Asianbabies: 3rd day in China

February 3^rd, 2012

It is now day 3 in Beijing. I have noticed a lot of differences between China and America. They are very subtle at times and then very noticeable at others. For example there is no drinking age here. Things are smaller like car width and doorways are shorter. Supermarkets and malls are humongous. We went to a seven floor mall today. The food is different in China. They serve traditional Chinese food but it is cooked differently and they serve a lot more of exotic foods. They serve a lot of duck and lamb and even sea cucumber and bullfrog. I tried duck for the first time yesterday and it is actually pretty good. It tastes different but I can’t explain how. They also have cigarettes on the menu in restaurants. The plates are half the size in Restaurants in Beijing, people eat less.

This morning we had a lecture on the History of China. It was very general and we basically learned that England and Japan both tried to invade China.

We explored Beijing Daxue’s campus. It is truly very beautiful. The architecture is traditional Chinese style with a mix of modern, western architecture styles.

In China the traffic is insane. Cars do not stop for pedestrians whatsoever. Last night some of my classmates and I went out to get dinner at a pizza place. The pizza is actually good here. We went to a pizza place because it had an English menu and because it was recommended by past students. I had to call the pizza place and ask if they spoke English in Chinese. Luckily someone did speak English, because we got lost and I had to call and ask for directions. On our way to the pizza place we were crossing the street on a green light with the little walking man sign and a car making a right turn on the red light almost ran us over when we were crossing the cross walk. It was very stressful and very scary.

Today we went to the Chinese “Silicon valley” Electronic supermarket. They have real products and fake products and pirated software and what not. On our way there we almost got ran over by taxis who don’t stop for anything or anyone. People also honk their horns whenever they can. I have been honked at about ten times already just when walking around the campus because they don’t have very good sidewalks.

In China, even though people speak English, it is not respectful to speak to people in English. And I also find that once I start speaking in Chinese, people continue to speak to me in Chinese. A lot of people at shops don’t speak English. Most educated people in China who attend universities speak English really well.

Some funny things in China:

This is the Library at Beijin Daxue, the architecture is very magnificent

This is a sign that says "No trumpets" Just kidding. It means don't honk your car horn, just an example for how many people honk their horns, that they need signs to tell them not to honk.

A woman was watching these cats because she gave them food. Some of many of the stray cats on our campus.

This is just a really beautiful building on campus.

This is a really famous lake called No Name Lake, it is famous because a long time ago a poet committed suicide in it. Not sure about the full story. Anyways, it is frozen over so people were walking on it and some people were playing ice hockey. It may have been unsafe, but it was a lot of fun.