A big thanks, or, Wo tai mafan nimen!

[muckefuck]

So much to say, it's hard to know where to start. I kept notes (especially on food, of course) and outlined several entries in my head, but I don't know that I feel up to starting any of those right now. But I can answer basic questions.

1. How did things go? Quite smooth overall. The travel agency took care of all our basic arrangements, so housing and transport were hassle-free. On days when we had a tour, we were met by a guide and driver. They even escorted us to the airports (we had three domestic flights as part of our package) and saw to getting us checked in, so the worse I can complain about was taking Hainan Airways (avoid them if you can). On free days, we took the advice of a friendly Aussie I met at Big Chicks and rode cabs everywhere. (The most expensive--hotel to Beijing International--clocked in at ¥127 or $17--roughly half the price of a cab from O'Hare to monshu's; we went clear across central Beijing [Guang'anmen to Sanlitun] for $7.)
2. How well could I communicate? Not very. Well, that's my opinion; monshu was more bullish about my abilities. From a purely transactional perspective, I suppose we were highly successful: It's hard to recall any need or earnest desire that wasn't met. However, I ascribe this more than anything to the incredible patience, persistence, and willingness to accommodate of the ordinary Chinese we dealt with, to whom I am eternally grateful. I can't remember a single time someone else ended our interchange in disgust or frustration; sometimes an employee would hand me over to someone else in desperation, but if anyone ever walked away or gave up completely it was yours truly. (I was really stuck for a good simple phrase which meant "Never mind" in order to defuse an attempt to help which had gone on too long; méi shì(r) seemed to work, but it took me quite a while to stumble upon it.) This includes everyone from hotel workers to cabbies and strangers on the street. (Mull that for a bit: What would the comparable experience of a Chinese man speaking the local language terribly in your city be?) Our only truly negative experience was not with a native Chinese at all, but a snotty self-righteous Canadian-Chinese princess.
3. What did you eat? Anything we could. We ate in chichi restaurants; we ate street food. We pigged out on lavish restaurant breakfasts and survived on mediocre (but still better than I feared) cruise ship buffets. We ate ox gall, bee pupae, and bamboo worms--and that's just at one meal! We ate Peking duck, Wuhan grass carp, Xi'an mutton soup, and Yunnanese cheese. I'm not sure what the package meals cost, but I don't remember spending more than ¥220 ($30) for any meal on our own; dinner our last night didn't even crack ¥20. But I haven't answered the one question you really want to ask: Did we eat penis? Stay tuned to find out!

Comments

[richardthinks.livejournal.com]

Did we eat penis? Stay tuned to find out!

Thereon hangs a tale?
Wait.. ta(i)l(e)?

dammit.

[keyne.livejournal.com]

We ate ox gall, bee pupae, and bamboo worms--and that's just at one meal!

Lucky, um, you.

Did we eat penis?

Neither of you went unaccompanied, I take it, so I for one don't need to ask.

[bunj.livejournal.com]

This includes everyone from hotel workers to cabbies and strangers on the street. (Mull that for a bit: What would the comparable experience of a Chinese man speaking the local language terribly in your city be?)

An attempt to speak the local language goes a long way, even in the most jaded tourist spots. A gwailo with even your meager command of Chinese must have been pretty impressive to most of the people you met.

I think that hypothetical Chinese man would do pretty well in Chicago. As long as you're not obnoxious or belligerent, I find that people are pretty nice to foreigners visiting their city.

[prilicla.livejournal.com]

Actually, just a few days ago, I saw a Green Line driver (of all people) working really hard to help a Chinese man understand how to transfer to the Red Line and get to Chinatown. I couldn't tell whether he eventually got it (he looked like he needed a guide, not just instructions), but she was definitely trying. I think you're right about people generally being nice to visitors--heck, people were even nice to us in Paris!

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

They are, but the degree really varies. I remember being flabbergasted in a small town in eastern Germany when a woman not only willingly gave us directions, but even stepped out of her shop (where we hadn't bought a thing) into the rain to walk us to the curb, point out the landmarks, and make sure we understood where we were going. I have trouble imagining that occurring in most parts of western Germany, let alone generally.

To pick a Chinese example, I butchered the word for "airport" (saying fēichǎng--which sounds confusingly like "unusual" [féicháng] rather than jīchǎng) when telling the taxi driver our destination our last morning, forcing him to seek clarification from the concierge. Then he deferentially apologised to me for the misunderstanding. I have trouble imagining that happening with a Chicago-born cabbie.

[lhn.livejournal.com]

They are, but the degree really varies. I remember being flabbergasted in a small town in eastern Germany when a woman not only willingly gave us directions, but even stepped out of her shop (where we hadn't bought a thing) into the rain to walk us to the curb, point out the landmarks, and make sure we understood where we were going. I have trouble imagining that occurring in most parts of western Germany, let alone generally.

That's actually pretty close to what happened in Paris. A woman saw us looking at the Metro map, got our hotel address from us, and proceeded to lead us onto the correct, train, ride with us (incidentally telling/reminding me that the proper thing to say when I bumped into someone with my suitcase was "Pardon", not "Excusez-moi"), get off the train with us, and make sure we were headed up the right street. (I've felt duty-bound to speak up for Paris and Parisians against the usual travel stereotypes ever since.)

But we had good luck in China too, aside from being intimidated by the very aggressive style of the vendors. I suspect that in our case, they thought it was cute that we were trying to use our handful of Chinese phrases (Ni hao; xie xie; maybe zai jian if I could remember it). I'd bet that they were even more pleased by your more extensive vocabulary, even if it didn't seem like much to you. (As they say about the dancing dog, it's not how well the laowai speaks Chinese so much as that he tries to do it at all.)

Though one other point for the comparison, independent of how friendly or aloof the people are: there are a lot more Roman-character signs in Beijing (especially street and Metro signs) than there are Chinese signs in Chicago. That alone makes a big difference. (As it was, it was interesting to experience just what nigh-illiteracy could be like.)

[zompist.livejournal.com]

I found the French quite pleasant as well-- much more so than the Spanish (or the New Yorkers).

muckefuck, you must have an enviable digestive system. I always get sick in Latin America.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Actually, mine is crap. I was fully prepared to lose one or two days to stomach upset before lhn told us of the miracles of the Pepto programme. We followed it religiously and as a result never suffered more than minor dyspepsia. If you try it next time you visit Latin America, I'll be extremely curious to hear the result.

[wwidsith.livejournal.com]

Aaah, welcome back. Sounds like an awesome trip. Yes, I did miss your input on all my posts. And no, I don't believe you when you claim you couldn't communicate very well!