I smell Chinese

phew!

am in Shanghai to visit my dad. He lives in this small, modern bachelor pad: mezzanie bed level, white walls, view of Pudong and the Yangtze river etc. etc. We've also just been to Hangzhou. I'll post those pictures up later.

There is most definitely a musty, singular 'chinese smell' here which permeates everywhere, especially on long bus trips as the masses take of their shoes and the polyester socks let whiff. Phew! The smell pervades into your clothes, hair and makes me want to gag.

I most definitely have a love/hate relationship with China. I love the food, some of the scenery, the culture. I hate the confrontation, the vulgarity that has accompanied modernisation, the rudeness. When I went to Taiwan and everybody was so nice and friendly, I thought: yes, this is what China could have been like had the commies not taken over.

In terms of extremes, I feel that mainlanders and Thai people are at completely opposite extremes. In China they will argue and shout at each other at a drop of a hat. They have extremely loud voices. I always feel I'm being cheated in China. There's no such thing as queuing here. People push all the time. They'll never give up their seat unless they are confronted face-to-face - and even then in the most begrudging manner. Service is still shite. Even when you stay at five star hotels there's definitely something not up to scratch compared to elsewhere. There's no such thing as subtlty here: I mean head-to-toe Burberry? Come on!

Compare that to Thailand - I've been thoroughly spoiled. People smiling, fantastic service, enduring politeness, giving up seats for the tiniest reason... I don't think I could ever live in China again.

p.s. can't actually access the blog spot here, so let's hope this works.