Random things about China

[I sent this to blogger on Sept. 21, but it never got posted, so here it is again]

1. KFC is the most popular fast food restaurant. There are apparently many factors for this, including good training of staff, consistency at all the franchises, and a different recipe suited to the Chinese palate. I have not yet gotten up the nerve to eat KFC in China, though I have eaten pig intestine.

2. I have been obsessed with an ad that I saw on a bus stop in Beijing that was promoting some kind of shrimp sandwich. The ad featured a picture of the sandwich, but also a picture of a row of people dressed in shrimp costumes (complete with the shrimp heads), lined up in a row (see below). We've always had a tour bus, which means that I've only been able to take photos of the ad on the fly, if I happen to have my camera ready. I finally got a semi-decent shot in Shanghai, and wouldn't you know it, it was for a sandwich at KFC.



3. The babies in the cities that we've visited wear pants with slits in the front and at the back. They do not wear diapers. The slits are to facilitate going to the bathroom. And rather than finding a bathroom, their parents let them do their business on the street. I have seen two toddlers squat and pee on the streets of Shanghai, leaving little puddles behind. And we're not talking narrow side streets; it was on the major Nanjing shopping street.

4. No sales tax. The price you see is the price you'd expect to pay. However, at many places you're expected to haggle. I don't know enough Mandarin to do it verbally, but every shop has a calculator to use for negotiations.

5. Related to #4. I bought a pair of shoes for 40 Chinese yuan that were originally 120 yuan. That works out to about $7 Cdn.

6. What I thought were expiry dates on the bottles of water and juice are actually production dates. Which is good, because it didn't make sense that every bottle of flavoured iced tea that I looked at was past its expiry date.

7. There are a lot of different regional cuisines in China. This does not really surprise me. What did surprise me was how little I liked them. I've found a lot of the food too greasy, fatty, or salty. This could be due to being a tour group and therefore getting set meals designed for tourists, which is a bit dissapointing.

8. The Sofitel hotel in the financial district of Shanghai charges 10 yuan to print one page at its business centre.

9. The number nine is considered lucky in Chinese culture because it sounds like the word for longevity. So this past September 9, 2009 (i.e., 9/9/9) was a popular day for weddings.

10. I will not miss the public horking. Or the expelling of phelgm through the nose onto the sidewalk, which we saw a man do our first night in Beijing.

11. When taking photos, the Chinese don't say "cheese", but rather, "eggplant", which in Mandarin makes a similar long e sound to elicit a smile.