So here is a list of what I'm going to miss about living in China. This is not just a post for other people to read, but also a bit of a brainstorm for me and an exercise in appreciating the present so this list might be a bit all over the place but thank you for your attention nonetheless.
1. Street food - Street food in China is amazing! In Xi'an there is the Muslim District which is one of my favourite places to sample lots of different delicious foods and drinks. I prefer not to eat meat which limits my options, but luckily tofu is very popular in China and there are so many different types available. My favourite street foods in the Muslim District are fried baby potatoes (炸小洋芋), 'fried' yoghurt (炒酸奶), and fried tofu with spring onion and chili (炸豆腐). I'm only just realising now that these are all fried but yes welcome to Chinese food haha. In other parts of the city I love the fried noodles (炒面) you can buy on the streets, and the breakfast wrap with egg, lettuce and a fried cracker thing (煎饼果子) which I like to buy in the mornings. Oh and you can't forget the fresh hot soy milk!
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| Muslim District at night |
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| 2AM Fried Noodles |
2. Public transport - I can only speak for Xi'an but the public transport here is fantastic. The metro currently only has 3 lines, with a 4th opening at the end of this year, but even with the 3 there are currently I find I can get to most places I need to. The metro is very fast and also cheap, ¥2-5 depending on the distance you travel.
For the remainder of the city, buses are very convenient. There is no set timetable but they come in such frequent intervals that there's no need for one. The longest I've ever had to wait for a particular bus is probably 10 minutes which is incredible! In New Zealand I could easily wait an hour! If you thought the metro was cheap the buses are even cheaper, usually just ¥1 (20c NZD) with the rare one costing ¥2. The only downside to the public transport here is that it does get crowded, and I mean very crowded! There have been many occasions on the bus where I'll be squished up face to face with a random stranger trying to avoid eye contact and counting down the minutes until I can get off. In these situations there are times when I've had to get off the bus a few stops after my intended stop because if you're not standing right at the exit it's near impossible to get there especially when I don't speak the language. Usually I just take this as an experience and don't stress too much, but I suppose that's also because I've never been in that situation when I've been running late. On the flip-side this over-crowdedness means that when the bus suddenly comes to a halt because a scooter has appeared out of nowhere (a very common occurrence) no one goes flying through the windows because even with the force of the bus stopping suddenly there's no room for anyone to shift.
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| Morning traffic (featuring pollution) |
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| This is the driver's camera in the bus, you can see the crowd of people and he was still letting people on at this point |
3. Taobao - I suppose most people have heard of Taobao but if you haven't it's the most popular online shopping website in China (according to a quick Google search it's actually the biggest e-commerce site worldwide!). It's amazing, you can buy anything on Taobao from clothes and books to exotic animals and food. A new favourite past-time of mine is scrolling through my recommended items on the app and discovering new bizarre products such as the screenshots below. I don't always just scroll aimlessly though, I've also been known to make the odd purchase (or 2 haha). There's so much competition between sellers on Taobao you can get things much cheaper than you would do in the shops. Shipping is incredibly fast too, the longest I've ever had to wait is 3 days!
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| This creature |
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| A mane for your cat |
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| A chin rest so your child doesn't ruin their posture doing homework |
4. Friends and Colleagues - Of course this is a given but I feel like I need to write it anyway to avoid looking cold and heartless haha. I've met some wonderful new friends in China, both Chinese and other 'foreigners'. Hopefully I'll be seeing them again at some point in New Zealand or back in China!
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| My colleagues |
5. Being seen as 'special' - This one is very 2-sided and it almost doesn't belong on this list because right now I can't imagine missing this as the stares and attention 'foreigners' receive here on a daily basis is draining and incredibly annoying, but because it has become such a normal part of my life here I can't see myself not noticing the absence of it back home. I highly doubt I'll 'miss' it but I think it will feel strange to be considered just like everyone else once again, and to know if someone is staring I need to take a look in a mirror.
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| One of the many times random people have asked for photos |
I'm sure there will be more things I'll miss or just notice in a neutral way when I get back home but for now these are my projections. Let's see what happens when I return home!
Now that my departure is inching closer and closer I'm getting quite nervous. Even if I can project certain differences and things I'm going to miss, it's hard to project how overwhelming it'll be when it happens all at once! Soon after arriving here I wrote a post about how life here isn't totally different to back home, and the main processes we as humans take part in aren't different but within those processes there are so many differences that affect day-to-day life I do think the change will be quite intense at first.
