So What's It Like Being Black In China?

What better way to start off a new month than with what could be a slightly controversial post! This post has been in my drafts for weeks now, and I've been nervous about writing it out to the fullest extent that I could, mainly because the internet is heavily censored here. Every time I would draft a little bit, I'd get nervous about uploading and think "nah, not now", but I think it's time! Whatever I write will still give you guys an idea of what it's like to be a black woman in China today.

When I read Tanya Weeke's post about this exact same topic I decided that yes, I should make my own post and upload it anyway. This isn't going to be a discussion about what's happening to Africans in Guangdong; there are plenty of news sources online and videos on YouTube recounting what's going on, including my own Instagram post on the subject. Instead, this is going to be me telling you guys about my day-to-day life as a black woman living in China - all the ups, downs, and everything in between!

Now, I should say that this is my experience in China. If you're black and you've been here before, your experience might be different depending on a lot of factors. If you're black and you plan on coming here one day, your experience here could be totally different from mine. 

So let's start off light, and that's with all the staring. I mainly lived in predominantly white areas in the UK, so I know what it's like to be stared at in a whole number of ways. But the staring in China is on an entirely different level because here, it's not just one or two people on the road or in the shops - it's everyone! People driving their cars craning their necks out the window (sometimes while still driving!) to stare as I walk past, entire metro carriages stopping whatever they're doing to stare as I enter, everyone in the shop going quiet and staring if I walk in - and the list could just go on and on. Side note - if you have your hair in braids or an afro, be ready to swat hands away because people here are shameless and will absolutely shove their hands in your hair if you're not looking!

I honestly don't mind if it's kids doing the pointing or staring, simply because they're kids and a lot of them don't know any better, but if it's anyone above teen age I have a problem with it, and usually stare right back until they feel embarrassed. The crazy thing though is that a lot of older people here don't feel embarrassed at all and will just keep on shamelessly staring anyway! In the UK once eye contact has been made people usually look away, but that's something that doesn't happen here haha!

Going hand in hand with the staring is the pointing, whispering, and my personal enemy - photos. People here really think we don't notice them "slyly" whipping out their phones and taking a photo, but we 100% always do! In fact, I think I've developed a 6th sense for it now that it's happened so frequently!

The thing I mostly hate about photos is that 99% of the time, people don't ask and they just decide to take one themselves. However, there are some occasions where people will come up to me and kindly ask for a photo. Sometimes parents ask me to take a photo with their child as it's usually their first time seeing a black person either ever in their life or not through a screen, so I sometimes agree and we take a few selfies together. It's honestly crazy how that small action honestly ends up making someone's day!

On top of being pointed at, stared at, whispered about, and having my photo taken, there's also the never ending questions strangers come up and ask out of the blue. They range from a simple "Where are you from" or "What are you doing in China" (not said maliciously by the way! People are just curious as to whether you're studying or working!) to something as deep as "So does your country have the same resources as China?" I've even had a Didi driver ask me how many wives a man can have in my country, which was honestly just the strangest thing I've ever been asked. If they see you can hold down a conversation in Chinese, they get very excited and questions become more and more so be warned!

I will admit, I do love it when kids come up and say hi because they want to practise their English or because they just haven't seen a black person before!

And that's another point - whether you're black from America, the UK, Canada, the Caribbean, or anywhere else in the world that isn't Africa - if you look physically black, you're African point blank and the period. When people ask, I've just stopped saying I came from the UK and just say I'm Zambian instead, because they just don't believe me! 

All of these things happen relative to how many foreigners are in the area. Since I don't live in one of the big cities like Shanghai or Beijing, a lot of people in my city aren't used to seeing foreigners at all. And if I go to an area that isn't around a university campus or the main town, then all I'll be hearing is "外国人, 外国人" (wàiguó rén = foreigner) as I go past.

