Culture Shock China
Chongqing Airport City Bus [Nokia N82]
Before going any further about my trip in mainland China, I first have to tell you something about their culture. Unlike the coastal cities in China, almost NO ONE can speak in English there which can be quite a challenge. So unless you have a friend who can read and speak “passable” Chinese, a guide book with Chinese characters or hire a professional guide, it can be hard to survive there. Aside from that, they have behaviors that can be “Culturally Shocking” to us Filipinos or other Foreign nationals as well. If any people from the Mainland China is reading this, I meant no disrespect but only give my honest observation that can lessen the initial “shock” first timers may get. In fact other Chinese also detest some of their boorish behavior. It’s a reality we can’t change, since these may have rooted since ancient times. So what I advise is to keep an open mind. Once you get past these you’ll be able to adapt and enjoy your stay there.
Bag Pockets filled with cards [Nokia N82]
Very Very Very Persistent Touts. My first encounter with touts in China is when I got off the bus in Shangqingshi, Chongqing coming from the airport. One thing to note though is I can’t hide the fact that I’m not Chinese in my feature. I’m more brown and very Filipino in looks. So when I stepped down the bus, there were a few touts who seems tame at first then when I was fixing my bags touts started pouring in. Last thing I know they were all over swarming me and putting those cards and leaflets in my bag pockets. I try to be polite and say “Stop” with a hand signal and tried to run away. That’s when it gets more persistent that touts started to put more stuffs on my bag’s side pockets and hey even my pants pockets!! Geesh. And that’s just the start. We’ve encountered different kind of touts throughout our trip that they even follow you around even when you try to run away from them. The trick is to Deny their existence or even acknowledge them.
Jie Fang Bei bus ticketing counters [SE K800i]
Chinese Cutting In. Some Chinese would just rudely cut you in queue. At airports even. At first they would approach the counter seemingly innocent to inquire but when they see a chance to get in, they will get in. You can find their types at bus stations and airports. What you can do is block them with your shoulders or even your bags just to hint a message to them.
Train to Tongren public Toilet [Nokia N82]
Stay away from public toilets as much as possible. Ok, I’m no stranger to squat-type toilets, in fact I have no problem with that. It’s just that for public toilets (men’s toilets that is) which their sign says “WC”, they have no doors for the squat cubicles. The first time I went inside a public toilet was in a bus station in Dazu, Chongqing. As I enter I saw a man taking a poop and thought someone was using the whole restroom and moved back. Then I noticed there were other cubicles and other men on the pee-ing side. Hey they really don’t have doors! So you just have to get used to peeing with some pooping men looking behind your back. It’s kind of uncomfortable at first with seeing a line of pooping men on one side and sometimes smelling their poo while you urinate. So if you must go and gotta take a dump go to a much high end place like a mall or a hotel or a fast food chain where they have doors.
Provincial Bus to Leshan [Nokia N82]
Beware of the Spits! It must be the cold weather. But it is a very very common scene to see and hear people spit everywhere. 10-20 minutes will not pass without you hearing someone expel their phlegm and spit. Both men and women do. They spit inside a public bus even inside the train. So be very careful where you step on the bus or put down your things, spits can be found on the inner sides walls. On more high end buses, they already have small plastic bags ready on the seat pockets in front of you or you can get one from the driver. Somehow I understand about the phlegm during cold, but expelling loudly and spitting in public places? You better prepare.
Smokers all around. A lot of Chinese smoke, even young teens which is disconcerting. And worse they do not even care where they smoke. They smoke even in enclosed buses, trains, taxi cabs, restaurants and even inside elevators. Even if the sign says “No Smoking” they will smoke. I noticed that some Chinese are even bothered by this as well but they can’t do anything about it.
A street in Chengdu [Nokia N82]
Wild Street Behaviors. One thing we learned is that it’s hard to take a taxi in any of the cities we’ve been. You literally have to run for it sometimes. One craziest taxi experience we had was in Zhangjiajie in Hunan where our taxi suddenly went on a pedestrian walkway with people still walking just to avoid a traffic block. We’re actually on a pedestrian lane where people were walking. Just crazy. And when you see a man just suddenly shouting at the streets, just leave them alone.
Guangzhou main train station tunnel exit [Olympus E500]
Well that’s just about it. Let me clear it up that NOT ALL Chinese exhibit these behaviors but they are quite common. Some Chinese are even willing to help as we encountered some of them as my friend says though I didn’t understand their conversation. I guess it’s just a matter of sorting them out. There are some other things to watch out for like huge huge crowds in some public transportation places but that’s to be expected. Flag-toting Tour groups which can ruin your view. There’s aren’t many foreign tourist here, we only saw very few Americans and Europeans. There are a lot more local Chinese tourist to compete with. And did I mention that whenever you see a Chinese well dressed in tux or suites, it means they are going to travel. Not necessarily on a meeting but just travel itself. I should try that sometime.
