Now, I am about to sound very naive, but 1 year ago if you asked me about my thoughts on China – they were very cloudy – rice…smog…factories…sweet and sour…more factories…great wall?! (I know, its embarrassing!) But hence why I moved here, I wanted to find out more about this vast country. On my initial arrival, I suffered reverse culture shock. I felt poor – turns out China is not the cheap, cheap country I thought it was going to be*. Most of the cars were mint, the streets were spotless and the people parade around in such beautiful new clothes. It honestly made me feel like Ireland was back in the 50’s! Now this was a culture shock – albeit backwards. Overcoming this, I fell in love with the place and here’s why:
Shiny on the outside, gritty and full of charachter on the inside.
I spoke about my initial impression of China above, and to be honest it kind of worried me. I generally dont fall into that alurement of pricy cars, flashy new clothes and money money money. “Could I spend the next 6 months surrounded by it?” It took a few more days before I realised sure, this is Foshan on the outside but if you look deep and explore you see the gritty Chinese character at its core. Shiny new buildings provide the facade but if you really delve into it you see this beautiful red brick higgildy piggildy network of buildings – which to me feels like the real China. It is so easy to stumble across alleyways full to the brim of exotic aromas and a street food culture which is alive and well.
All it takes, is to step off the beaten track to discover this magical world – the real China.
An outdoorsy lifestyle but not as we know it.
It seems like all of China is so active. Similar to at home, they run, they cycle, they go to the gym but it doesnt stop there. You walk down the street at 7am and you pass congregations of people (young and old) practising Tai Chi in any available open space – car parks in particular! Take a walk through any park at the weekend and it is the equivalent to a world tour of dance, you pass by salsa, swing and waltzing all the way to middle age women putting Beyonce to shame! The best thing about it is, it is established by every day people who just bring a speaker down to the local park and then the masses gather.
Watching old people practice martial arts has become another favorite pastime of mine, one Saturday I spent an hour entranced by this lady in her 80’s practising with her sword as if it was an extension of her body. An evening venture to the shopping centre can usually involve walking through a sea of elderly people doing aerobics to some Kylie Minogue or Michael Jackson with not a a care in the world – this attitude is contagious!
The food, my God, the food!
One of the things I have learnt since living in China, is back home, we can be extremely precious when it comes to food. In a country where a chickens head and legs are a savory snack, you become a hell of alot more adventourous with your food (and I thought I was, before I experienced China!) My first trip to a supermarket was a culinary highlight for me, and to be honest, it still is! Sure there are the live turtles, frogs and freezers full to the brim of chicken legs which can be alarming at first. But then you round the corner to the ever colourful display of exotic fruits and vegetables which are a pleasure (and an adventure) to cook with, the deep red cured meats hanging from the ceiling and baskets and baskets of dried seafood (which I am still figuring out!). And this is only a supermarket experience – the markets do one better!
To this day I am still confused how the “Chinese food” and home is so far fetched from the real chinese food on offer here in China?(Note: a dedicated Chinese food post is definitly in order as this simply does not do it justice – watch this space!)
Living in China has been a complete assault on the senses (in the best possible way!). Don’t get me wrong, it has been a tough challenge from day one but my opinion of this country could not be any different from that point in time 1 year ago, and for that I could not be more grateful. This country has so much to offer and I have just barely touched the surface!
this crow flies 