A great wall of language

Hangzhou

China is without a doubt the most tiring country I visited yet. Because you need a lot of energy, especially when you travel alone, to make your way around a country where you can't be understood. Or almost.

One needs to try to understand, on top of all the usual stuff you encounter in a new city : avoid getting lost, how does the metro works, watch the wallet, find a supermarket...

I had a similar experience in Europe, in Poland for example. But at least, there, the alphabet was the same. Or almost. I could read stuff on the street signs or on a map.

By chance, Hong Kong and Shanghai have bilingual signs : cantonese (or mandarin) and english. But it's not as easy when you get out of the big cities...

That's when tips come handy. First tip : always have a business card of the hostel or hotel you're staying in. The address is often written in chinese on it and it helps being understood everywhere. Lost? A taxi will bring you back where you belong.

Tip number 2 : Bring a guidebook (like Lonely Planet) that offers a translation of all the proper names. Lost? You can show the symbols in the book and people understand immediately... At least, it's to wish for...

I experimented that in Hangzhou today. There, english, and even french, can be read on signs in temples and parks. But to take the bus or order in the restaurant, nothing you can do. My book could at least help me when I boarded the wrong bus... and to find one by trying and making mistakes...

I can also confirm it is very important to listen to that little voice inside of yourself that says you need to go back. I paid to get in the park that leads to the Lingyin Temple. But oh surprise, you need to pay again to get in the temple of the same name. The ticket I got only allowed me to see other attractions. The problem is I was running out of time. I paid for everything, but I definitely haven't seen everything. The little voice in me was telling me to go back to the bus, just in case. Because I had a train to catch.

The decision was a good one. Took me one hour to get to the train station. Squeezed like sardines in a public bus, the Chinese won't hesitate to walk on each other and to push each other to grab every free room. After one hour, I was starting to feel bad in there, especially because of the heat. It was time for me to get out and to breath fresh air.

Scam

There we go. I confirm you need to distrust the young chinese couples in very touristic places. They target white people, ask them to take a picture for them, engage in a conversation and end up inviting them to share a tea ceremony. A very expensive one. If you say no, they will insist. Three times yet I got invited. Always the same process. Lying is very not nice, but I use the excuse of "Oh! The tea? Been there yesterday..." Like that, they are reassured and think my money was already stolen. And they leave me alone.

Octopus card

Little tip about Hong Kong.  You can find the Octopus card, very useful, that is the exact copy of a project we had in Sherbrooke a couple of years back. It's a "paypass" type card you can recharge as you wish to pay for public transportation, restaurants and grocery stores.

In the metro, for example, the cost of every trip is lower with the card. Cheaper than buying tickets one by one. Only problem is since you never put the hand in your pocket to pay, you lose track of how much you spend. Money goes away very fast.

You can buy that card in the airport and you will get a complet refund (except for some fees) when you leave.