10 things you should know about Beijing

1. Beer is cheaper than water 

vs.

A bottle of beer and a bottle of water both cost 2 rmb. Although the beers here don't necessarily taste good. 

2. PSI Level 250 is not too bad! 

A PSI Level of 150-250 is actually a good day for Beijing! 250-350 you might need to start wearing mask. 350-500 you might not go out as often. So if the PSI Level is ever below 100, you'll be like " WOAHHHHH, CLEAR BLUE SKIES. *takes a gazillion pictures* "

3. Squat like a pro

Most public bathrooms or the ones in schools are still "The squat system" and little have proper toilet bowls! Although bathrooms in restaurants, shopping malls, hotels and airports are fully equipped with proper toilet seats! So if you are studying abroad in China, you'll learn how to squat like a pro! 

4. Honking is never too much 

Chinese drivers like to honk, any time, anywhere and for any reason!They will probably honk at you if you don't give way to them, EVEN while crossing the road while the green light is on. So save your " STFU(s) " cos it's not gonna work!

5. Traffic lights doesn't mean much 

Vehicles can legally still turn right at red lights. Which makes you wonder why there are traffic lights in China at all. Traffic lights and pedestrians means nothing to drivers. Yes they will still drive even when the green light is on. SO, cross only when everyone else is crossing, even if it's red light. AND give way to vehicles at all times, unless you want to get knock down.  

6. There's more things that doesn't make sense than things that does

ATMs in China only give out 100 rmb, no more no less. So if you wanna pay anything in cash that's more than a thousand, you have to carry a bulk of money around. While if you just wanna cash out 20, dang you can't. A lot of babies in China wear pants with a hole in the butt, EVEN IN WINTER. WHY? Maybe because it's easier to shit? I do not understand. Most eateries serve chilled beers/drinks that are not actually chilled. I don't know if Chinese people like warm beer or they desperately want to save electricity. But you still gotta accept it! 

7. Dressing up fancy to hike/travel is completely normal

chinasayshi.blogspot.com

Just climbing the Great Wall you will see women in dress, heels and handbags and men in suits. Or you don't even have to travel that far, just take a walk around the Forbidden City. Walking from one end to the other takes about a hour or two, and it gets pretty tiring after a while. But apparently it's easier to walk in 7 inch heels and stiff suits! But hey, got to give them credits for strong calves! 

8. Chinese women really really dislike the sun 

Summer's finally here! While the rest of the world hits the beach and bask in the sun, women in China pulls out their 'sunbrellas'! Some just use regular umbrellas while other use fancy ones with lace/sequin décors. This is all to protect the skin from the sun and keep their complexion as fair as possible. Unlike the western standards of beauty, Chinese relates being pale to beautiful. Hence women use umpteen whitening products and of course 'sunbrellas' to prevent themselves from getting tanned. 

9. Don't ever say 四(four) or wear a green hat 

In Chinese, the word 四(four) sounds like 死(si) which means death. Hence Chinese associate four with death, making the number inauspicious. Whereas 八(eight) is an auspicious number in China because it has similar sound to 发(fa)/发财(fa cai) which means to get rich. Chinese people often pay a sum of money just to buy phone numbers with many digits of eight, or live on the eighth floor whereas people avoid staying on the fourth floor. The saying "穿绿帽(wear green hat)" in China means that your wife is cheating on you! I do not know how or why this came about. 

10. Everything you have, China has it too! 

Heard that's Facebook, Twitter, Youtube & etc is banned in China? Fret not! Because there's a replica of almost all western social networking sites in China. These are the Chinese versions, 人人网 (facebook), 微博 (twitter), 优酷 (youtube). People here don't use Whatsapp but you can use Wechat to communicate with your Chinese buds or better, keep up with them by using QQ! Although we do not use MSN anymore but their QQ is sure still in trend right now! 

Well these aren't necessarily bad things about China, just interesting facts I've learnt from the two years of living in Beijing. They are definitely useful to me for my stay in Beijing, kept me quite in sync and immersed with the locals! Stay tune for my next post on 10 Things I love About China!