Ni hao

One of the first things that struck us on that first morning in Beijing and ever since then is the openness and friendliness of the people. A simple Ni Hao (hello) accompanied by a smile initiates a similar response from the Chinese.

Add charade like actions to illicit a little more information (as Mandy is want to do) and the Chinese become very animated - this is true from the youngest child to the oldest, bent double tribal woman.

In a country where there is no English signage it has been crucial to get as much help as possible. Everyone, from the staff at our hostels, to English speaking locals on the streets have bent over backwards to write down destinations in Chinese or take our mobile to speak to our hotel for directions home....or  whatever.

The cab drivers are the same. Taxis are very cheap in Beijing...we didn't get to use the subway(slack), but we did use the buses (40 cents to anywhere)....so we used cabs. We often wanted to go to some very obscure bars (surprise, surprise!) and cab drivers would leave no stone unturned to locate the place...phone a friend or directories or wander the streets asking locals until the bar was located or they and we gave up in frustration and went to the next one. Often we would find the bar and it wouldn't quite live up to expectations so we would hit the streets and the process would start again. 

We were always prepared with our nightly destinations written on scraps of paper in Chinese (courtesy of hostel staff), and some nights we had 10 scraps of paper...just in case, and the thing that always amused us was the cab driver would take the scrap of paper, read it out loud very slowly, maybe twice, ponder until the light bulb above the head illuminated and take off. On a few occasions they would refuse muttering in Chinese things like "no way man, not going there or you've got be joking" but 99% of the time they were great.

The cynical would say that all of the above relates to the belief (ok it may be a fact) that the Chinese do not want to lose face........we choose not to subscribe to that!!

Just a note re the photo of the couple dancing. It is a nightly occurrence in public spaces..the music starts and couples ballroom dance around, many like this couple showing off their prowess. Just another great Chinese custom!