Subject: (25) Steve Hay's answer to Have foreigners changed the way they think about China after visiting? - Quora
https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quora.com%2FHave-foreigners-changed-the-way-they-think-about-China-after-visiting%2Fanswer%2FSteve-Hay-6&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfdfc957caf174ba21a2608d767dd119e%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637092071483802283&sdata=cI2m38VsJXo0eXpuX8KiDjz3pluauovmt5DYAr0ube0%3D&reserved=0 Have foreigners changed the way they think about China after visiting? <https://www.quora.com/Have-foreigners-changed-the-way-they-think-about-China-after-visiting> <https://www.quora.com/profile/Steve-Hay-6> Steve Hay <https://www.quora.com/profile/Steve-Hay-6>, lived in Edmonton, AB Answered October 30, 2019 <https://www.quora.com/Have-foreigners-changed-the-way-they-think-about-China-after-visiting/answer/Steve-Hay-6> I have visited China twice now. Once two years ago and again just recently where I visited among other places - Tibet. My first trip was the most eye opening. I wasn’t sure how safe it would be. I was surprised at so many things. 1. China is safe. Safer than my city. Safer than almost anywhere in North America. Their security camera systems are simply amazing. So if someone robs you, attacks you or anything illegal - they can see it from many different angles and track people down. I walked through many a back alley late at night without any concern. I felt a level of safety in China that simply is not anywhere in North America. 2. China is professional. I never had an official look down on me or come to me looking for a reason to get me in trouble. In China people are taught about responsibility and accountability. So when I dealt with any official whether security, police, customs or military they are focused on what they are responsible for. And as long as I acted courteously with them they did with me. I’ve had police before in North America with the big “I’m gonna teach this boy a lesson” attitude looking for trouble, but in China this simple does not exist. Everyone is there doing their job and being responsible for just that. I found it was efficient and always professional. 3. “Walk” at a crosswalk means take a good look then if it’s safe - carefully cross. This varies a bit per city but going through traffic is certainly an adventure :) You do get used to the flow of people and traffic then it’s get to be normal to you. And yes, scooters love to drive on the sidewalks. You quickly learn to pay attention! 4. There are no credit cards in China. It’s all WeChat. Unfortunately my account is crippled now from putting more funds on because of being a foreigner. Which is too bad because the app is so forward thinking and advanced compared to anything else I’ve seen or used. 5. The food is amazing, commit yourself to trying everything. I tried a LOT of things I previously never could imagine trying as a Westerner. I just told myself “It’s obviously not killing people here - so it won’t kill you” and just went for it. Some foods I never expected to enjoy I simply loved there. Some of the best food I’ve ever experienced was in China. And the quality of food and size of restaurant aren’t necessarily correlated. Look for crowds. 6. People smoke… a lot, and everywhere. This was probably the hardest part for me about travelling around China. I struggled to enjoy the amazing food there because people are smoking at the tables all around me. People smoke almost everywhere and this I didn’t like. I wrote a blog of my travels - if you’re ever interested in my experience with China. I went with an open mind and it was an incredible adventure. https://travellingsteveo.wordpress.com/ Unfortunately after the first entry you have to read bottom up. Sorry about that... https://travellingsteveo2.wordpress.com/2019/09/04/part-1/ This blog I built properly - second time the charm. I could easily live there if I felt I could contribute (and if my Mandarin wasn’t so bad). I truly breaks my heart to see the incredibly mangling both Canadian and American governments are with diplomacy to China. Don’t put blinders on from the media bias, and you’ll see an amazing country with many incredible people. In China I realized that we have become the backwards culture. We could learn so much from what they are doing right. Which is a LOT.
