China 2020: Year of the Rat – What I Found Strange
Final post about my experience in China, the other two were:
- What I Miss About Being Back in the Motherland
- What I Don’t Miss About Being Back in the Motherland
Re-adjustment
Right after being back from Shanghai, China there were a few things I found myself needing to readjust to:
- Driving on the left side of the road again
- Being able to clearly read and understand everything and everyone (I’m shamefully illiterate in my native language)
- Seeing the faces of strangers i.e. not covered by a face mask
- Seeing a crowd in public – which is something you’d usually associate with China
- Using a computer / typing after not doing so for 2 weeks
- Not requiring as many items of clothing when leaving home:
- Thermal pants
- Multiple layers of tops
- Scarf
- Gloves
- Face mask
Peculiarities
There were also a couple of random odd things I noticed:
- To own an Electric Vehicle (EV) you have to own a permanent parking space
- Residential parking is a bit of shitshow, as most complexes were built prior the boom in car ownership. A common solution has been to change residential roads from two way to one way, in order to free up space for more parking spots.
- The Chinese Media – mostly period dramas, sport and news. There was a distinct lack of sci-fi/fantasy/reality tv/comedy
- The smartphone/tablet is a common pacifier for children, which I found a little unhealthy. It was common to see both parents and children at a restaurant on a device doing their own thing.