Five Things to Take When Traveling to China
I’ve been meaning to write this one for a while but could never narrow the list down to just five things. Sure, there are a lot of items every traveler should take with them, but I wanted to highlight a few specifics that may get overlooked when going to China for the first time.
1. Tissues
You can certainly buy tissues in China (and buy them cheaply), but fresh off the airplane, it could be a while before you get to stock up. The last thing you want to do is go to the restroom tissueless. The majority of public restrooms in China do not have toilet paper. People are expected to bring their own.
2. Hand sanitizer
Another commodity missing from public restrooms is soap. While nicer restaurants will have a sink and soap dispenser, most of the restrooms you come across will not only lack any hand-cleaning liquids but are so scary and dirty, you can’t stop thinking about the germs crawling on you until you fully disinfect.
3. Hand fan
The best thing you can do if you’ll be doing most of your traveling in the summer is to take a handheld, electric fan. I was surprised by how humid China is. The major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing are particularly hot and miserable, and yet air-conditioning is not always readily available.
4. Printouts
Unless you are already fluent in Chinese, it’s going to be tough trying to explain to people where you want to go. While English is common, there are still many people—taxi drivers included—who don’t know much past hello. An easy cop-out is to print off the Chinese names of the places you plan to visit.
5. Granola bars
Also known as emergency food, these will help you when you can’t find anything else to eat that sounds good. I like Chinese food, but for new travelers, the noodles and fried rice can be really hard to stomach. Go for the high fiber granola bars, though, because… well… constipation isn’t fun to have on vacation.
Five Problems for Chinese English Speakers
Almost everything about English is difficult, and a list of five common problems could consist of nothing but grammar rules. I’ll forgo the really technical stuff, though, and focus mainly on the things that stand out to me the most (and, consequently, bug me the most as an EFL teacher fighting a losing battle).
1. The “th” sound
There aren’t any sounds in Chinese that require the speaker to stick their tongue out, so this completely goes over my students’ heads. Even when I exaggeratedly demonstrate to stick your tongue out while pronouncing words like teeth or thirty or think, they just won’t do it. Maybe it’s too much of a social faux pas.
2. The “arrr” sound
The stereotype that Chinese people pronounce Rs as Ls is horribly misinformed. This is not true. What is a problem, however, is when the R sound is in the middle of a word, such as in dark, shark, or Clark (hey, that’s my name). I know they can pronounce R correctly, but it almost always comes out as “ah” (i.e. dock, shock).
3. Plurals
It seems like a simple rule to add an S on the end when there’s more than one of something, but we have a lot of words (like clothes and mouse) that this doesn’t apply to. Chinese is much simpler, because the word stays the same, only the quantifier changes. Often, my students will just tack on an extra S for everything (i.e. clotheses).
4. He/she
Some of my friends, whose English is ridden with slang and other fluent nuances, still struggle with he/she. They’ll accidentally refer to a boy as a she or a girl as a he. That’s what happens when boys and girls look too much alike! In reality, though, spoken Chinese only has one word for both (ta), so it really is confusing.
5. Verb tenses
They say Chinese is difficult, but how can it be difficult when the language doesn’t have tenses? Words don’t change, unlike English, where we add -ed or -ing on the end depending on when something happened, not to mention all the irregular verbs out there. Students, then, play it safe by sticking to -ing (i.e. I like to swimming).
Five Things I Don’t Like About China
I’ve been sitting on this list for a while, trying to pinpoint exactly what it is that’s been bothering me. Yeah, after 16 months of straight China, I’m in serious need of a break. Now before I get bombarded with comments telling me I can go home whenever I want, keep in mind that I’m still here by my own choosing, and there are still things I like about being here, too. But you don’t always get a positive post from me.
1. The attention
No matter how much I try to put myself in their shoes, I still can’t accept the staring and pointing and giggling and obnoxious “Hallooooo!” calls as anything but condescending. People have suggested moving to a bigger city, like Shanghai, to get away from the attention, but then the locals treat you like a tourist or a language opportunity, and you still don’t feel like you’re being given much respect as an individual.
2. The traffic
This is something you just never get used to. It is so unbelievable how drivers have no regard for the well-being of pedestrians. I seriously never feel safe, even when I’m using the crosswalk with the lights in my favor. Drivers (particularly e-bike drivers, who are the worst) carelessly break all the rules and still have the gumption to honk at you for not getting out of their way fast enough. Oh, it gets better. At night, they’ll even flash their brights at you.
3. The crowds
I’m from a small town in rural Utah. I find it hard to adapt to big cities, and China definitely pushes the envelope. It’s tiring and a tad frustrating having to put up with so many people everywhere you go. It’s impossible to squeeze onto the bus after 8:30, and weekends and holidays jam up the trains so much, it’s better to stay home. Unfortunately, people have taken the crowded factor as an excuse to be pushy and inconsiderate.
