After 5 days in China, I'm completely unqualified to give any advice on the country, tourism, travel or search marketing, but I think that despite that, it's still worthwhile to give my early impressions. Bullet points are a must, given the average of 5-6 hours a night of sleep, numerous blisters and a dead-tired roommate :)
- China is accessible - before coming to China, I had a lot of questions, and plenty of fears. Can you drink the water? (no) Are the hotels accomodating of English? (absolutely) Are the streets safe? (completely) Is it affordable? (for the most part). Today, a lot of those questions are answered, and I'd feel as comfortable traveling to most parts of China as I would visiting most parts of Europe. It's certainly not the same, but from a global traveler's perspective, it's as accessible as any major city in the western world.
- The Chinese people are as unique and varied as anyone else - stereotypes about "Chinese" abound, and they're almost all as completely inaccurate as stereotypes about Americans, Canadians, Mexicans or Indians. People here are like people everywhere - unique, not definable with simple adjectives, individual. There may be traits that are more popular here than elsewhere (slightly less friendly to strangers, often more friendly to friends, entrepreneurial, and much taller on average than you might first guess).
- Internet Adoption is Rampant - in the back room of tiny restaurants and washing machine repair shops in the poor neighborhoods of Xi'an, you'll find an old computer and a young person surfing the web. Internet cafes are wildly popular in every neighborhood I've seen them in, and everyone in Beijing has a cellphone with web access (at least, that's the way it seems).
- Political Discourse is Open - The myth that Chinese people are ignorant of their political climate or that of the world around them is totally false (at least, those we've met in big cities, and even in little shops on the outskirts). Like Americans or Mexicans or South Africans, they freely discuss the imperfections in their government and policies and how they think it should be made better. There's no misconceptions, either, about the news you get from official sources vs. what's actually happening - much as with US news, the educated folks here recognize that you don't get the full story in the papers. The censorship of certain websites, search results, etc. seems almost useless - no one I've talked with is unaware of, for example, disputes on exports and trade deficits, the events at Tiananmen Square in 1989, the history of conquering Tibet or the many mistakes made during the cultural revolution (1966-76). It may not be as "free" and "open" as some western societies, but at least in big cities, or anywhere a tourist might find themselves (tiny towns near the Great Wall or the Terra Cotta warriors), knowledge is far more abundant than westerners presume.
Some of the things you hear about China that absolutely are not myths, however, include:
- A Big Population - There are no words to describe the size of a city like Beijing, and from what I'm told, almost no city on the planet rivals Shanghai. In the densest provinces, you cannot find a speck of unsettled land. In Sichuan, we've heard that you can drive from one end to the other, and never see an acre undeveloped.
- A Red Hot Economy - Three business cards per person is not uncommon, and neither are three jobs. Opportunity is everywhere and the myth of disrespect for foreign goods is completely unfounded - the Chinese, from all evidence, love western brands and goods and are as happy (if not happier) to consume these as home-grown items.
- Pollution - the air quality is generally terrible, save for just after a heavy wind or rain. In Xi'an and Beijing both, even on the outskirts (with the exception of this morning's trek to a section of the Great Wall), it's rough going. I've noticed that despite days and days in the hot sun, my skin has barely taken a tan, never mind burned. Comparable exposure in Seattle would leave me fairly crispy, and from what I hear, this is because of the thick, smoky haze that constantly hangs over us.
I know that in a week's time, I'll have much, much more to share, including a considerably better understanding of the China search marketing environment. Please do share your own knowledge of China below - I'm certain that many of our Chinese readers will have a much better idea than I about the truth of my early impressions above.
p.s. If you're going to be in Shanghai tomorrow night (Tuesday) or the next (Wednesday) and want to meet up for dinner, shoot me an email :)
p.p.s. Photos so far are all on Flickr - China, May 2007.
Its good to see that the people in China are still able to be hospitable to tourists. Due to my chinese background, I was never treated like a tourist during my visit to China a few years back. I basically had the chance to see the "darker" side of things which I must admit exsists in all societies.
The scariest thing I have seen as of yet was the public beating of a begger who asked my father for spare change. A Chinese police actually went up to the poor old lady and started kicking her. with that aside, there had been many cases where they people tried to rip me off as soon as they knew I was not from China.
I was born in Hong Kong, so I spoke Cantonese (people in China speak mandarin) and as soon as you speak Cantonese in China, they know you are from Hong Kong, and thats when all the nasty things happen.
Ofcourse, these were just some things which happened to me during several different vists to China. I am not saying that alot of bad things happen, just saying that I saw alot of bad things happen when I went there.
Francis,
when you say "bad" and "nasty" things... are you talking about things like getting scammed on prices? (which i hear is common for foreigners)
or you talking about more extreme crimes?
"I was born in Hong Kong, so I spoke Cantonese (people in China speak mandarin) and as soon as you speak Cantonese in China, they know you are from Hong Kong, and thats when all the nasty things happen. "
The nastiest things I see in China? Read on.
Your tour bus has pulled over for a quick pitstop.
After a stretch of the legs you make a beeline for the restroom. You enter with members of your tour group and see a row of cubicles, nothing strange here, except perhaps how one side of the room seems to be slightly inclined and higher than the other. Pushing pass your tour groupies, you choose a cubicle on the unelevated side only to discover you have to squat instead of sit!
You shrug, because the tour guide has helpfully reminded you that the Chinese prefer squat-style toilets. There's also no toilet paper, but you were warned about that too and routinely carry extra 'clips' of tissue paper in your fanny pack.
