Stayed here for no other reason than it was the nearest city to the China-Hong Kong border. It's a great big modern city and would not look out of place in the West. In the guide book it mentioned that this was the piracy capital of China controlled by the military. I checked into my hostel and on the coffee table were fifteen of the latest Hollywood blockbusters for my viewing pleasure, wicked!
First impressions of China and the Chinese:
- Even the most intimidating cafes, the ones with loads of locals inside and with no visible English sign will find you an English menu if you're brave enough to enter. However each dish on the menu will be translated into two ingredients only. When the meal arrives it is guaranteed to contain at least one of those ingredients, possibly both if you're very lucky, plus a lot more besides. Just because meat was not listed doesn't mean the dish will not contain meat. If one of those ingredients contains the letter 'v', do not order it unless you're prepared to eat liver - ignore spelling just be on the lookout for the letter. If you're prepared to brave all this and don't mind being surprised, you are guaranteed delicious food.
- They will always apologise for not speaking English or speaking it badly. Considering my grasp of Mandarin, their English is brilliant which makes me feel bad.
- Do not ask anyone where the long distance bus station is or at least be prepared to be sent in the wrong direction if you do, take food and water with you to be on the safe side! Now, my guide book did warn me about this but I thought I knew better. Two hours later after walking some 2-3 miles, mostly back and forth across town I was rescued by an Philipino missionary who located said station for me. It turned out the station was only 2 minutes away from where I first started out.
- 95% of the product adverts feature white Europeans. Of the 5% that feature Chinese people they look western too. We British complain about models setting unattainable standards, this is truly unattainable.
New culinary discoveries:
Food: Dragon fruit - lush
Drink: Hot boiled coca cola with ginger and lemon - the less said the better but obviously an acquired taste. Had to try it as it reminded me of my Brummie cousins (they know who they are). Never again.