A lot of people wonder if Chinese people are racist and how racism is handled over here, and I've only had one nasty experience in my one and a half years of living in China. I went to the bank to receive some money - a bank I always went to and they had always been nice to me before but on this particular day, the teller took one look at my passport (as a foreign student, you need to take your passport and school ID everywhere, otherwise you can't get anything done!) asked if I was African, and said I'm not welcome to the bank anymore and no amount of arguing could get her to change her mind. It was a huge pain in my behind because I had to travel all over the city looking for a new bank to sign up with, but the fact that in China you can discriminate against someone just because of where they come from - and legally it's okay - is a massive problem that needs to be addressed - just look at what's happening in Guangdong!

A lot of people are rude, just like anywhere else in the world - people refusing to sit next to you on the bus, or crossing the road when you go past etc - but I have also met a lot of lovely people here who wouldn't do anything like that! You do have a lot of thoughts that go through your head when someone isn't particularly nice, a lot of it being "are they rude because they're in a bad mood today, or are they just racist", but if you let those thoughts take over every time something happens, you'll have a pretty miserable stay in China!

Before I came here, I thought making Chinese friends would be easy, especially as I was living on campus, but I've found it much harder! To this day, I only have one person and a lovely family I can call my friends and they're all pretty great! In my experience though, a lot of the Chinese people on campus befriend the white students or other Asians. It might just be my introvert nature of not wanting to approach people first though!

Any strange experiences? Of course! A strange experience I had came last summer when I was with my other foreign friends. We went hiking up a mountain near our uni and once we got to the summit, we took in the view and started taking pictures. I noticed a guy come and sit on the bench right next to us and start staring at us intently. I ignored him at first, because everyone stares so it's not a big deal. But when we started exploring the shops at the top (shops on a mountain, only in China!) I noticed him again - it's that 6th sense! - following us in and out or waiting outside for us to come out. When I told my friends what was going on, we decided that we should leave because none of us had been followed before and even though he was young and didn't look like he could do anything, you can never be too careful.

As we were heading down, he was following really close behind us, my friend turned around to ask him if he was lost or something, and this guy said he was looking for a bus stop! On a mountain! We sped up, but every time we spend up he decided to too. We took a pause at some benches and he started up a conversation with us, but blatantly lying about where he was from and whatnot. He followed us all the way to the entrance and thankfully we managed to slink away in a crowd but turning around I could see he was looking for where we went! So weird, especially because if we were any other race I doubt that would have even happened!

It wouldn't really be a proper analysis without me telling you guys about my experience with other foreigners here in China. Coming from the UK, I'm used to being around a lot of other minorities, but the difference there is that we all have one thing in common, which is that we all grew up in the UK. In China though, all foreign people come from different backgrounds and all have different upbrinings; we don't have anything in common other than we're all now living in China.

That being said, I've had people straight up to my face tell me they didn't think black people were clean or that they're surprised black people don't behave in the way we're expected to. It's been a shock for people to learn that not all black people are the same, and that their thoughts are destructive and rude. I've also seen that if I make friends with someone from a different ethnicity, other people from that group are now more accepting to smile at me if we pass each other in the halls or say hi to me if we're in a queue. I'm guessing because they've seen now that whatever stereotypes they had were so far left, and if someone from their country thinks I'm okay, then it's fine for them to be open now too!

So that's been my experience of living in China! September 2020 will mark 2 years of living here, and I cannot believe it's been that long this quick! It's not been so bad living here. A lot of people are just curious and want to find out about you, so if you're an extrovert and love talking to people and can even converse in Chinese, I have no doubt you'll be able to make a lot of friends and have a pretty good time. 

Other than that one bank experience (and the strange guy on the mountain), my time here has been really good! I'm used to the staring and can even zone it out now if I want to, but with the photos I just don't think I'll ever get used to that! I'm really excited to see how the rest of my life here will play out!

What's been your experience living abroad? Do tell me below!

Related post: Experiencing Cultural Shock In China

Habits I've Picked Up In China

September 2020 will mark 2 years of me living in China! I know they say time flies when you're having fun, but time for me seriously just zoomed past in the blink of an eye. So far, China has been a decision I don't regret (like 90% of the time) and I really do love living here on the whole. Exploring a different culture, learning a new language, and just being far away from everything I know and am used to is an experience I'll be grateful for for the rest of my life, honestly.