4. The smoking
60% of Chinese men smoke. 59% of Chinese men don’t care whether or not it bothers you. Smoking is everywhere. It’s part of the culture. Some people are convinced it’s even good for you. So very few places have no-smoking rules, and of those places, very few actually enforce them. The Chinese smoker is a persistent bugger, though, and he’ll just hide in the bathroom and make it smell even worse. Thanks, but I don’t really like dry-heaving and urinating at the same time.
5. The Internet
I didn’t want this list to become too political, but, honest to God, the Internet censorship drives me crazy. As a web developer and overall computer junkie, I’m on the Internet a lot. Some of my most frequently visited sites, however, like Youtube and Facebook and Blogspot, don’t work in China. Plus, Google periodically blocks a random search, making it hard to do something as simple as looking up teaching ideas. Workarounds exist, but I just want normal Internet.
20 Questions to Ask Your School in China
When you start talking to recruiters about teaching in China, you may find they’re very cryptic about a lot of details. In fact, they may try to sell you a training school without actually telling you it’s a training school. That may be the route you want to go, but these questions are based on teaching at a public school and are things you’ll want to know before you sign a year-long contract. While the job market is making it harder to be choosy about what school you accept, this list will also help the school realize what it is you need as a foreigner moving to China for the first time.
1. How big is the city?
If a recruiter tells you it’s a small city, you still need to clarify exactly how many people live there. They think Changzhou is a small city… and it’s got a population of over 3 million. I would avoid cities smaller than that, as they are going to be void of things to do and eat and may not connect to the railway.
2. Will I live on the campus I teach at?
Living on campus isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The apartment is usually furnished and the utilities paid for. But some schools will stick you on one campus and have you teach on another. You need to know how long of a commute you’re going to have to make every day.
3. Will I live with other teachers?
Maybe you’re into the whole roommate situation, but bunking with another foreign teacher from who knows where can be… disastrous. It’s common courtesy to give each teacher their own apartment. Hey, you deserve it!
4. What is in the kitchen?
The incorrect response to this would be, “What kitchen?” The recruiter will tell you your apartment has a kitchen, but a separate room with only a microwave does not count.
5. Is the toilet in the apartment a Western toilet?
Sounds like a given, but you’d be surprised. Do you really want to squat for a year?
6. Will the school provide a computer?
A laptop is a really nice thing to bring, but if you don’t want to take your precious Macbook to China, see if your apartment already has something you can use.
7. How close is the school to downtown?
There’s a chance you could end up in the middle of nowhere, which you want to avoid at all costs. This is called having a bad teaching experience and is why so many of us spend our free time watching movies.
8. Is the campus changing locations?
This is a shot in the dark, but if it happened to my brother, it can happen to anyone. His school changed campuses right before he moved here, and nothing was ready. No shower in the apartment? Yeah, we can’t have that.
9. How far is the nearest supermarket?
Downtown may be on the other side of the Earth, but if there’s at least a major supermarket near the school, then it’s not so bad living in the middle of nowhere.
10. When does the gate to the school open/close?
If you live on campus but have a knack for staying out late, you don’t want to get locked out of the school. Well, chances are the guard will fall asleep and you’ll have to climb over, anyway, but… at least he tried.
11. When is the earliest I can move in?
Ideally, it would be nice to have a week to settle in and adjust to your surroundings before teaching starts. Some schools think that a foreigner can move in and teach on the same day, though, and won’t be ready (or willing) to accommodate you a day sooner.
12. What things will I have to pay for?
This is kind of like asking, “How much money am I going to need to bring before my first paycheck?” The school may make you pay to eat in the cafeteria or make you front the money for your medical exam. That would be nice to know ahead of time.
13. Will the school be able to renew my visa?
So many issues pop up at the last minute, preventing a foreigner from being able to renew their visa. Do you need a bachelor’s degree? A teaching certificate? Two years of experience? You don’t want to find out you’re not qualified for a residence permit when you are already here.
14. When does the first semester end?
The winter break varies each year based on the Chinese New Year. They know when this is. It’s particularly important if you’ll only be here for one semester and need to book a return flight already.
15. Can I sign a one-semester contract?
Ha! You knew I’d throw this in there. Committing to a full year when things could turn out awful is… well, it’s scary. Even if you intend on teaching for a year, being able to sign for only half of that upfront should make you feel better about the leap.
16. How many foreign teachers has the school had?
They may not tell you this (or they’ll lie about it), but it’s nice to know if foreigners have worked there before. Although previous teachers do raise or lower the bar for you to follow, they also work out a lot of the kinks. Being the first teacher means you’re going to face the most problems.
