我的一个加拿大朋友在中国旅游后的感想
Hong Kong.
5 F/ n; i! f- d/ X% B" A, GWhat a city!
. ] \ p1 a ]I’ve never been in one so multi-cultural before.
1 R8 Q: R5 q) r5 ~9 Y4 d1 NI heard so many languages that I couldn’t place being spoken, saw so many different faces, and tasted so many different foods.
% M( w0 I3 D, r% B1 l# ?9 b; I4 bOne thing that blew my mind was that almost everyone spoke English there.
6 l$ @; ~9 m- n* g8 @One day I was at a wetland park by a crocodile pen and overheard a father explaining something about fish to his pre-school-aged son while switching back and forth between 3 languages. $ d, Z5 } ?* _% V. ]6 C
Incredible.
* p5 _5 D( H' ?7 D1 H& E3 a$ O" A4 W
8 g7 f6 s# y/ x G3 V' G
Another thing that surprised me about HK was its size, this city is tiny.
3 k/ M$ E3 O$ A. d6 [This suited me fine because it’s real easy to travel around and see everything.
, O& ^4 T2 | c! R# h" ?( N. @If any of you ever go to China definitely go to Hong Kong, not because it’s representative of China, but because it rocks.5 I! |' U0 z: g- Z9 v( X
& e, u: q; Z, Z3 h3 J
7 F7 X m# ^/ ?0 cBeijing.8 Z7 \! n# b& L. l" ]/ {+ S v
I saw Mao’s body.4 V% O, z/ A3 c
It was completely accidental as well.
" i/ |$ \9 U! }7 ^I was walking towards what I though was a line for the Forbidden City when a hawker pounced.+ h5 j s0 ]1 S* Z1 I7 x
“You need to check your bag!
* y. ^: K2 ?5 g$ `. vYou can’t go in with a bag!4 V; h6 t! N+ U) J& p# x
Hurry, follow me.”" I; @& M6 c8 K5 L* q" L
So I did, checked it, then headed back into the line where he then told me to give him 50 HKD.
( f0 ~" l9 U& k“Okay, now, you, front line go!”7 k0 E0 a; f1 Y2 ]6 a
I gawked and looked in the direction of a police officer (or soldier, I couldn’t quite distinguish which) who had been watching the whole thing.
& P8 I- S* n1 J: S“It’s alright.
+ [4 ]$ M/ }/ tThat’s what you just paid money for (because the mausoleum is actually free).” D’oh!
, n+ {& D3 {* l/ |7 xAnyway, I was shuffled into the mausoleum and looked up to see a white seated sculpture of Mao.; }9 d& n8 x5 D( ]3 k
“What the ----?”; H& F, C/ R/ f1 @/ K5 Q
I thought briefly before the line of people I was standing in was shuffled into another room, a room with Mao’s body in the center.
/ ~7 N+ o; c4 {! v0 v2 YIt was kind of funny because my brain couldn’t really accept what it was seeing but I didn’t really have time to recover because you can’t stop, you’re just whisked into the adjoining souvenir shop.' ?+ g4 D7 H; @2 q6 Q0 Q
Though I got cheated somewhat it was worth it because it was such a weird experience.
8 }" z! w$ Y* C0 O2 a
, z8 N. W# S, P2 J+ {' \ 8 y% o8 q5 G4 P& {' |: }# F, ~
Luckily that was the only time I was ripped off (people in Beijing are notorious for cheating you…if you go there you MUST barter everything), but it was worth it because of the craziness that ensued.3 O. D1 M1 p% k" N; e8 f( w# k
Besides the Mao Masoleum, I saw the other typical touristy stuff; Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, Chinese acrobats, a hutong tour, and I even managed to hike a rough section of the Great Wall (Jinshangling to Simatai), which was brilliant but rough./ @3 m, d: l" }7 J$ b+ _. g
Near the end a girl that I was hiking with and I rounded a corner near the end and both of our legs literally started to shake because the incline was about 75 degrees.6 r% G$ _& E/ |. T
Normally that wouldn’t bother me but after 4 hours of hiking the wall my body started backlashing…hehe./ F7 H* o; R( o C, k1 A- }/ g* ~
3 i6 ~0 @3 N5 R4 ]3 @% D
. G) X- ~2 l9 e3 USo, even though I enjoyed myself in Beijing I was shocked at how impersonal and unfriendly the city was, for travelers and locals alike.0 V. Z1 e& h$ U7 W
It is definitely not ready for the Olympics, which they’ve known they’ve been hosting for the past 7 years.8 c$ u" l! s* Q3 F7 {
Besides the main stadium not being completed yet, the public transportation system is crowded and dirty, many signs are only in Mandarin, and the locals aren’t willing to help out.
