Showing posts with label expat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label expat. Show all posts

Monday, 8 August 2016

3- Spitting

Chinese people spit. That's a fact.

One could go as far to say that only the uneducated people spit, but I don’t think that's the case. Frankly it’s quite normal within the Chinese culture for people to cough up their lungs and spit so loudly it makes you want to die a little inside.

Be prepared for it because men, women, young and old - Even the cute little old lady plodding down the street could do it at anytime. I’ve been living in Beijing for little over a year now and I still can’t get used to it because quite honestly I think it’s disgusting.

Of course I wouldn’t be a proper intercultural communications student if I didn’t delve a bit deeper – many of the culprits believe they are getting rid of a poison within their body and that's its healthy to spit often and loudly. It is such a normal part of society that no one even turns an eye.

That being said, its definitely not for me!

Saturday, 23 July 2016

2- Apps

Trust me, if you want any semblance of a normal life in China there are two or three must have apps to download before you get here, those are Alipay, Wechat and some sort of underground map (I recommend Beijing Subway).


To clarify, Wechat will be you life while you are in China. It is going to be your Whatsapp and Facebook all wrapped into one and is the only thing you're going to need when making friends and communicating online with Chinese people. You can also pay your friends money via Wechat and normally get paid if you're doing any tutoring/teaching around China. 

However Alipay is where its all at on the money side of things. Once you have set up your bank account in China you can create an Alipay account linking your card to the app - this enables you to pay for things all around China. 

But why don't I just pay with my debit card? Well. As much as China is developing it seems to be a little slow on the whole card payment thing. I can tell you for a fact that KFC do not accept card payments, only cash or Alipay, crazy right?

Alipay will also enable you to pay your bills, book cinema tickets, flights etc. It also allows access for you to buy things from Taobao - the holy grail of shopping. Think of Amazon products but at least 50% cheaper because it hasn't been exported, with delivery being under 50p and arriving on average within 3 days. I would highly recommend you check it out. 

Lastly the Beijing Subway map - well I suppose the maps are also listed in the underground but this app is an offline map saved onto your phone and will route you to where you want to go, not too bad and I still use it today over one year later of being in China. 

Handy Phrases to Learn
Alipay - zhī fù bǎo
Wechat - weī xìn 
Pay by card - shuā kǎ

Any questions let me know,

Amie ~