Chinese New Year is on Sunday! Unfortunately for me I will be halfway over the Atlantic Ocean on a plane to Finland (which probably doesn’t have a high Chinese population, although I haven’t fact checked that).
I miss China. It’s kind of weird how much I miss it considering I spent most of my time there coughing and not being able to understand anyone. I guess anywhere will grow on you if you spend enough months there, but China is absolutely the most unique and interesting country I’ve been to.
It might be a bit presumptuous, but I really think you should go too. Don’t be intimidated by the language barrier and the pollution and the general crazyness. Go anyways.
Here is why:
Absurd Things Happen Hourly
Culturally, visiting China was like visiting another planet- one which was sometimes completely indecipherable. Motorbike moving vans, lettuce clothes lines and weird behavior. It’s the one country I’ve been to where I literally had no idea what was going to happen next at any given time. It’s odd and amusing and it constantly keeps you on your toes.
Their History is Longer Then Your History
This is what initially attracted me to China: it’s one of the world’s oldest civilizations with thousands and thousands of years of continuos history.
The Cheapest Yummiest Street Food
Some people are leery of street food, and it is always a bit of a gamble, but one well worth making. How else can you get a super tasty meal for 50 cents or less? I really miss being able to stroll from stand to stand and select whatever foreign looking snack caught my fancy (and I only ever got sick once- so there).
It’s Great For Your Immune System
Actually China is terrible for your health- the smog here is no joke. But I believe “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” and it certainly makes the air quality everywhere else seem great by comparison!
They have the Cutest Babies EVER
At least that I’ve seen anywhere in the world.
PANDAS
Nough said.
Food to Die (Or Kill) For
It’s no secret that Chinese food totally blew me away. I’m so shocked when I hear from people who went to China and didn’t like the food, because it was so varied and so delicious. Chinese restaurants in the US can’t compare.
Chinglish
Always amusing, often confusing, English-language signs in China are an absolute delight.
Weird Cross Cultural Connections
Sometimes the best part of travel is seeing your own country reflected back at you. Finding little bits of the rest of the world in supposedly isolated China was always fascinating:
The Food!!
Yes, I said food three times in this piece but the food here is really that amazing. I miss it so much that I would probably go back to China solely for some yummy Szechuan cuisine.
You’ll Never Truly Get it Til You Go
What’s awesome about visiting China is that you get to see up close it’s so much more than communism, or a billion people, or smog, it’s an amazing living and breathing ecletic slice of life.
