Do I have culture shock? Yes, a little, but I think the hardest part of being in China so far is the language. The language is extremely hard to speak, even something as simple as tea (cha) is hard for them to understand me, since Chinese is a tonal language and I seem to be tone deaf, its pretty difficult. There is essentially no one in the city who speaks English and if they do, it is a very small amount, like hello or how are you, there are no English menus in sight, bus schedules seem to not exists, I have seen a grand total for 4 other westerns (here to visit the Panda base). Sounds like a horrible time right? Wrong!!
The street food in Ya’an is cheap and tastes great. I call theses mystery sticks, some taste amazing, others not so much, either way I would rather not want to know what I am eating. Just enjoy it for what it is.
Out of all my travels, I have always tried to escape other tourists and get a “feel” for the country I am visiting, but when traveling its difficult to escape other westerns and experience what it is truly like to live in that country. Here in Ya’an, for the fist time, I am really experiencing how the locals live, the true Chinese culture without western amenities or people coming up to me offering me drugs, and selling me nic-nacs, or begging for money. Yes it is challenging and difficult to order food and find directions to the closest toilet, my usual travel fallback of looking for the big golden M doesn’t work here since there is no western fast food, but the people here are very welcoming and many are eager to help.
Hot pot, this is a very local meal. Great to enjoy with friends or family. Sit back relax and watch your meat sizzle and cook to perfection in the boiling hot heavily spiced pot.
People either look at me confused like they have seen a walking talking exotic animal with horns and a tail for the first time or they are smiling and waving, asking for a photo with me. Many people here are very nice and try talking to me in Chinese with a smile, I smile back and try to communicate with them by using hand signals and gestures, or with the limited five Chinese phrases I know; panda, thank you, I don’t understand, Kung Pao chicken and beer. Note to self, learn more Chinese.
Recording Ying Hua’s pre-mating behavior
Although it is very challenging and many western comforts are non existent, yes even my porcelain thrown in the bathroom, have you been introduced to the “squatting toilet”? Or what I call a hole in the ground, I am enjoying my time so far, split between researching, collecting data and watching Pandas at Bi Feng Xia and drinking tea, eating amazingly spicy and flavorful Szechuan dishes, and making a fool of myself trying to communicate with the locals in the city, Ya’an is my home for the next couple of months.
Thank you Ryan for the great pics and update. Keep up the hard work and adventurous spirit.