chinese for beginners
An exotic territory that continues to give a bit of vertigo but that more than compensates the most open minds. There you have the key to succeed on this trip and in the process return a few decades wiser, include your best open-mindedness in your luggage. The rest will be provided by them. These are the things that you will never forget when you have spent 7 days in China.
1) YOU WILL VALUE THE IMPORTANCE OF PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY
The language, a devilish song of thousands of phonemes and several tones , it is not even the same throughout its extensive territory. Mandarin, Cantonese and many other variants that to your chaste ears will sound like just that, Chinese. The exact same thing happens with addresses. If you have endless faith in your photographic memory, go ahead, but if you don't see it so clearly or prudence can take over, it is best to photograph all the necessary coordinates or, failing that, that you reproduce them on paper, to give them to the taxi driver or ask at your hotel.
2) YOU WILL LEARN NEW TABLE MANNERS
They sip the soup and eat with their hands. If they are curious they look, without hesitation . They have a handling of chopsticks that will leave you stunned and, believe it or not, given that in many restaurants in the interior and in almost all street stalls, they do not have cutlery, in a week you will also have passed the expert level. It is a great investment to impress your friends in the west and a brain-quickening dexterity test. One piece of advice: never use chopsticks to serve yourself from a common dish without turning them over and leave the embarrassment at home. Here it is about practicing and in seven days you will be hungry. The normal thing is to sit at a table and snack on the huge dishes that are served. If they offer you, make yourself beg a couple of times. They will keep insisting until you eat, it's part of their etiquette.
3) YOU WILL CUSTOMIZE YOUR MENU AT THE ENTRANCE AQUARIUM
It is possible that you are a little embarrassed to eat that fish that has looked at you with a Bambi face , but the reality is that it is there to end up on the plate, on yours or on the next table. So leave your maudlin somewhere else and learn to distinguish the freshest fish and the most tender shellfish . The method, surprising to say the least, is very useful for not having to deal with the incomprehensible menu, especially if it does not arrive in English.
4) YOU WILL EAT WHAT YOU ALWAYS SWORN YOU WERE NOT GOING TO EAT
You will taste an indescribable palette of flavors and, if you want, you will be able to try worms, stuffed pig skin and some other animals that in other parts of the world are to be petted. Do a pre-immersion test and enter a food market. Do not forget to bring your camera because everything is going to freak you out, starting with something that you cannot bring as graphic proof, its penetrating smell of… things. You'll see snakes hanging like strings of garlic, dehydrated worms, algae of all kinds and liquor bottles with animals inside. But above all, you will see products that you have not the slightest idea of what they are, nor throwing all your imagination at them. Ask. In exchange, you will discover that the Chinese in your neighborhood is a bad joke compared to the tremendous variety that the country's gastronomy offers. Do not miss the lacquered duck -especially in Beijing- its delicious dumplings or its exquisite seafood and enjoy the thousand-year-old eggs (fluorine green color due to the fact of having spent several days buried in manure and other substances) .
5) YOU SHALL HONOR THE TEA
It is good that you remember that the water is not drinkable, so always carry a bottle and make sure that when it is sold to you it is well closed. If you have doubts, you can use its delicious tea as a way of hydration. It's everywhere: in restaurants, in what might be the closest thing to a bar and in street stalls, usually served with milk and very sweet . Also in specialized stores, where you can find variants that cost much more than their price in gold. White, black and green tea are the most appreciated and are full of healing properties . Get yourself a couple of bags to take home.
6) YOU'LL COME BACK WITH A COUPLE OF NEW SUPERSTITIONS
In a week you will return with more than one number in your head. The eight is very good and its pronunciation in Chinese is similar to wealth. The 4 the lousy. Red is the color of good luck, strength and loyalty . If you also like fen shui, you will spend a large part of the trip mentally rearranging the furniture in your house and making notes in the margin about the element that breaks the harmony of your home. What are you missing? Earth, metal... the possibilities are endless and the books they sell in English explaining their secrets to you, a delight. The same thing happens with the horoscope. Chinese is older, more concrete, and offers more possibilities than Western. If you enter temples, do not forget to follow the ritual that they offer you, from turning a windmill to change your luck or throw away the chopsticks to see what future awaits you.
7) YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH ITS MARKETS
Forget the Chinese surfaces that are proliferating in the West and go to the mother of all sources. Haggle, browse and load with the most unexpected. Don't miss the silk one in Beijing and the women's one and the night one in Hong Kong. In general, in all Chinese cities you will find true temples to fall into temptation. And if you want great imitations, remember that the best are in the back room: To gain access, you will have to hit the thread with the seller, gain his trust and bow a lot.
8) YOU WILL APPRECIATE THE ART OF WRAPPING
You may not even notice at first, but as your purchases progress you will notice the delicacy with which any product is wrapped. From a simple bracelet to a pair of chopsticks . The floral decorations, the good luck details and the care they put into the aesthetics speak of years and years of international trade.
9) YOU WILL RECONSIDER THE ADVANTAGES OF SPITTING
Certain. It is not very pleasant, but it is a very widespread custom. So much so that there are specific places to do it. Pollution is probably to blame, since without really understanding why, in a couple of days you will also feel an irresistible desire to do so. Despite the many signs prohibiting it, the regulations, of clear Western influence, have not yet penetrated very deeply among the Chinese.
10) YOU WILL BE AMAZED BY ITS ACUPUNCTURE CENTERS
Acupuncture is an art, the same as massage, but in general where you will be most surprised will be in the stores dedicated to natural medicine . Nothing better than entering one of these dispensaries with wooden drawers and countless glass jars to find new ills and of course all their remedies. From all imaginable varieties of ginseng - the most exquisite can cost blushing figures - to rhino horn powder for impotence.
11) YOU WILL ENJOY THE TAI CHI
Do not miss the opportunity to learn the basic knowledge of Tai chi and practice it in the morning in any of its parks. And don't be fooled by the slowness of their movements. It is an art designed for war and, even if you don't fight anyone, when you finish you'll notice muscle soreness you didn't even know you had . The key is to breathe well and stretch.