The most important thing to remember in China? Never ever lose your phone. Always double check to see that you have it. Set a pin or password or finger/face scan to open your phone.
I wouldn’t be able to do anything if I suddenly lost my phone. I’ve lived in China for almost 5 months now, and it’s so interesting to be immersed in a different kind of culture that comes with both hidden pressure and a different living system. It’s like I’m living in C-drama (except that I’m not the main character :’D)
Here’s a list of things that I find most interesting after 5 months of living in China:
- In China, Phone = Survival
Every time I leave a place, I check my bag several times to make sure my phone is there :’D.
Almost everything needs to be paid by scanning a code through WeChat or Alipay. That’s why I don’t even go around with my wallet anymore, only when I go to the ATM.
Although some places accept cash, online payment is by far the most common. 没有钱的话，怎么能吃? No money = how are you gonna eat?
The WeChat and Alipay account are connected to a bank account in China and you can either link them directly so it reduces the number on your bank account or you can top up a sum of money to the WeChat/Alipay account.
In my home country, Indonesia where online payment methods exist but cash payment is still very common, it’s normal to save your money in the bank so you don’t use it, because to use it you’d have to go to a nearby ATM to withdraw money. In China it’s the opposite, you withdraw your money so you can’t directly do top-ups to your WeChat/Alipay account.
You can buy almost everything online here. Buying online things is so convenient for dorm supplies, food, clothes, etc.
On the PinDuoDuo (拼多多) app things are much cheaper online than buying them at a supermarket. They don’t even add a delivery fee for the products! 很方便 There’s also this MaiCai 买菜 section for fresh groceries, where I can order things like meat and vegetables and it will arrive the next day, I usually take it at one of the gates.
On the MeiTuan (美团) app you can order takeout, drinks, even groceries. In my experience as a student some of them can be delivered right to the front of your dorm. I tried ordering takeout a few times but I don’t think I would do it again unless there’s no other option. It’s quite expensive for me, and when you check the prices they don’t include the delivery fee yet.
Even when you’re out at a restaurant you check the menu by scanning a QR code on the table and paying it online. You know those comedic short videos where someone orders something at a restaurant in China and as foreigners you don’t read out the name of the food? The one where you point at something and say “我要这个，这个，。。” (I want this, this, ….) for everything? Yeah, well, it seems that you don’t need to do that since you won’t be talking to a waiter/waitress.
I think that online payment is so convenient. Paying with cash means counting your money and waiting for change. Online payment is so quick in comparison. I think it’s also better for places like stands in night markets, because the sellers that also cook the food don’t have to touch physical money, much more hygienic.
One drawback is that online payment isn’t tangible — sometimes it doesn’t even feel like you’ve spent money. I think it’s easy to accidentally overspend.
Writing all this down made me really reflect…I mean sure all this digitalization is making me more independent, as everything is so optimized and hyper-efficient. At the same time it’s making us more dependent on technology, since now I need my phone more than I ever did before.
Thinking about it, in my home country my phone is necessary for communication and searching up information, but it wasn’t completely tied to survival. The problem is, if we rely on digital means too much, what would happen if that system breaks? I don’t even want to imagine that.
- Chinese Beauty Standards
When it’s hot outside it’s common to see Chinese people carrying UV umbrellas to protect themselves from the heat. If I did this in my home country, I would look like I’m someone paranoid.
They also have thin UV jackets here. Some of them extend with a mask and a hood. At the end of the sleeves there’s like a glove where you can slide your thumb in.
A few women here even use face masks that have holes for eyes, nose, and mouth. That is next level effort.
I don’t think it’s just sun protection though. 他们都怕晒黑。It also has to do with the beauty standards.
Chinese people will go so far to maintain their light skin. One of my seniors said that her teacher said something along the lines of “it’s okay if you’re not good-looking as long as you have light skin”.
I think that it does make me feel very self-conscious about my own skin tone. My skin could be described as medium tone, like a peach color.
