To the question asked to me quite a few times: “So Brice, how was China?!”, I got used to answer the same “Well… I can tell you how amazing it was but there’s so much to say, I don’t really know where to start...” Here is the answer some are waiting for. As this could be a bit long, I’ll try to keep it as clear as possible, starting with how everything began then what transformed this great journey to an amazing one…
It all started a long time ago… More precisely a few months before my college graduation, searching for the best school to carry on my tumultuous student life. I found one, Epitech, I will skip the details here but basicaly this school was providing the opportunity to spend a year, the fourth of five, studying in a foreign country. We had the choice between Canada, China, India and Russia, it was almost already clear for me, Canada was too culturaly similar to France, I felt India was more for a holiday trip, Russia could have been the one because I’d love to meet those crazy (great though) people! But… China won with the misteries, the history, the culture, the people and much more… It was four years ahead of me, still more like a dream than anything at this point. I’ve been accepted to the school, surprizingly I passed all the exams to get through the fourth year and that was already it, I was at the footsteps of China!
When? The third of November 2007, something like two or three weeks after the end of my second internship in New York City, I had to leave again the French baguette and cheese for massive amounts of noodles and rice… lucky me! The official return date was the 27 of July 2008, a total of 9 months in China, my longest trip outside France…
Where? Dalian was the one, located a few hundred kilometers east of Beijing, in the Liaoning province. This city is considered as one of the most pleasant cities in China as it is a famous place for Chinese people to spend their summer holidays. Our new school, DLPU (Dalian Polytechnic University) was located a bit outside the city center, something like thirty minutes away from it, nearby the airport.
Who? I forgot the exact number but something like twenty classmates, nineteen guys and one girl… Even if it is difficult to imagine her feelings at this time, since for the opposite situation, I would have agreed in less than a second to travel with so many girls (!), I guess she might had felt a bit scared… Hopefully her boyfriend was there too. Anyway, thanks to her as she brought us a bit of needed feminity.
First contact with China, the airport, the “Dalian Inertationnal Airport” (they wrote it like that…), everything was prepared for us, no time to feel lost. A bus was waiting to bring us to the school then, when arrived there, a couple of students helped us to bring our heavy luggage (hopefully limited to 20Kg by the plane company) to our dorms. I can’t hide the truth, I was afraid of what could be a dormitory in China, a place where I would have to spend almost a year… Well, good surprise! It was big, with large windows and a view on mountains! Time to unpack and to familiarize with our new surroundings, also time to meet the Chinese students next door! Since our last meal was now far away, we were hungry so here was our first conversation topic: the food. We’re not savages so we first shared a few words with them, then came the food issue… My roomate and myself had been lucky, “Du” and “Wang” nicely invited us to come with them to their favorite local restaurant so we followed them outside to what appeared at the time “The Wild”… A step back in time, a traditionnal Chinese restaurant is quite simply designed, in fact you have no decorations, a room with tables and chairs, a TV and that’s it, in the back you have the kitchen, a perfect model of what would be totally outlaw and closed within the hour by the hygiene services in any western countries! As for the choice, no “steak de cheval”, no “spaguetti carbonara”, we had the choice between noodles and rice with pork or beef basically, at least that’s how we saw it back then… Since the day was almost finished, we came back to the dormitory to get some sleep after this exhausting trip.
I think we really realised we were in China when we woke up, the same frightening question I asked myself in 2005 when I went to New York City for the first time, “Am I going to find a decent breakfast here?”, well, back then, I found a McDonald and I hated it. This time I found a little restaurant outside only selling oily spooky vegetable pancakes… Well, Ronald, I’m sorry I said bad things about you, I love you! Meals after meals we got used to find our food, combining smart techniques to get the goodies, mostly choosing beautiful Chinese symbols on the menu, then once a good dish were found, we shared the information this way: “in this restaurant, there’s a good dish on the menu, taste like chicken and it’s the line fourteen on the page 2 of the menu”, it was better not to speak as if so we were generally ending up with something totally unexpected, that’s why you want to practice the “point-and-choose” technique…
Once the food issue became less of a threat, we went for a visit outside the university. We were confident as we took with us the ultime protection against being lost, the business card of the university… With it, any cab would bring us in front of our dorm, convenient! After a little while, we learned how to navigate in the city, the most important bus numbers and how to get to the holy shop! It was unexpected but “Carrefour”, the French hypermarket chain was there, and as huge you’d expect it! You can’t get anything you’re used to find in France, it’s mostly Chinese products, but still with as much international products as you can get in a Chinese store!
