Guangzhou

I am afraid to say that due to lack of energy and money, and the fact that I only had half a day anyway, the only thing I saw in Guangzhou was my hostel. To be honest i feel that i have seen enough cities in China that i don't think i missed out on much. So instead of talking about Guangzhou i will give you the ten things i have learned about China.

1. There are A LOT of people in China, roughly 1.5 billion. This means that no matter where you go there are crowds.
2. The Chinese LOVE a tour group. Every tourist site i went to (even night food markets) was filled with groups of Chinese tourists, sometimes with matching hats or t-shirts, following a guide with a giant flag or plastic fish on a stick.
3. The Chinese also LOVE taking pictures with westeners, sometimes they ask, sometimes they grab you, sometimes they try to stealthily do it. Unless its a child, it is always annoying (in my opinion). If you want to feel like a celebrity though, come to China.
4. The concept is "queueing" is foreign to the Chinese. you could be standing right behind the person at the counter and somewone will just walk right infront of you. I learnt very quickly that if you don't push you won't get served anywhere. Chivalry is dead here.
5. Recycling is not a thing here, even though there is recuycling bins everywhere. Every recycling bin i saw, which was next to a general waste bin, was filled with general waste. Seriously what is the point of the bins??!
6. There is no respect for nature or space in general. Even though there are bins everywhere (even on the Great Wall), there is litter everywhere, in parks, in the street. I have seen on more than one occasion people throw litter on the floor RIGHT NEXT TO THE BIN! I actually called one guy out who did it on the Great Wall. Just no respect.
7. If you want to do anything in China you have to pay. Visit a museum, go to a park, climb a mountain, see a view! With a population of 1.5billion people though i do get it, as if they didn't these places would get destroyed in a few years (see point 6).
8. Everyone is constantly on their phones. If you think it's bad in the UK you have no idea. If you look down the train on the metro, every single person is staring at their phones. And with that they are also constantly taking pictures of themselves. They photograph everything. And not just one picture infront of X building, they have a whole photo shoot. Oh and EVERYONE as a selfie stick...
9. The air pollution here is seriously bad. I have never seen visible smog until here. The first time i saw blue sky was in Guilin! If i was going to be here for more than a couple weeks i would definitely start to feel the effect.
10. And last but not least... the hands down worse thing about China... brace yourselves people... you will hear and see people hoiking and spitting every five minutes. Seriously. If i never hear that sound again it will be too soon.

** Bonus point - on the way to the train station in Xi-an in the morning I actually saw a man peeing on the side of a parked car! #CHINA

So there you have the 10 things i have learnt while in China. I have had a great time here but am very ready to move on.
Next stop is Hong Kong, I cannot wait!!

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