I go out a lot more than I used to back home and I’m scared that my skin darkened. I’m always randomly looking at my hands throughout the day, feeling bad about myself when I think that my skin is dark.
I also don’t think that not having light skin directly equals to not being pretty, I have been complimented on my physical appearance a few times by Chinese people here. But I still get anxious about my skin tone a lot, even more than I did back in my home country.
I know that technically I am not a native chinese and that I don’t have to live up to their ideal beauty standards, but isn’t it just human nature to follow the social norms of where you are currently living? Especially as a (still) young girl you want to follow what the other young girls are doing.
But I think this is more of an internal pressure, since no one is actually telling me to try to lighten up my skin. It’s all in my head, but I’m sure this isn’t just something that affects me.
This is what it’s like being a young girl; you’re surrounded by all of these ideals and everyone is trying to look as pretty as possible.
Sometimes I wonder if skin tones matter at all. I mean, technically the topmost epidermis layer that shows your skin tone is so thin, but why does it feel like it matters?
- Electric Bikes are so Quiet
Electric bikes are a common vehicle here and I barely see them in my home country. One thing that shocked me is how quiet they are. There is no noise pollution in the streets.
I remembered being not used to them because I was used to engine noises. In fact I once accidentally bumped into a mini-bus windshield because it came from behind and I really didn’t hear it coming.
I can feel the environmental effects of this. The air is so clean here in Hainan. I swear my face felt much smoother after living here after just about a week.
I haven’t been back to Indonesia yet, but I wonder if I will experience reverse culture shock when the streets are suddenly noisy again. Seeing how well China has progressed, I can’t help wishing that Indonesia would make more progress as well.
- Chinese Spicy Food
Mannn, I just miss the spicy food from my country. The spicy food in China is different. It tastes like stinging on your tongue but that’s it. In my country, spicy sauces are more flavourful, there’s savoriness and sometimes even slight sweetness, it’s a richer flavour. I remembered talking to someone from Myanmar and she also thinks this way about spicy food.
But I’m also not saying that I don’t like spicy food here. I love Malatang and Youpomian.
I think moving to China makes me pay a lot more attention to food. Back in my home country I usually eat the same few things with little variation and I’m so used to only tasting food from my culture.
But now when I’m eating I’m actually more aware of the flavour. It’s like when I ate cake here and it’s less sweet than the one I have in my home country. Then I tasted western-style cake and I can tell that it’s much sweeter.
- Interacting with Chinese People
There are a few little anecdotes on this and it’s quite interesting. Chinese people seem supportive of people learning Mandarin. There were a few times where Chinese people asked how long I’ve been here for and I say like 4 months and they say that it’s good.
I have some Chinese descent genes from my dad’s side so maybe that shows. And I remembered talking to a local and at some point she said “你不是中国人吗?” (You’re not Chinese?)
- Being a University Student in China is so Convenient
I would say that the University does their best to provide good facilities. I mentioned about having many canteens in the previous post. There are also a bunch of basketball courts, there’s a swimming pool here, there are also running courts with a soccer field in the middle as well as a sand pit.
There are also places to study like in the library, also some benches scattered across campus. There are fruit stores and cafes here, and a school mall with even KFC inside. When my charger broke, I bought them on campus at a store that sold them. They even thought of putting a store to duplicate keys for students who lost their keys.
- Pleco is My Lifeline
My chinese learning journey really does depend on Pleco, I don’t know what I’d do without it. In fact I could be on the app for an hour in a day because of how often I browse words on the app.
It’s like when I watch C-Dramas I watch them without english subtitles but it does have the subtitles in Chinese characters so I actually did look up words I don’t know on Pleco.
I am going to stay here for four more years, so I’m expecting that I’ll be blending more and more into Chinese culture. One of my friends mistook me for a local twice LOL. Anyway, 再见 for now ^w^
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