My first impressions will be related to Hainan Island and small town Lingshui (Lingshui), so the post, though about impressions of China, but will most likely be relevant mainly for Hainan. And it may well be that if we were in Beijing or else somewhere in the northern part of the country, the impressions would be very different. Well, anyway, but for myself all the time I draw parallels with Thailand, because it is special for me – the first country in Asia, where I lived for quite a long time. The same for me will be Hainan, as the first visited place in China.
The content of the article
- 1 Comparison with Thailand
- 2 Internet
- 3 Prices
- 4 Transportation
- 5 Language and people
- 6 Climate
- 7 Visas
Contents
Comparison with Thailand
As I wrote above, I can only compare with the island of Hainan, for China is huge. So here everything reminds me visually refined Tai. The buildings are similar, only newer, completely Trash and filthy no, apparently paint the walls on time. And also here another height, ordinary buildings have floors of 5 instead of 3, as usually in Tae. And also, even in our small town is full of buildings 10-20 floors. Outwardly, they look like modern Thai condos in Pattaya or Bangkok, remember, we lived somehow in this.
Lingshui looks modern and civilized
Lingshui is a pretty decent looking city.
The height of buildings is generally higher than in Thailand
Ling Shui River Bridge
Main street of the city, almost Europe
There is a similar problem on the streets with sidewalks, they are not everywhere, but if there is, then it’s easier to go on the road. But much cleaner. Yes, there are trash sites like the market where slops flow almost along the legs. and mountains of garbage, but the rest of the city is all right.
There are sidewalks, but there’s little point
In the Chinese market you go on slop
Chinese snacks, mmm—
There are tales and tuk-tukas on the streets, stand-up stands, are sold. fruits. Nature is all the same – tropical, with palm trees and scorched grass in places. But here, the truth is, everything is very similar. Only chinese almost not smiling, and I do it out of habit (I always in Tae smile turns on), but apparently will soon pass. China experts only Do not be offended, for sure, you will find much more differences 
What is not Thai Makashintsa?
Typical Asian Cafe
What is not Thailand?
Buddhism in Thailand, communism in China
Tuk-tuki look different, and almost ruins. Russians call them rickshaw, and in Chinese, San Lung Chhe
the Internet
The Internet is here — I have never had such bad in Thailand the internet. But, in fairness, I think, the problem is not in the country, but The fact that here in the rehabilitation center is some kind of dead wifi (5 Mb / s) and distributed to half the building. And although, most likely, nobody shakes anything, apparently the channel itself is very unstable, the site may open for several minutes (if it opens at all). AT The whole situation is reminiscent of Tai – there is speed, but some of the packages it is lost (from here delays), and to Russia the traffic is apparently riding carry
When VPN is enabled, this is the speed in China
Also ran into Chinese firewood. Services do not work Google, Dropbox, Facebook and Yandex.Disk (app, website opens). But besides them, the most common sites like Evernote, Hotelscombined, Internet banks or even the site of Megaphone! Maybe the firewall of the hospital itself is something. Blocks or some problems with tracing, I do not know. In any case, I need Google, so I bought a VPN from seed4.me (if needed the invitation, here’s 4387f487-178e-4517-9bf4-86e069c00f7d) and it almost always opens up through it, only speed doesn’t Pleases, sometimes for a minute you have to wait for the download. Had all turn off cloud services and forget about torrents. But the main Life-trip quickly opens, that with a VPN, that without it, in fact, thank you anyway
Prices
Expensive. So far, of course, it is too early to speak, but has already been in two supermarkets and the market, prices are slightly lower than in Moscow. AT average fruit / vegetables cost about 15 yuan / kg. In March 2015 for 10 rubles give 1 yuan, thus multiplying all prices by 10. True, if we consider that six months ago, when converting to rubles, everything cost in two times less, then again we return to the fact that the problem is ruble, and some countries have remained inexpensive. But about food, I somehow I’ll release a separate post when I’ll go into it I’ll go to the cafes, try a little more. And we must understand that food not the only item of expenditure.
The yellow mango is not quite as in Thailand, it is more like that grade when outside is green and orange inside. I like They cost 10-15 yuan / kg. And then awesome cherry tomatoes, I have such never in a life did not eat. The taste is so intense that it seems concentrate tomato eat. They cost about 7-10 yuan / kg. Yes very it’s unusual that the price is everywhere for half a kilo, you get confused every time.
Multiply the price by 10 and get the cost per pound
Cherry tomatoes are the most delicious in my life! Stand very cheap!
Accommodation costs about 1500-2500 yuan for a decent apartment, but can not be removed less than a year, despite the fact that the payment is not monthly, and for half a year at once (most often). But this, speaking about our town Lingshui. In Sanya, as I understood, in this respect, a little simpler, more housing deals and sometimes monthly payment, as well as monthly delivery, but also annual contracts is preferable.