A couple of days after our arrival, it was time to get back to the classes! Our course was both about Chinese and Information Technologies, supposedly all in English… Unlike what I’ve been used to in France, it started pretty smoothly, for the first two weeks each day of school was followed by a day of visit in Dalian or nearby, organized by the school! A bit of nature, some seaside walks, bargaining lessons and much more, it was really a great way to start with the classes without too much stress.
The Chinese lessons, as interresting as they were, required some adjustments both from us and the teachers, they basically started teaching us the chinese language in… wait for it… Chinese! The first adjustment had to be done by them, chinese classes in English as planned, problem was their english was like most of ours, just good enough… but hopefully they improved it pretty fast! We felt the adjustment needed from us was really difficult, we had to learn again a forgotten world: “homework”! Unfortunately four years of our school made most of us forget about this way of studying… Another forgotten word was “books”, a massive amount of them, at least massive for any IT student used to bring either nothing or maybe pen and paper… Once all those little issues solved, the classes began to become more and more interresting at the price of beiing more and more difficult!
The IT classes were disappointing for most of us, some teachers with poor English, some with moderate IT skills, and let’s not talk about the low speed and high latency internet connection needed to find technical information for the classes… We complained about it to the teachers and again, some adjustments were made and we’ve been able to study a bit more efficiently. I’m very impressed by that, in France, teachers don’t adjust, they stick to the “program” like robots would and they’re proud of it! As always, not all of them are like that, just… most.
Days after days, weeks after weeks, our life there felt easier and more enjoyable as we made more and more friends, for some even girlfriends… We went to the movies with them, to the KTV (Karaoke TV), restaurant and many more great activities. Chinese students are great, friendly and easygoing, they enjoy any simple activities and games unlike the western students, us… A lot of them still believe in family, something getting lost in the western culture, unfortunately replaced by a deep individualism. My Chinese friends brought me a lot, sharing some discussion about their view on various subjects, they opened my mind… The more time was passing by, the more starving I was to know more about China, it’s people, history, food…
Somewhere in the middle of November, our French president Nicolas Sarkozy organized a reception in Beijing for the French “expats”, our school was invited, I’ve been chosen to represent it with a classmate… Exciting! As it was for us a chance to see our President and also a few days to visit this famous city. The speech made by N. Sarkozy was interesting even if I’m not too much into politics and tasty were all the food provided for the occasion! We had two days to visit Beijing, personally I like places where it is possible to reach everything by walk or at least by bike so I was a bit disappointed at first. But there’s a lot to see in and around the city, we had just enough time to see the Forbidden City, to do a bit of shopping, some walks and even finish those restless days with a Chinese massage… Finally I changed my mind, this city is quite nice. Again, thank you for this M.Sarkozy and M.Sadirac.
Then came the holidays, the first one was a week for the occidental new year, Heng organized for us a trip to the biggest skiing station in Asia: “Yabuli”, we had some fun there but we also learned most Chinese people don’t practice snowboarding, only skiing… As lot of us preferred snowboarding, we had a hard time to rent those rare snowboards. Then came a problem, they broke more than easily, because of that some were convinced to switch to skis but if you know me, you know how dumb I can get when it come to stick to my decisions… Basically some of us broke pieces of the snowboards but I made the best score, three snowboards down. So two days before the end, the doors of the skiing station were closed to us… Anyway, instead we went visiting Harbin, the worldwide famous snow and ice sculptures, really nice but… cold, -15C to -25C there!