Tags: Chengdu, China, Chongqing, Culture, People, Street, Terminals, Transit, Transport
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Thursday, March 27th, 2008 at 11:55 am 
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March 27th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
wild and funny. enjoyed your story. an eye-opener
one observation though, u didn’t use ur cam though in taking pics. mas safe ba gamitin ang phone cam?
March 27th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
kept on laughing while reading the whole post. reminds me of how different our cultures are. but sometimes these are the situations that makes a trip very special and memorable. funny and scary moments.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Interesting…I’ve heard about “spitting” but I thought it’s already part of the past. If you go to more progressive city like Beijing or Shnaghai, do they still spit there?
March 27th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
i experienced the frustration of not finding one who can speak English.. kasi we wanted to go to a “mall” and we don’t know w/c direction to take. good thing we found a kid who speaks english…
you should try haggling with the Chinese.. it’s the worst experience.. nakaka drain ng energy.kaya next time ayoko maki haggle sa mga chinese.. nababatukan ka pag di mo binili. hehe you would wish you were in Divi instead…
and those squat toilets are something! i mean may mga ganyan sa province dito sa pinas.. pero sa kanila parang almost all public toilets ganun..
pero culture nila un eh.. nakaka shock ano?
March 27th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
About those touts, I think you’re exaggerating. They won’t follow you around unless you’re Brad Pitt, which, obviously, you’re not!! I think this whole tout tale is totally fabricated.
March 27th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
@ Frenz Fries: I had my SLR in my bag. It’s just that the phone Cam is more accessible in Spontaneous moments.
@ Dong Ho: Yeah! A lot different, which also gives colors to your trip.
@ Nina: As you go to more coastal cities like Guangzhou, “spitting” is not that prevalent. I’m guessing its because of the cold weather at the mainlands
@ Tina: I heard some schools does teach english so it’s best to try asking young ones. But I was also told that even if they do know, they don’t like to exert effort on speaking the language.
@ Jun: Sir, Believe what you may, at the time they swarmed me, my firend actually said that he should have taken pictures of the event. And yes, there were some persistent tout we encountered in Zhangjaijie who followed us quite a distance but when we seriously acted that we were not interested they just went to bug another tourist. I think it’s not the looks they’re after but the money that they’ll get from you.
March 27th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
culture shock indeed
maybe sometimes, old habits die hard. if anything, this adds to the local color
March 28th, 2008 at 12:19 am
i hope u still had fun staying there
March 28th, 2008 at 2:55 am
A squat toilet with no door? Good thing you didn’t have to use it, huh? hehehe.
The leaflet with the picture of a woman in your bag…. I wonder what service that tout was promoting.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:19 am
natawa naman ako sa isang commenter mo. “totally fabricated” daw! hehehe. anu ba yan. may mga pictures na nga eh…
nwei, when I was in shenzhen, i was warned by my friend (also a Filipino working as a copyeditor there) about their habit of spitting so sabi ko, “ah kaya pala ang dulas ng mga sahig nila!” kahit sa Binondo di ba madulas mga sahig ng resto nila. di ko alam pero parang nature na ata nila yung spitting out of whim. at pwede mo ring i-pinpoint ang pagiging smokers nila as a culprit.
i am not fond of those squat-type toilet myself. Most SE asian countries have that no? buti na lang sa atin bihira yan. when we were in Vietnam, i entered in one of their public toilets and upong entering the door, immediately i tried to backout kase nakita ko yung isang babae doon umiihi sa mismong sahig. na-shock naman ako, hehe.
anyway, these experiences–you can always take them as part of the good adventures and for a frequent traveler like you, it adds color to your wealthy of experiences. excited ako sa mga susunod mo pang kuwento.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:47 am
I’ve been to China twice, once with an organized tour group and I found your experience with the touts relevant to what I have experienced and observed. They are persistent to the point of annoyance and you do not need to look like Brad Pitt to be followed around.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
if you think about it, halos pareho sa pilipinas… you know, kahit may queue may sumisingit pa rin… may dumudura sa tabi-tabi (my topmost pet peeve at akala ko matatakasan ko, pero hindi pala)… may mga persistent beggars na hindi ka tatantanan at sasabihan ka pa na kuripot kung bigyan mo ng piso… my niece just got back from her trip in shenzhen and she said that they weren’t able to eat well because people were spitting left and right
March 28th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I like that you’re blogging about China like a travelogue, documenting every step of the way, because it shows the idiosyncracies of a culture that may not be distinguishable in tourist spots.
