Guangzhou. Is. So. Hot.
Not “sexy” hot, “hot” hot. And humid too. I’m cooked to a desirable tenderness and is ready to be put on a plate. The air is so poluted; the wall of my throat must have like a layer of dust on it already. People out there are mostly impolite and selfish (aside from the people we ask in residential areas for directions, they are nice). And there are so many mosquitos :( We forgot to kill mosquitos after putting down the nets, and I got like 40 bites in one night (yes I counted). My mom brutally killed them in the morning… but nothing makes up for the big red dots on my legs :( now I don’t even dare to wear shorts cus I am afraid that people will think that I have some weirdo disease xD
Despite all bad things (those aren’t all), it’s still somewhat fun to be back. Everything changed; it looks much prettier now, and more developed. Really tall apartment towers are everywhere; no more motorcycle flood (cus it’s banned) and the trend of owning a private vehicle is now taking over. All the crapass busses got replaced by good ones, and public transportation pass is being used in all bus and subway lines to reduce the time required to wait for everyone to pay at each stop. (speaking of which, it’s absolutely hilarious to see people walk up to the buspass sensor and stick their butt near it for the sensor to scan the passes in side their pockets, especially men. It’s also slightly disturbing) the food is awesome and my relatives are same old freakishly welcoming. Services are so cheap; thorough hairwashing (almost 1 hour of washing), head massage, and hair cut costs like $4 USD, and a big long trip on a taxi across half of the city only costs $3 USD. Unfortunately some brand name goods aren’t that cheap at all, but luckily I don’t care for them. Everything also seem shrinked… the roads outside my old home seemed smaller. My home seemed a lot smaller for some reason. Maybe it was because I was small when I came out… but I wasn’t that small oO
People here drive like insane, and they are all so SKILLED that the accident rate in that style of traffic is similar to our accident rate. There are 39752938745 cars on the road, plus misc bikes and random people that don’t care for shit about traffic lights and rules. (not that the drivers do…) people change lanes and pass each other without signalling, and both sides are aggressive about taking the spot in the traffic flow before one chickens out in fear of being hit. If drivers see people trying to walk across, they honk and speed up. 2 lanes always fit 3 cars, and an aerial view of any major road is always a mess of straight and slanted cars in and out of lane. There is no priority in turning; you win if you are aggressive. All cars being manual doesn’t really help drivers drive in this sort of traffic either. It’s such a terror (and enjoyment sometimes) to ride a car here… the drivers here have true skill.
Robbery is really popular these days; people’s earrings have been ripped off of their ears (scary people running after theives with bloody ears), handbags have been taken right out of people’s hands by motorcyclists, necklaces have been grabbed, and backpacks are frequent targets of thieves on the streets by out of province people. My cousin had had her bag’s zipper opened halfway by a kid before she realized. When she yanked her bag out of the kid’s hand, a couple of men started walking towards her so she didn’t dare to do anything about the children. And no one really cares when they see something like this; no one really helps or want to help in fear of getting in trouble themselves. So people wear backpacks in front of them and keep one-shouldered bags across their body. No one wear jewelry and things. When I was going to go out, I was told not to bring stuff in case I get robbed.
O wow that’s a really long texted entry… more about China than about my actual travel. But it hadn’t been that eventful since my grandpa had to go to the hospital and stay there for a week the day after I arrived, then I got a grand headache for no freaking reason. It was really not that eventful aside from some mall-going and (many) restaurant outings. I drew a lot…. of manga, that’s all.
(ps: my parents will cry if they see this:… but I don’t like being back :( It’s not nice here. I don’t think I want to come back again.)
{ shilin }
@ all: the opening bracket (the inverted twin of “>”) gets your messages cut off because it is recognized as the beginning of a tag, often left unclosed because… well… it’s used for an emoticon xD I’ll try (to remember) to do something about it when I get back xD
but it’s still fun here in china. At least it’s not so bad that I want desperately to go back. yet. and relatives treat me generously :) ! *lets ppl spoil self*
{ Cat }
I thought of hong kong when I read your first sentence. xD I’ve never been there but my friends have and my mom always told me about her time there and how it was so freaking hot. I want to go there to shop at low prices but I would die from the weather.
Although the things you related are not particularly pleasant, I still envy you for getting to go to China. If I had the chance, I’d probably go to Shanghai, though. xD And your driver story makes me remember my trip in France. The Paris drivers are crazy. My friend and I were sitting in the front seat of this bus in Paris and we saw out the front window as we headed straight for a lamp post. Then the driver swerved at the last second… XD. crazy people.
{ Icesplendor }
…and my comment got cut off again?! o___o;; I apologize!! (I think it’s misreading tags?)
^Hah, look at how much I complain. Sorry. ^^; In any case, I hope you enjoy your time in China, despite the weather. Dx At least you have access to a computer! (whereas I was deprived of one for two weeks. =O) btw, do you still practice piano over there? One thing I enjoyed: I didn’t need to touch my piano while I was halfway ‘round the world. (: Although, that may be undesirable for you, you 1337 pianist. D:
{ Icesplendor }
Umm…for some reason my comment got cut off (!??) -continues- …anyway, it was really hot/humid/dusty in Indonesia too. >___
{ Icesplendor }
I can really relate to the bug bites thing…when I traveled to Indonesia last summer to visit my relatives, I got bitten every single day, despite repellents and etc. ): At the airport my mom told me to hide all my bite marks so that we wouldn’t be stopped by guards who may have thought I was carrying some freakish disease. …and I still have the scars…almost a year later. :___
{ Shinyu }
people do not look when you get robbed on the street.
actually they DO look… but for the entertainment that “someone’s getting robbed, oho fun”
like last time when my mom’s bag almost got robbed, and she (aggresively) tried to pull it back, and she and the robber sorta had a pull-it-back-and-forth-thing, and people CROWDED around them and did nothing but to stare. even the security guards came to WATCH but not to help.
lol that was lame :D
(opps wut happened to my comment? O__O)
{ Shinyu }
{ Shinyu }
LMAO! O__O maybe thats why my mom suggested me to take off my earrings when im in China.
and yes
{ DarkObsessor }
o.O Is all I can say…I would be so freaked out if one of my friends were almost robbed. Lol, I’m so paranoid about stuff like that. I would probably lock myself up in the house and then when I did go out stuff some money in my sock or something and not carry anything else. I think I could put up with everything else BUT being mugged.
{ tigeria }
ew. that sucks. o.o
well um. good luck.