General Perceptions
Logistically, the area we went to is 13 hours ahead in time than Tennessee. So we left on Friday morning, and after a short flight to NY, took at 15 hour flight to Hong Kong and got there Saturday night. That flight was good, three meals and every seat had its own video screen and they had almost 200 movies to select from and TV shows (Jerry watched Kung Fu Pandas 2, and some other movies, I watched Midnight in Paris and Rio). On the way back, we were due to leave Hong Kong at 11:45 a.m. on a Sunday and arrive in Chicago at 1:30 p.m. that same Sunday, after over 14 hours in the air! The plane we were on (which left late), was an older plane. Still three meals, but they had one main video screen and you watched the movies that were already selected to be on that flight (Kung Fu Panda 2 and Midnight in Paris - oh well!). About the time we got over jet lag in China, we had two days before we went back had to deal with it again!
The food was wonderful! Jerry even ate green beans (a first for him) and had seconds of them! He said the way they were cooked was really good and flavorful. Our group determined that while in China, we would not eat American food - no McDonald's, KFC or Pizza Hut for us! The food was very inexpensive, one of the breakfast places was a small dumplings and won-ton kind of place next to the hotel, seven of us ate for $3.50 (total, not each!). We ate at a variety of restaurants and from street vendors. Our translators could give us some idea of what we were having. Except for some tofu that I really didn't like, everything was delicious.
The people were so friendly! We did not come across anyone who was rude, even the couple times that Jerry and I were in a small market picking up snacks or small items by ourselves (and the only Chinese I knew was "hello"). We had quite a few curious looks, but everyone would smile at us and nod. And speaking of stores, we didn't have a lot of time to shop, the one morning we went to the market before the afternoon university class and then evening seminars, was a different experience. The stores were small, only a couple of aisles each, and each side-by-side store seem to cater to one type of industry or item. There was a store that sold aquariums and supplies; one that had nothing but bags (yes, I bought some bags, plastic bags with flowers, gift bags, Jerry thought I was crazy); a store with school supplies; one that sold tea. Even on the way to and from the university there was a kind of "contractor's row" of shops - ones with only draperies; one with bathroom fixtures; one that had doors; one with tile and granite. We did go into one larger grocery store that also sold some housewares and baby clothes. And the reason you buy plastic bags is that some (most?) stores do not give you bags for your items, you just know to carry a couple along with you.
It is not considered good to have a tan. They have "sun-brellas" made of reflective material, and most would carry those during the day. Our hotel had a wonderful pool (our room overlooked it from high up) and as we came and went I never saw anyone swimming. I asked at the front desk when it was open, and the pool didn't open until 5:00 p.m. I got lots of compliments on my fair skin. Of course that's probably healthier for them. I heard on the news last night that California is passing a law where as of January 1, 2012, it will be illegal for anyone under 18 to go to a tanning salon.
The driving was crazy. We went on multiple forms of transportation - high speed train, motorcycle taxis, covered scooter taxis, bike taxis, scooters, and mostly taxis. The first time we went from our hotel to our friends' apartment, we saw a car going the wrong way at the "Y" intersection area where we were turning right off a main road. We laughed about "look at that guy going the wrong way!" When we left the apartment to go back to the hotel, our cab driver just pulled into the same "Y" area, the wrong way as two lanes of traffic are exiting, so he could kind of make a U turn. They seem to think of the dashed lines for lanes of traffic as suggestions, we would commonly see people riding the middle of the painted lines, making a 3-lane road into 4 lanes. Amazingly, we only came up on two minor "fender bender" type of accidents during the time we were there. They all seem to know that everyone drives that way and it's taken into account.
The weather was very tropical, they are on the same latitude as the Caribbean, the first couple days were really humid, but we got a breeze and a little cloud cover by Tuesday, so it got better. Contrary to some of the information we had received, the cities we were at were clean, I felt very safe, and we encountered no problems. The biggest thing that we realized was the complete disconnect they have with any knowledge of Christianity. I suppose I realize that in a lot of "western" cultures people have probably heard a basis of what Christianity beliefs are, and have the ability to make a decision to accept or reject being a Christ-follower. A lot of the people I encountered and talked with had no concept of even the basics, and we really had to hone down the responses we made and give some background explanation. They did want to hear, they asked a lot of questions, and we encountered some who had done reading and studying and wanted to hear more (and some that had become Christ-followers and were now telling others). Both Jerry and I have such a heart and feeling for the people of China, and we are planning on going back (and learning some of the language before we go - definitely pray for us on that one, it's kind of difficult and foreign!). To us, it's not "China" but it's Emma, Yolanda, Amber, Randie, Molly and Tom (and even Elvis, Bingo and Smile). The people have touched us in a way we didn't expect.
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