And the English? I agree with your suggestion. When I was sent to Shanghai, we have to tag along a Filipina to interpret for us. But you see, it’s experiences like this that make a trip exciting—it’s absolutely new world to you and you either sink or swim in the experience
March 28th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Yes, I’ve heard about the toilets when my relatives visited China. It came to my as a shock b/c knowing myself I wouldn’t be able to take a poo/pee which the doors open. Apparently, the females toilet do have doors but it covers only the upper body and not the lower part. So literally, everything can be seen.
Anyway, it was an experience and salamat po for sharing!
March 28th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
my friend teaches english in china and she had a hard time at the beginning with language barrier. looks like a good trip though.
squat toilets — i had a problem with those in singapore and malaysia
March 29th, 2008 at 4:27 am
hi ferdz! what a trip! hehe..
i heard about the toilets and they said that the poo is all around the cubicle and that they really don’t care.. ewww.
and also the spitting is everywhere huh. no wonder about the sars, lol :p
and it does not need to be brad pitt to be swarmed with those touts i believe, just seeing how they are so makulit lalo na sa market sus.
way to go ferdz! thanks for sharing.
March 29th, 2008 at 10:47 am
What no doors? Now that’s really going beyond the typical Filipino’s comfort zones.
Funny read! Thanks for sharing!
And those touts, stuffing things in your pocket, is creepy stuff.
March 29th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I’ve only been to Shenzen and boy, it was kind a scary if you get lost with the tour group there. As you said, people rarely speak English !
What? Toilets with no doors ? Ugh
What’s up with these guys - trying to save some real estate? LOL 
March 29th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
tsk, tsk… bad for the tourism. lol.
very interesting, ferds.
March 29th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Hey, Ferdz: I didn’t know you were still in the mainland. I’ve gone to Shanghai twice myself, and my friend who worked in Shenzhen for two years said it was so much better there.
I’ve seen the squat toilets too and had Chinese looking at me because I was brushing my teeth after lunch (which they never seem to do–and now I think it’s really a cultural practice among Pinoys). I’ve also experienced the haggling in the market, but I enjoyed it, because they usually give in later on–it’s like a game: ang pikon talo. I think one of my frustrating experiences is getting understood that I wanted McDonald’s delivered to my hotel room and asking for chopsticks, but nobody from the hotel staff understood me. I even got sick there and, without shame, asked for medicine from a German couple because I knew it would be difficult to buy some in Shanghai. Overall it was a good experience and it taught me to be all-embracing. I don’t want to say they have terrible manners. Siguro lang iba lang talaga tayo.
March 29th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Grabe! Wala akong masabi kundi grabe!
March 30th, 2008 at 11:46 am
I like China because it is like stepping into another world. If you want to feel like an alien go to China!
March 31st, 2008 at 9:22 pm
This is an eye-opening posts about China. I never thought such reality exist there albeit occasionally.
Hey, your sharp observation is really top-level, reminds me of the writing style of one of my most favorite writer, Paul Theroux, a very notable travel writer. I think you could do something like that, a smart and spanky travelogue.
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:19 pm
[...] bus for RMB 16 going to Shangqingshi. The bus ride took around 30 minutes. And when I got off, like I told before, I survived a number of touts inserting their cards and flyers on any spot they [...]
April 11th, 2008 at 8:45 am
I’ve never been to china, except HK, but I have experienced some of the inconveniences you’ve mentioned. Take for example in BKK where I boarded a taxi and the driver just didn’t speak a word of English. Wala pa naman akong Thai script that says my hotel that I got lost. Buti na lang, I saw one landmark and gave hand directions from there.
Spitting? When I boarded a boat from Zamboanga to Tawitawi, even at the tourist (airconditioned) accommodation, passengers were spitting on the floor. There was even one who washed their plates after having eaten!
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Want to have a better adventure the next time or your first time going to China? Learn some basic Mandarin phrases!!! Geez, whats up with people wanting to just use English? If other foreigners can do it, why not Filipinos? As far as the spitting is concerend, it bothers me to an extent, but hey, like the saying goes, “old habits die hard,” and no one on this earth is born to please your expectations. But one thing is for sure, I will never use the public toilets unless I really have too. The public toilet descriptions are the SCARIEST!