A week only after this trip came the Chinese new year holidays, for a month and a half, starting around mid-January and ending in the first days of march. I was so glad to have so much time to travel and discover china, I left as soon as possible, wondering if I would be able to come back to the school if this trip ended up to be as amazing as I was expecting… My first destination was Beijing because I still had a lot left to see. Most noticeable sight I’ve seen was the Great Wall, precisely the part named “Badaling”, considered the most touristy part of it, unless you jump across the forbidden part at the end… Then I headed to the south, visiting amazing places, from little villages to big cities…
A little description of most cities I visited :
- Qingdao : The local markets were the real enlightenment, a lot of food, prepared or raw, fresh or dried, I spent hours there… The city itself have a laid back atmosphere, a beautiful beach and the brewery of the national beer Tsingtao!
- Zhujiayu : If you’re not afraid of being cold, head there during the winter, you will see a totally authentic old Chinese village. But remember there’s only one accommodation option in town and it’s freezing during the cold months.
- Taishan : There’s something in common between all the sacred mountains in China: the stairs, thousand of stairs, the reward is usually at the top. Here you had a couple of temples, stone inscriptions and all that under a lot of snow. Interresting
- Qufu : One of the most authentic city I’ve seen in China, not too big and too touristy. It is also the city where Confucius spent his entire life so there’s a very big and preserved temple for the adepts and curious people, his cemetry and a mansion for his familly.
- Shanghai : It made me feel a bit like I was in Paris… There is a lot to do in this city, markets, parks, walks, bars, nightclub, the list is long… I was there for the Chinese new year where you can see (and hear!) fireworks and firecrackers everywhere in the city, quite impressive.
- Tongli : Isn’t it the Venice of the East? Get there before the tourists and you’ll be enlightened. I loved the walks following the “canals”, meeting artists, visiting churches and temples… Be aware of the expensive entrance fee.
- Hangzhou : All you need to enjoy all those beautiful places in and around the city is a bike. Temples, pagodas, lakes, the plantations and much more. One of my favorite city in China because of it’s modernity while still preserving a lot of authenticity, a must see.
- Gulangyu : Let’s be honest, this is an island made for tourists, but unlike most of those type of “attractions”, this one is pretty, there’s a lot of charming Western architecture and an impressive collection of piano in the only museum in China dedicated to this instrument.
- Hong-Kong : A city full of life, the center of the city is look like a “mini-Manhattan”, around are markets, electronic stores, bars, restaurants and so much more… It’s a good place for an introduction to the Chinese culture. A must see.
It was time to get back to the university… I felt like there was no way I could end up this trip without seeing more of China, I had to make an important decision, to continue this trip I had to end up my student life… was it really worth it? After years of school, several internships and jobs, I finally have a bachelor and a job in NYC. This opportunity was certainly not going to happend twice, it was time for a good break to nicely end up my student life so I resigned the school, trading one month and a half of holidays to a whole 8 months!
Some more cities ! :
- Macao : Las Vegas of the East, surrounded by the sea instead of a desert, much much nicer. There’s an interesting cultural diversity brought by the Portuguese people sharing the peninsula with Chinese. Consider staying on Coloane, a lovely and quiet island nearby.
- Guilin : Even if chances are you’ll be surrounded by tourists, it is still worth it to spend some time strolling in the Seven Star Park, before leaving don’t miss the cave there, huge.
- Longsheng : It’s all about rice terraces and villages. Hire a local guide and spend a few hours walking through the terraces, a bit physical, a lot of amazing views. Keep some of your time to walk inside the villages, you’ll meet some real nice local people.
- Yangshuo : Half Chinese, half backpackers is how I would describe the village itself. The surroundings landscapes and villages are breathtaking, hire a nice guide for 2-3 jours, I did some biking, walking and even boat trips, loved it, check my photos, you’ll understand.
- Zhaoxing : Still preserved, certainly because you need to spend hours in a local bus on a bumpy road to get there, only few tourists in town. A village full of life, a lot of kids, dancers, workers… Everything was made of wood, typical chinese constructions.
- Basha : Another local village, more difficult to reach than Zhaoxing but it was even more preserved, the local people were used to see tourists sometimes, but I could still see the surprise on their face when they saw me. Some locals invited me for a diner there…
- Xijiang : The biggest concentration of “Miao” people in China is in this village. There you don’t need to find a hotel, out of the bus some villagers will invite you to stay in their house for a little monetary contribution. A very good occasion to practice your Chinese!
