Why Bother?: Five Pills to Survive China

And we are nearly at the end of the first stop, all in one piece and within budget. After having seen the Bund, the French Concession, Pearl Tower and the old city, the last thrill that Shanghai has to offer will be the Maglev Train (some are more excited than others), the magnetic levitation train that will take us to Pudong International Airport. After having kicked the cases in a fit of rage (mine) in Yichang Airport, finally we got rid of some stuff and sent home the first parcel. I am more and more convinced that the only essential things are passport and credit cards, the rest is useless. Even more, it's a burden. Anything can be bought and abandoned on the way.

Having said that, now a few lines to share the wisdom of three weeks in China:

1) Public toilets are disgusting and the place is in general very polluted. I don't have the numbers, and probably the official ones differ from the real ones a great deal, but they must be dying by the thousands of respiratory problems caused by the poisonous air of the big cities.

2) To avoid the curse of Shi Huang Di, never put into your mouth water that is not boiled or bought, not even to brush your teeth. Eat only where the locals do, even in the streets, but avoid any kind of raw food. Westerner cuisine is available almost everywhere (even chains like Pizza Hut, Starbucks, McDonald's etc), but it costs like in Europe and it is neither as clean nor as tasty as the local one.

3) Even if they spit everywhere and they really do not know how to queue, (they'll try to stampede you but if you complain firmly they politely stand aside), Chinese people are very open and curious about foreigners. We never felt threatened or in danger, not even in the dodgy parts of Beijing or Shanghai, maybe because they have a more refined, almost elegant way of stealing money from us laowei=foreigners... that brings me to the next point:

4) Always haggle every price, in shops, but even restaurants, hotels and taxis:

"How much to take me to the airport?"
"150."
"90!"
"150!!"
"90, and if you make me miss my plane I won't give you even those!!!"
"OK, 90."
Even this way, as soon as you lower your guard, and in three weeks it has happened only too often, they take you for a ride.

5) Very few speak English, the little they speak is a more or less incomprehensible form of Chinglish. Even signs and information are rarely translated. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME WITHOUT SOME CHINESE!! All the independent travelers we met had at least a bit of Chinese.

Various:
Unless you have some specific reasons, like a timetable similar to our own, avoid winter and summer as the weather is extreme.

Hotels, hostels and guesthouses:
Beijing: Novotel Xinqiao
Xi'an; Bell Tower Hotel
Chengdu: Sim's Cozy Guesthouse
Yangtze: Victoria Cruise
Shanghai: The Seventh Heaven
The only cash machine who speaks English: Bank of China
Chain of Japanese restaurants cheap and clean: Ramen Ajisien
For the first time the Rough Guide disappointed us. Imprecise and not up to date, we often had to improvise.

The heroes of our three weeks in China:
Beiyan who prevented a disaster by booking our transfers from Beijing to Xi'an, Xi'an-Chengdu, Yichang-Shanghai.
Jolin from Yatour that called on the phone to fill in the gaps in Brendan's Chinese that blocked the queue at the ticket office in the station, helped us to book the train from Chengdu to Chongqing.
Luther from Victoria Cruise, who let us out from the engine room of the ship and shouted for a taxi before we even docked, allowing us not to miss the plane for Shanghai.
Sim, because whoever can offer a bed and hot water for 5 euro per night, practically free food and make a profit, deserves to be a hero!
Brendan, 'wo de laogong', without whose irritating talent for speaking foreign languages we would have never survived 3 weeks of China without a scratch.

Thanks to all of those who left a comment, above all the new arrivals: Mauro, Luigi and Silvia, but even Max, Luz, Gio, Mamma, Ivan and Giangi. As soon as I'll be out from behind the Firewall I'll start to reply to everybody :-)

Next post from Sydney

Beijing: The Forbidden City