however, it is just something we are not used to. A culture that thrives like Americans, just differently.