Museums Attractions In Belchin

Crossing Asia by land - Chapter two - China, Hong Kong

Fun experience and considerations on the way...

• Chinese communist politics makes Chinese people the most serene and happy nation I have ever met...but also the least creative, ambitious or imaginative (lack of creativity is the most striking feature)
• many Chinese have no idea that the outside world is literally full of them
• Beijing is so polluted that I did not see sun for 8 days
• the most famous Italian in China is...nobody! So to many Chinese people I became the most famous Italian, and with my wild beard and stained t-shirts I couldn't have made a good impression
• my name in Chinese is Lou Lou...sounds a bit gay but piano in Chinese is Lou so piani (plural) becomes Lou Lou
• once a Buddhist monk commented my I'm Italian with ah Italia...Balotelli and I longed for the good old days when mainly mafia was associated with my country
• they don't vote in China - there's only one party
• In Chinese there's no word that means comfortable and one can really understand that traveling by train or bus...
• spitting everywhere is normal in China, but immediately before spitting they produce horrifying sounds I've never heard before...
• belching everywhere is normal in China and they are quite talented in doing so
• Great Wall of China is undoubtedly the most incredible construction I have ever seen
• gesturing numbers in China is particular, e.g. you show 10 by crossing your index fingers. Discovering prices during the first week was a real challenge
• rarely does a Chinese ask why, especially of parents or professors. They believe everything they're told and act accordingly
• surely there are many more than one billion seven hundred million of Chinese as they would like us to believe
• the concept of personal space in a queue or on a bus doesn't exist
• basketball is very popular but technical, tactic and physical level is very low. Amateurs and professionals alike play the Bulgarian 2-3...
• it is advisable for a boyfriend to carry his girlfriend's purse
• I spent my first night in China in the university facilities in Harbin. 30,000 students in the dormitories (8 per room). I was expecting some nightlife but everybody was in bed at 10pm! In addition, if they catch you making out with your girlfriend on the premises, they call your parents and take 50 points off your 'good behavior school card'
• in China you normally get a girlfriend to get married
• the need of work is such that people are actually welcomed to drop litter in order to create cleaning jobs
• after a usual dinner at Penglai in via Tavazzano in Milan I had chest burns for a week. Here I ate all types of volatiles, pig's snout and other scary stuff and never had any problems
• A sleeping car on cheap trains in Russia contains 60 beds and only 2 toilets for 60 people. In China a sleeping car contains 118 seats (you sleep seated) and only 1 toilet for about 130 people. If one doesn't have a seat, they just sit on the floor. Of course everybody smokes and spits
• at a food market in Chengdu you can find not only tomatoes and apples but also turtles, snakes, frogs...they are alive
• Chinese toddlers don't use nappies. They have a special slot in their trousers through which at any time anything and anywhere can come out ;)
• many pededtrian crossings in China are without traffic lights. It's your survival instinct that tells you when to cross the street
• China is so vast that it should have at least four time zones, instead there is only one. So at the beginning of September it's already dark at 6:30pm
• looks like lorry drivers are paid not by the mileage but by how many cars they manage to overtake
• the small city of Parma in Italy and a city of 10 million inhabitants in China are marked with the same size font on maps
• the repressive communist politics and total control are probably what makes it possible to govern such a numerous nation
• many Tibetans have almost virtually no beard. They use tweezers instead of a razor to remove it (hair by hair)
• China is a magical country, its people are incredibly happy, heartily and respectful
• 99% of things in China is counterfeit; you can often see boys wearing terrible shirts marked ArNaMi Jeans...
• Hong-Kong is a spectacular city but if your daily budget is $20 it's not really the best place for you...
• Every year at the beginning of October, during a Chinese bank holiday you can witness the the mobility of the Chinese at the joints is incredible. If they have nowhere to sit, they can remain in full squat for hours...
• greatest migration ever. A billion of people all going to the most famous locations in China
• the mobility of the Chinese at the joints is incredible. If they have nowhere to sit, they can remain in full squat for hours...
• I met a Buddhist who spoke English in Kunming, China. He did not only beat me without mercy at table tennis but also eradicated my long believed truths about life in 4 hours