First Impression of China

I have lived in China for about five years, and have visited for several months at a time after moving to America. I have also been strongly influenced by the Chinese culture and lifestyle through my parents, the Chinese-American community in Silicon Valley, and my connections to family members back in China. I was amazed at both how similar and how different it was from my home in California.

During my most recent visit last year, I became most surprised by how tourist-friendly it was to (mainly English-speaking) foreigners. Many signs along the road have English subtitles, and I remember looking up at bullet train and bus display screens where Chinese, English, and sometimes even French or Spanish alternately roll across announcing the next destination or the current temperature.

Daily life in China was not much different than it was in America, though the pollution and summer heat in some of the larger cities did make me uncomfortable at times. However, in many of the actual tourist destinations beyond Beijing and Shanghai, there was very little to no pollution. I visited both major cities, tourist destinations, and a mix of farmland/city (when I was visiting my dad’s side of the family). I was amazed at how well-developed the large cities were and how I saw large-scale construction happening every day in the less developed farmland/city areas. I suppose the most unique aspect of China was the rapid urbanization in every area I saw.

When I visited, I was expecting great food and unsure of basically everything else. However, when actually living in China, I found that there were some assumptions that I had to throw away--the pollution was much more tolerable than I had expected, the signs of globalization were surprisingly strong, and the cities I visited were unexpectedly similar to cities like New York. I feel that visitors to China can adjust quickly to the environment and feel welcome, even if they have never visited before.