Dear family and friends,
I just wanted to let you know that we arrived safe and sound and have
been blown away by china and the culture here.
We've been in china all of 5 days now.
Complete culture shock.
No one speaks English.
We survived on energy bars and fruit for the first few days.
The strange things here include:
the food
the way bathrooms are used
the fact that streets are totally crowded with pedestrians, bicycles, scooters and cars at all times in all directions
the way men walk around with their shirts tucked up and the bellies exposed to deal with the heat
people here have a specific frame of reference, anything beyond that framework is not
possible here and one gets a blank look meaning: does not commute.
So far we've done Beijing and are overwhelmed by the teeming city life.
We saw the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Ming Tombs and the Great
Wall of China. We are looking forward to getting to the more rural areas and exploring.
We just made the overnight train ride from Beijing to Shanghai.
We just spent Shabbat with Chabad of Shanghai and made some friends in the community. Going to downtown Shanghai after Shabbat to enjoy the bright and interesting city skyline from a roof top bar was fun. The heat here in the day is oppressive but evenings are ok.
These were my first and rather incomplete impressions of China.
PS. China is much more expensive than one may think. Particularly the big cities. The overnight train from Beijing to Shanghai cost $125.
I just wanted to let you know that we arrived safe and sound and have
been blown away by china and the culture here.
We've been in china all of 5 days now.
Complete culture shock.
No one speaks English.
We survived on energy bars and fruit for the first few days.
The strange things here include:
the food
the way bathrooms are used
the fact that streets are totally crowded with pedestrians, bicycles, scooters and cars at all times in all directions
the way men walk around with their shirts tucked up and the bellies exposed to deal with the heat
people here have a specific frame of reference, anything beyond that framework is not
possible here and one gets a blank look meaning: does not commute.
So far we've done Beijing and are overwhelmed by the teeming city life.
We saw the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Ming Tombs and the Great
Wall of China. We are looking forward to getting to the more rural areas and exploring.
We just made the overnight train ride from Beijing to Shanghai.
We just spent Shabbat with Chabad of Shanghai and made some friends in the community. Going to downtown Shanghai after Shabbat to enjoy the bright and interesting city skyline from a roof top bar was fun. The heat here in the day is oppressive but evenings are ok.
These were my first and rather incomplete impressions of China.
PS. China is much more expensive than one may think. Particularly the big cities. The overnight train from Beijing to Shanghai cost $125.
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