Crazy China

As much cool stuff there was in China, there was plenty of crazy as well.

Crazy #1.  It started right after we arrived.  We took a walk to Tiananmen Square and all of the Chinese tourists wanted to take pictures of Nick.  This continued at every place we visited Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Terracotta Warriors and Disneyland.  This included train stations, grocery stores and just walking on the street.  Literally everywhere people were hunching down and having their friends take pictures of themselves or their children next to Nick.  He was a good sport at first but towards the end many people have pictures of Nick with a definite scowl.

Crazy #2.  China has 1.4 billion people.  You don't really realize how big this number is until you try to exit a train station or buy your ticket to a museum.  We were overwhelmed.

Crazy #3.  Chinese have no concept of an orderly line.  Their plan is to move ahead as fast as possible and the end justifies the means.  Elbows, head butts and sly work arounds are all legal.  Disneyland was a challenge for us courteous lining up folks.  We were regularly assaulted as we tried to find seats for any show we wanted to watch.  The same thing occurred at bus stops, train stations, even in the check out lines at stores.  We just had to scratch our heads as we watched the kind of jostling that occurred as people with assigned seats and free checked luggage tried to board their airplane.

Crazy #4.  Driving is an exercise in faith.  See #3 above.  Evidently they have rules as we did not see any accidents but neither Tom or I could figure out what the rules were.  Thank goodness we left the driving to taxis and locals.  We said prayers before leaving the hotel in the morning.

Crazy #5.  China censors are alive and well.  No facebook or blogs.  Even Google is not allowed.  Tour guides are all hired by the government and are quick to tell you how thankful everyone is for the new dam that has flooded their homes and the construction that is everywhere removing the ancient hutongs (neighborhoods) and causing pollution so serious that the sun rarely shines in Beijing.  Praise Chairman Mao!

Crazy #6.  English translators need some tutoring.  There were many signs and Tshirts that just made us laugh.  We noticed the Tshirts in Japan as well when we visited a few years ago.  Word to the wise, before you get a tattoo of a cool Chinese or Japanese symbol, have it proofread by a native speaker lest you go around proclaiming to the world that you are, in fact, a dork.

What?

Don't you hug your pet when you go on an escalator?  I never though about taking a wheelbarrow on an escalator but I guess it could make things easier, right?

I am concerned that a life jacker can be stored away for the future use of children everywhere

Taylor loved this one, he went on for hours making math puns.  We couldn't figure out what the sign was really trying to say.  It was over a railing on an upstairs level at a train station.