17. Will the school give me a book?
Unless it’s a training school, you can pretty much teach whatever you want. Having a book to follow, however, is a great way to at least accumulate ideas and stay on topic with the Chinese teachers.
18. Will I see the same students every day?
This makes a huge difference in how you plan your lessons. Most schools will probably have you teach different classes every day, but if not, you’re going to have a much bigger workload.
19. Am I expected to participate in other activities?
Outside of your normal classes, the school may try to squeeze you into other extracurricular activities, like an English corner. Don’t let these “favors” get out of hand.
20. Do the classrooms have a projector?
Are you the kind of person who performs better with the help of PowerPoint? Well, if you’re gonna bore the students, you gotta do it the right way!
Five Web Resources for Learning Chinese
Before I got too tired to study in my free time, I had looked up a lot of ways to expose myself to as much Chinese as possible. Well, I could walk down the street and accomplish that, but it’s a little less intimidating to find ways to practice inside before going outside. Here are some of the tools I found particularly helpful on my journey to move beyond “ni hao.”
1. Perapera-kun Firefox Add-on
If you’re serious about turning your computer into a Chinese-learning station, the best thing you can do is install this add-on for Firefox. With it, you can highlight Chinese characters anywhere in the browser, bringing up a small window with the pinyin and meaning. It’s worth making the crossover to Firefox just for this.
2. Google Gadgets: Word of the Day
And if you haven’t already set iGoogle as your homepage, do so now. I can wait. Some of the widgets you can add to this customizable front page are “Chinese word of the day” applications, and there are a lot of them. Since the words aren’t always useful (why so many math terms?), it’s helpful to have a few of them on there.
3. Chinese Character Flashcards
Learning characters may not be high on your list of priorities, but if you’re itching to impress your friends, this is a great start. It will let you choose what sets of characters to drill (based on their difficulty) and whether to use traditional or simplified characters. The pinyin and English meaning are also given.
4. Serge Melnyk’s Podcasts
Serge Melnyk has already released a huge number of theme-related podcasts that are great to play in the background. Finding this website should be like a gold mine for you. Unfortunately, his voice has seriously gotten on my nerves, but the vocabulary and grammar rules introduced in each lesson are very valuable.
5. Chinese Course Sentences
Chinese-Course.com has a huge list of sentences that use a lot of common wording. The sentences are only displayed in Chinese characters and English, though, so you’ll need to pair this one up with the Perapera-kun add-on to get the most out of it. Together, they make a great resource for studying sentence structure.
The Five Best Multiplayer DS Homebrew Games
One of the best aspects about the Nintendo DS is its great library of multiplayer games. Unfortunately, this is something homebrew developers have struggled with, or if they haven’t, it’s sure been hard finding the good stuff. That’s where I come in, ’cause I’ve got nothing better to do. While you won’t see many games that allow you to play DS to DS, there are still a few gems out there which play great using only one system. (Note: running homebrew involves using a flashcart like the Acekard, DSTT, or M3.)
5. DS Chess / ChessNET
I don’t really like having to pass the DS back and forth. Chess, however, is always nice to have readily available. The cool thing about these games is how they’ll save your match when you turn the system off. In the case of ChessNET, you can store several matches. Still, I favor DS Chess, even though it forces you to use the touch screen, because it at least keeps track of your moves and tells you where the other player went.
4. Tag DS
The way this game requires you to play—sitting face to face so you can look at your own screen—is a little strange, but the game itself is fun in short bursts. The person who is “it” chases the other player around a small arena, trying to dash into them before the timer runs out. It’s a little too simple and easy, but when you’re able to outsmart your opponent just by running in circles, it can be pretty funny.
3. Ioceropong
There are about 20 different versions of Pong available on the homebrew scene, but all of them are buggy beyond playable and/or don’t have a two-player mode. Ioceropong isn’t perfect, either, though it comes close. The additional soccer mode that sees each player controlling two paddles (one on offense and one on defense) is a great twist to an old formula and, despite the flaws, makes this one worth having on your card.
2. Tetattds
Okay, so it doesn’t beat owning an official copy of Nintendo’s Planet Puzzle League. Nonetheless, Tetattds still works surprisingly well as a single-player game or as an eight-player local Wifi romp. Yeah, that’s right. Local Wifi! You don’t see many homebrew games that can pull that off. The connection isn’t always stable, but the fact that it works at all leaves me with little to complain about.
1. Marshmallow Duel
This one doesn’t support Wifi, but it’s still among my favorite homebrew games on the system. It’s a straightforward platform/action deathmatch where you race to grab the best power-ups as they randomly appear. It only takes one hit to kill the other player, but rounds start so quickly, you’ll hardly notice the pause. The power-ups are also kooky and diverse enough to keep things fair. Two people on one DS can be a bit cramped, but this game is perfect fun.