Transport
The movement, like in Russia, is right-wing, but traditionally for Asia, a lot of bikes on the roads. I did not like driving. You Do you think Thais drive badly? Come visit us in Hainan and look how else happens. Bikes go on an opposite (and not on the sidelines at the same time!), without looking to cross the solid, do not pay attention to pedestrians, cars and traffic lights. The key word here is “not looking” and “not predictable. “And some motorists drive it seems I was driving by taxi in the city of Sanya to the railway station, and there on the main street every few meters reversals, so the cars turn around also without looking, interfering with the flow and forcing everyone to slow down or stop. And when they buzz (the taxi driver persistently did it), they do not pay attention, just continue to impressively finish your maneuver.
Maybe it’s good that you can not drive a car to foreigners And then I had the idea to rent, but scary to drive. More precisely you can ride, but you need to get Chinese rights, our international do not roll. True, you can drive without power low-power scooters, for example, electric. Yes, yes, there is a lot of electric scooters! At first I could not understand why they are almost without noise passing by, I thought gasoline save. But then I saw that they also save the slide, and then it dawned on me. Later me They said that in China there was generally a ban on gasoline bikes, therefore, they are difficult to register.
Electric scooter on recharging
Child seat for bike
How do you like flower tuning?
A huge plus electric scooters – no noise and burning. I remember as at a large Thai intersection, the ears are laid and there is nothing to breathe. But the electric bike is designed for 50 km total. But you can buy for 2,000 yuan or less. Rent, you can say no. Seen in online rental ads for 150 vat scooters for 130 each yuan / day, talking about Sanya, but as I understand it, this is not a massive phenomenon. In our city, there is no rent at all, because there are no foreigners here, only we.
Language and people
They do not speak English. Generally do not say. Moreover, the Chinese persistently trying to tell me something in Chinese, even if by my speech is clear that I do not know a word. Even when I speak English or Russian, it feels like they are trying to understand and what did I say, can I just have the pronunciation in Chinese is not very good At the airport, I asked the guy a question to one about where the terminal is located, and he insisted in Chinese, asked again, tried to understand the word “terminal”.
The same trouble with the inscriptions, almost nothing in English, nor on the streets or in the store. How, it turns out, Tai sharpened by foreigners, in stores almost everything is duplicated in English, and On the street, some Thai inscriptions are written in English letters, and you just need to remember that, for example, Wat is a temple, and Baan village. The main thing is that you can read, unlike Chinese hieroglyphs.
Everywhere hieroglyphs, we can only guess
Inscriptions all in Chinese
Try to guess what milk is
It’s hard for me to say something about people, because in our honey center doctors are all accustomed to foreigners, and in the town where we we live, local, on the contrary, all stare at us, as on the newcomers. Literally can go on the heels and almost in the mouth to look. Such close attention is very annoying, you feel like a monkey in cage.
And so they sat for about an hour, only popcorn was missing
As I said, the Chinese in Hainan are not smiling. But in general somehow less severe than the Russians And the same trick is in culture, like the Thais – “loss of face” is uncomfortable. From completely unusual – the Chinese relish spit on the floor, paws, I would said many smoke. And for some reason they always speak in raised tones, they almost scream, so if there are several Chinese man, it is worth the din.
Climate
Along the way, I found a very suitable climate for myself, practically ideal. Trudge every day! I look now in Pattaya 31-33 degrees during the day and 25-27 at night. We have here in Hainan in Sanya 28-30 in the afternoon, which are easily transferred, especially in the shade. A night temperature 21-23, that is, in the evening, at night and in the morning, you can normally take a break from the heat. What can not be said about Tae, after all the nightly 25-27 degrees do not allow to rest at all from the heat. The climate in Sanya, something like the climate of Chiang Mai, only it does not happen so it’s cold and so hot plus the sea.
Yes, soon the heat will come to Hainan, up to 35 degrees can be, but The hot season is only a few months, from May to September somewhere. The rest of the time is generally cool, in winter the temperature drops to 18-20 degrees during the daytime. Cool, just what I always I wanted to not all year heat! Honestly surprised why Sanya and its surroundings are still not in trend with our wintering men.
Climate in Sanya (Hainan)
Visas
There are many types of visas in China, so in all the nuances I have not yet did not go, if I am mistaken, correct. Basically it comes down to that it is necessary to leave once in 90 days, which is a tourist visa that for some more. From Hainan, you can travel to Hong Kong, rather fly out, do a new visa there, or get the next one fold and come back. From convenient options see business visa M (it costs about 15 thousand rubles per year in agencies in Russia) or student visa without departure (but you need to learn and spend on it money).
The cost of a visa and flight for a family is quite noticeable. One plane to Hong Kong costs 15 thousand rubles per person. (you can search and compare prices on Aviasales.ru and Skyscanner.ru), and need to fly several times a year (depending on the desired timing stay). However, they say there are cheap tickets to Shenzhen, from where you can take the subway to Hong Kong and cross the border. AT principle, when compared with business migration to Eastern Europe or a student visa to Thailand, then the monthly costs will turn out more or less comparable.
P.S. These are my first impressions, let’s see what’s next will be. It seems like everything, but how can you live without Chinese clear.
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