- Caohai Lake : Winter home of the rare Black-necked Crane, rent a bamboo boat with its driver and admire the beautiful Crane aswell as the 184 bird species you can find there… Westerners are rare there, so be prepared to experience a lot of curious eyes looking at you!
- Kunming : Capital city of the Yunnan province, very laid back, best place to relax and eat western food after one month of experiencing the local villages! From here you can take a bus to all those sublim places in that province.
- Yuanyang : There you can find three kind of people, the locals, some tourists and a lot of photographers as this place one of the Chinese prettiest. Get there very early and admire the spectacular sunrise on the rice terraces…
- Dali : The village itself is very touristy, great ambiance by night though, “The Tibetan Lodge” is the best option in town. A ride around the lake on a bike is the best way to enjoy the place. Start early and do a lot of stops, the lake is 124km long…
- Lugu Hu : The question I asked myself when I arrived there was why is there almost no tourists? This lake is stunning. I supposed because it was still the low season… Anyway that’s a place to see, the accommodations are very good, especially in the rooms with view on the lake…
- Tiger Leaping George : This is a famous one day trek but you can split it in two or three days if you want to enjoy the nature with beautiful mountain views. Start early if you want a chance to have the path for yourself.
- Deqin : For sure this was my most impressive experience in China. I rented a scooter in Zhongdian to get to the closest village to Tibet, 200km of Himalayan roads, cold and dangerous… Arrived there exhausted, I’ve been greatly surprised by this village on the side of the Hymalaya…
- Zhongdian : Also called “Shangrila”, even if this city is not a part of Tibet, the population there is mostly Tibetan. Surrounded by the Hymalaya, the landscape is quite something, the Ganden Sumstseling monastery is the place to see there, very typical.
- The Grand Buddha : Yes, I can’t deny it, it’s “Grand”, really. I think I saw it on TV or magasines before without knowing what it was. This Buddha is impressive, carved directly in the mountain like the presidents on the Mount Rushmore… I’d be surprised to see a more beautiful Buddha.
- Three Gorges : Four days on a boat trip cruising the famous Yangze River to get to the impressive Three Georges… Along the stops made during the trip, I’ve seen a lot of temples, villages emptied by the construction of the biggest dam of the world, and at the end the dam itself, a massively impressive one.
- Xian : Last city of my trip, the place where my friend Kevin took a good care of me, I enjoyed the Chinese nightlife, met great Chinese people, had tasty pizzas and even learned some djing skills! Loved it, thanks Kev! The city itself is really nice, guarded by the Terracotta Warriors…
By the end of april, the budget allocated to my trip in China was getting low so I had to come back a month to the university in Dalian to relax and to prepare my next trip, in Southeast Asia.
If a conclusion had to be done in only one word, I’d chose this one: “Fascinating”. China is vast and as I expected it, I’ve seen there way more than I ever saw in only one country. Each sides of China have it’s own personality, life in the North is rough, the East is where most famous and buzzing cities are, South is laid back, people are really nice, a lot of hiking opportunities, particularly in the amazing Yunnan province. I haven’t visited the West yet but from the information I gathered, the most spectacular landscapes are there, Himalaya, Tibet, Gobi desert… All Chinese people have something in common, a strong belief in family, young people are sharing both from the ancient culture brought by their parents and from the western culture brought by medias and from westerners themselves. I hope this culture will survive the famous globalization. Two things are to learn before or at the beginning of a trip in China, first a few basic words in order to “survive”, then you need to learn the most famous dishes otherwise every meal will be a big surprise, maybe a very spicy surprise!
Unlike most people think, Chinese people are really friendly, the language barrier is the real problem so consider learning a bit of Chinese and try to use it with them, you’ll have access to a new world and you may even have an occasion to see them trying to speak English! Thank you China for this great experience!
Even if I left the school prematurely, I want to thank Epitech for this opportunity they gave us. As well as everybody which helped me in any way, it’s also because of you if this trip had been so great. Thank you.
Click here to see the photos
Blog bizarre, still somehow accurate, of my enigmatic but still adorable roommate “Gucci” : paralogism.free.fr (fr).