Honorable mentions
Despite a somewhat irritating setup, Hoover Maneuver is a decent remake of a Warioware minigame. Tic-Tac-Toe isn’t exactly must-have material, either, but carrying a portable copy around sure cuts down on paper, and Gekinzuku’s version is easily the best on the DS. Also, while I could never get Explosive Gas to run using a DSTT card, it seems like a very competent Bomberman clone.
Top Five Favorite Attractions in China
I need to rectify the bitterness from my previous tourism rant with something a little more positive. Granted, I may be jumping the gun on this post, but the majority of my traveling is over. I don’t think I’ll be seeing any other big attractions in the next four months. As you read through these (or skip straight to the bottom), keep in mind that my picks are based on favorable weather conditions, crowds, and timeliness. The Li River, for instance, probably would have ranked higher (or at all) if it had come at the beginning of my summer vacation instead of the end.
5. Lingshan Buddha in Wuxi
Despite everything else I’ve recently seen, one of my favorite sightseeing moments is still the Lingshan Buddha in nearby Wuxi. Maybe I’m a little biased, because it was the first trip I went on alone, but it really is a nice park. And the closer you get to the 88-meter high Buddha, the more impressive it becomes, until you’re standing right next to its big, bronze toe.
4. Great Wall of China
In 2005, I hadn’t yet seen a lot of great places in China and was beginning to lose faith in the tourism scene. Then I went to the Great Wall, and it actually exceeded my expectations and restored my love for the country. Even after going a third time this last summer, I still highly recommend it and still believe it deserves its place as the most iconic attraction of China.
3. Yellow Mountains (Huangshan)
I had tried twice before to go to Huangshan and got rained out both times. When I finally did go in 2006, it was an overcast day. The clouds obstructed every great view and didn’t allow any of my pictures to turn out, but I still enjoyed it more than the Great Wall. Natural scenery simply appeals to me more. Huangshan is such an interesting area, too, looking like an enormous pile of leftovers from other mountains.
2. Ice and Snow World in Harbin
Every time I see pictures of Harbin, I have a hard time believing I was actually there. The whole city felt like stepping into the ice world of a video game, where shady taxi drivers and slippery sidewalks were the enemies. The snow and ice sculpture venues were particularly surreal, because they’re so different from all the other tourist spots in China. It’s damn cold, but this seasonal festival is well worth the visit.
1. Jiuzhaigou Valley / Huanglong
I have to put Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong together. Otherwise, they’d take up the first and second slots. They’re in the same vicinity, though, so it’s fair. And is this any surprise? I haven’t been able to shut up about them since I got back. Jiuzhaigou is, by far, the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. I know water like that exists in other parts of the world, but after seeing Jiuzhaigou, I don’t even care.
Five Important Chinese Measure Words
Measure words should be nothing new to you. They show up in English, as well. A sheet of paper. A bar of soap. A cup of hot lava. The difference between Chinese and English is that every noun in Chinese needs a measure word. You can’t just say you want one apple. You have to say you want one (measure word) apple. Not surprisingly, there are hundreds of these to memorize.
Don’t worry, I’ll keep it simple. My lists are not aimed to teach fluent Chinese but are, instead, designed to help first-time travelers get familiar with the basics before making a fool of themselves in the motherland. Well, that’s bound to happen, anyway. Sorry.
1. ge (个)
If the concept of measure words completely blows your mind, at the very, very, very least, remember “ge.” Commit it to memory. Because it is used for so many things, it’s easier to fall back on “ge” and risk being corrected than to take a shot in the dark.
Example: yi ge ren (one person)
2. zhang (张)
“Zhang” applies to things that are flat, like a table or, of more relevance, paper. The reason why a traveler would want to know this is because you will often be ordering tickets. Train tickets. Bus tickets. Forbidden City tickets. Paper tickets. Bingo.
Example: yi zhang piao (one ticket)
3. ping (瓶)
Then you decide to have a rest for you and order a round of bottled water… or beer… or shampoo. Hey, I’m not judging. “Ping” means bottle, so it naturally becomes the measure word for… well… things in a bottle. Crazy, isn’t it.
Example: yi ping shui (one bottle of water)
4. fen (份)
A “fen” is a portion, whether you’re at a nice restaurant or KFC (but as a traveler, you’ll probably be at KFC more often than not, amiright?). Now you can start ordering food like a civilized person instead of grunting and holding up fingers.
Example: yi fen shutiao (one portion of French fries)
5. kuai (块)
While “kuai” can be used to mean a piece of something, I am not sure to what extent you should toss it around. It’s important to know, however, because “kuai” is also the measure word for money and is frequently used as a standalone.
Example: yi kuai (one yuan)
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