You quickly take the assumed position (squatting and facing the door) and finally get down to doing your biz when from behind you, there is the sound of water trickling downstream. Like a B-grade horror flick, you slowly turn to look behind you - to find an open trench running behind the toilet bowl...
Now you know exactly what the incline is for because not only do smell what people 'upstream' have been depositing but you can see it rolling downhill like some disgusting lava sludge monster!
Aargh!!! Open-mother-effing-sewage drains! @#$%!
Rand , you got mail :)
I'm pretty new at SEO, doing some inhouse seo ( or at least trying) for a company based in shanghai.
If your free tonite or tommorow i'm more than happy to meet up for dinner or a short trip around town :)
And you got another one
My trip to China a few years back was one of the greatest experiences in my life. Beijing is a unique experience, something I'd recommend for everyone. Rand makes a few great points there about the myths and stereotypes. A few things that stood out to me (coming from a US male caucasian) were first of all, the people there were quite friendly. Many of the "younger" crowd spoke english pretty well - as they informed me they had been taught english at school from a very young age. Many of the "older" people there seemed to speak very little English - especially the cabbies (having maps or directions in hand was a must). The customer service I experienced at restaurants, hotels, shopping, etc. was impressive. Many of the people I spoke with were very intrigued by western culture, politics, etc.
One of the weirdest things I thought was in the Embassy District of Beijing was all of the bars. I went out with a few of our business partners (who were from China) and I wanted to experience a more authentic "Chinese" atmosphere in a bar. Well, when the cab dropped us off on this street of bars, it was lined with signs and neons of Budweiser, Heineken, and the like. Not what I had anticipated. Obviously this was more of the touristy areas of town, but nonetheless surprising.
I didn't get out much beyond Beijing and Fuzhou, but the sights in Beijing were amazing - Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square. Oh, and since you mentioned cell phones, it's amazing when you compare the technology widely available over there vs. what cell phones are available in the states. I'd go in stores of 10,000 square feet of nothing but cell phones of all types with sorts of crazy features. I just wished I could've bought one and taken it home (didn't know if they even would have on our networks).
And the traffic? Wow, scary. Weaving, honking, swerving, driving on every available inch (we're talking shoulders, grass, you name it). In the cities, 1/3 people on streets in bikes, 1/3 in buses, and 1/3 in cars, all driving together, literally coming inches from hitting each other all over the place. It's an art.
Have fun Rand!
Nice post, I like hearing "first time" traveling stories, although they always make me feel like I need to get out more. I've never been out of the country, even when I was in the ARMY, although I'm glad I never got deployed overseas, I still need to venture outside my preverbial box. China sounds like an interesting place from your post, nice comment ATLeich - thanks for sharing.
Yes,everybody in Beijin has a cellphone,but not all those phones have the ability to access the web。
Surfing the web with a cellphone is still a littile expensive in China，and most chinese are not used to surfing the web with a cellphone.
You were so lucky that you didn't come to china during May 1st and May 7th.We have a National holiday during that 7 days,filed with people everywhere in Beijin.
Welcome to China again ,if possilble.
Heh. I'm still getting over the fact that South Africa was mentioned in a seomoz post. Awesomeness.
Absolutely! And I'm quite chuffed about the 'inaccurate stereotype[ing].. of Canadians...' thingey as well - Politics and international relations take a bow to Mr Fishkin! (and I would love to see the terracotta soldiers.) GRAND post!
<edit... still can't spell...>
That's one of my dream trips. But yeah, sounds like a beautiful place to visit but not very healthy for my allergies... :(
How did you manage to survive the chinese merchants in Xi'an (those at the entry of the Terra cotta soldiers)? they are probably the most sticky sellers in the world!!!
regarding your impressions, i agree with most of the points, specially pollution and population (shangai is totally crazy, at least for europe small town boy as me). I also had another feeling, specially in shangai, that they try to hide all the misery and bad things. It's just like, when you are walking in the main street, everything shines, everything is clean and beautiful. However, in the small parrallel streets, it's really all about poverty and misery. Perhaps the country grows too fast for some of them. And the traffic also!!!! My god, it's totaly insane... even if someone offers me 10'000$ to drive, i would still refuse to drive there!
Since you are going to shangai, don't forget to visit xiangyang market and the Bund. If you lack of fresh air, you can always try Fuxing park.
Xiangyang market is gone.. just went by there the other day and their redeveloping it already.
The last time I was in China was March or April of 1977. Being a westerner was still a curiosity in places. I cannot remember seeing a building over 6 stories in Shanghi. Watching the Chineese national ballet perform the myth of Persephone was just weird. The CAAC airplanes were practically falling apart and Chineese Migs were cracking sonic booms right over the airport. Yep, I really did bring my skateboard and surf the Great Wall.
"Internet Adoption is Rampant - in the back room of tiny restaurants and washing machine repair shops..."
At first I thought you meant online infant adoption agencies. Anyway, glad to hear that online discourse is more open than generally reported.
It's always a little scary traveling somewhere you haven't been. I know the find and drink/health standards thing always worries me a little when I am in foreign lands.
I think the Chinese technology is really coming up fast and should be as competitive as we have seen with technology from Japan and other Pacific rim countries.
Did you see any Chinese cars or trucks that were cool? I heard they are coming out with a new line of automobile towards the end of 2007 to compete with economy cars like Kia/Hyundia etc.