Tiếng Việt
Trains going through mountains, social media being unavailable, toilets without paper, and many other things are weird things about traveling to China that you should know if you are planning a trip to this populous country.
China is an extremely vast country with many incredibly beautiful and impressive tourist destinations that attract a large number of visitors every year. I’ve had the opportunity to travel to China a few times to some famous places like Fenghuang Ancient Town, Beijing, Shanghai, etc. And here are some weird things about traveling to China that are different from Vietnam that I’ve gathered from my trips. Let’s see what’s special about this country!
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Weird Things About Eating in China
The taste preferences of most Chinese people lean towards spicy, numbing, bland, and oily, with lots of seasonings. Chinese dishes are always visually appealing and attractive. However, if you’re not used to the local flavors, it might be a bit difficult to eat.
Their dipping sauces are also very strange, mainly oil and vinegar rather than soy sauce or the sweet and sour dipping sauces common in Vietnam. If you’re a picky eater, I recommend bringing some soy sauce or salt and pepper with you when traveling to China to make eating easier. However, it’s still best to try the local culinary specialties of the place you visit to realize that Vietnamese food suits you best ^^
Despite that, I was still very impressed with the salty, sweet, spicy, and numbing taste of the grilled skewers in China – very palatable and delicious. However, each skewer has very little meat, so you have to eat dozens to feel full.
When you travel on a tour, main meals will be prepared according to Vietnamese taste, so they will be less spicy than what locals eat. However, the blandness and oiliness are typical of their cooking methods, so they usually remain unchanged.
Drinks in China are quite expensive. A regular cold drink that I could finish in one gulp costs 10 yuan (approximately 36,000 VND). If you want to drink more special beverages like milk tea, shaved ice, or ice cream, the price ranges from 15-40 yuan per cup depending on the size and type (from 54,000-144,000 VND). If you want to save money, you can try bottled drinks in China, which are much cheaper. For only 5-7 yuan, you can get a 1-liter bottle of lemon tea.
Another weird thing about traveling in China is the rarity of ice. Drinks during meals usually come without ice, or if you’re lucky, the restaurant will give you a tiny mini ice bucket. They mainly drink cold soft drinks and beer, or hot wine or tea, so ice is not common. Even when you buy milk tea, there’s very little ice in the cup, just enough to make it cool, not as much ice as we have in Vietnam.
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Weird Things About Using Toilets in China
You might be very surprised when using toilets in China because some restrooms don’t have any toilet paper at all. Even in hotel or large restaurant restrooms, you need to bring your own paper. Of course, they also don’t use spray bidets like we do in Vietnam.
There are still some toilets that have large paper dispensers, but you have to scan WeChat to get paper according to a set amount. This not only helps them save paper but is also a tool to monitor the behavior of each citizen when living in China.
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Marveling at China’s Infrastructure and Transportation Network
A striking aspect of traveling in China is the impressive infrastructure and road transportation system. The straight elevated expressways that run through buildings and mountains are a distinctive feature of China’s transportation.
If you take a tour to Fenghuang Ancient Town, you will travel on the expressway from the airport in Zhangjiajie to Fenghuang Ancient Town. On this route, you will pass through dozens of tunnels because this expressway is built above ground and goes through many mountain peaks of Zhangjiajie.
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When you travel to China, you won’t be able to use your regular social media
China is a country that manages online information extremely strictly. Their citizens use their own social media applications like WeChat and Weibo. Therefore, Vietnamese people will find it a strange thing when traveling to China that you won’t be able to use common social media platforms like Facebook, Zalo, or Google at all.
Wi-Fi at Chinese restaurants and hotels is extremely predictable, with the password often being 88888888, representing wealth and good luck. However, this practically non-existent Wi-Fi is completely meaningless to you because, as I mentioned above, you can’t access any social media.
The only way to use social media like in Vietnam in China is to buy a separate 4G SIM card, which most tour guides advertise. Inserting that SIM might allow you to use Facebook, Zalo, Google, etc. However, the connection is also heavily restricted, so the loading speed will be extremely slow!
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China and its strange fruits
Experiencing China’s street food, you’ll encounter many fruit carts with unique and strange fruits that you’ve never seen before, and the price of these unusual fruits is quite expensive. Truly unique China!
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Payment in China
Payment in China today is almost entirely done by locals using WeChat, even street vendors and small businesses in the market. Only tourists who don’t know how or don’t have a bank linked to WeChat use paper money when traveling in China.
Hopefully, these strange things about traveling to China that I’ve gathered from my trips to China above will be helpful for those who are interested in learning about this country as well as those who are planning to travel here.
If you love travel and experiences, you can see more domestic and international journeys of Tieu Dao Tu on YouTube or TikTok!
