Being in Thailand for a while now has made me realize certain things about China that I thought would be common to all the countries we’d be visiting on this trip, but I’m now thinking may be more notable for China (well, Beijing really). So here’s to China, to celebrate 3 weeks today since we started our trip:
- People stand REALLY close to you in lines. Like hugging distance. If you leave more than a foot in front of you, that means you are NOT in line. We lost our place in lines so many times before we learned to get intimate with those in front of us.
- Regardless of where or what type of store we went into, the salespeople would walk beside us through the whole store. Like a friend to shop with. Except that they don’t smile, talk to you or help you with your outfits.
- In Beijing, everyone rode bicycles. The disparity was great: you either drove a BMW or you rode a shanty bicycle. Thailand, on the otherhand, is all about motorcycles.
- Perhaps people stared at our feet because we wore flip flops? No one wore those in China, versus Thailand where it’s like the national shoe. No one stares at our feet here anymore… which is probably a good thing because they’re always covered in sand, blisters from walking, and melted nail polish…
- In the end, when comparing the two, I think China is cheaper to travel to than Thailand. Thailand’s prices may be slowly increasing with increasing tourism… which also means China has the benefit of being a lot less touristy!