With living in a new place comes adopting certain habits and behaviors like the everyone else who lives here. I've found myself doing these things without realising, and it only took another person pointing it out to me for me to realise that I'm changing bit by bit.

1. Hot water all day, everyday!

I seriously live for hot water, and I'm now so used to it  I can't really drink cold crisp water anymore. Hot water is the standard here, whether you're in a restaurant, an office, at the police station, hot water will always be available at the water dispenser. I sip on hot water all throughout the day; when I just wake up, in class with my flask (the water dispensers at my uni actually only give hot water!), after my meal, and right before bed a few cups will just hit the spot. Hot water has a lot health benefits like helping with digestion and hydration better than cold water, so I know this is definitely a habit for life. I like to add different things too, like lemon slices, dried jujube or ginger.

2. If food isn't spicy what's the point?

My province is known for having some seriously spicy food. I worried about that before coming here because we don't cook spicy food at home, but now I'm here it's just another thing I'm used to. A lot of classmates were actually sick when we first came, but I've been absolutely fine since day 1! I've become so accustomed to eating chilli with every meal, even breakfast foods can have a little kick to them, so I honestly don't like food if there isn't even a little bit of chili in there. Whether I cook something or buy something online, it now needs to have a kick to it.

3. Trying to haggle every chance I get
Another thing that's just standard here is haggling prices when you're out and about. It was so awkward at first because my Chinese was non-existent when I just came here, but I'd at least attempt trying to bargain before giving up pretty quickly. Vendors actually expect foreigners to haggle prices, and you can get some pretty good deals if your Chinese is good enough. I once landed a dress that went from 100 yuan to only 60!

4. Not saying 'thank you' to a compliment

I didn't realise that us who are from the west say thanks to a compliment and return it, but here in China people, especially girls, say 哪里哪里 (nǎli nǎli), which is like "you're too kind", and never actually thank you. Even if someone compliments me in English, it's become a habit to just respond in Chinese!

5. Chinglish

I love adding Chinese words to my sentences because some words in English just don't hit the spot quite as well as ones in Chinese, especially 麻烦 (máfan) and 差不多 (chàbuduō). Every single "hang on a minute" or "wait for me" is 等一下 (děngyīxià), and simple phrases like "I'm hungry/sleepy/thirsty" are now just automatically thought of first in Chinese. Sometimes I'll be on the phone with someone from back home and add in random Chinese words only to realise they have no idea what I'm talking about (lol I'm so sorry). I think as my Chinese improves, it'll only keep happening more and more often which I think is pretty cool.

I think as time goes on, I'm going to have even more Chinese habits under my belt. It's only been a year and a half, so we'll see what the future has in store for me!

Which habits did you pick up when you lived abroad?

Related Post: Experiencing Cultural Shock in China

3 Days In Wuhan

Last week, I took the train up to Wuhan in Hubei province to visit my cousins. I had the absolute best time and the only thing I regret is that I didn't stay long enough!

I travelled during the Lunar New Year period (aka Chinese New Year), so a lot of the restaurants and stores were closed. Not many people were walking around as normal, but we still managed to venture out and eat!

I have some photos of the restaurants we visited and they're not really the best but I loved the trip so much, I want to share them here too.

The first place we visited when my train arrived was a Japanese curry house called CoCo (老番屋).

I went with the traditional Chicken Katsu Curry, which was so amazing and flavorful.

For the table, we got two small sharing platters with potato wedges, fried chicken, and deep-fried octopus.

Also on the menu was Beef Omurice (stewed beef curry with rice and a fluffy omelette on top), and beef and vegetable curry. Any type of curry you can think of was there!

That evening we then ventured out to another restaurant called Beer Barn.

We got pepperoni pizza, chicken quesedillas, and the juiciest cheeseburger I've ever had.

They also had cocktails, cold drinks, and teas to go around!

This was definitely our favorite place during the whole trip; the vibe of the place was great and the food was the icing on the already amazing cake. We went there every night for dinner!

When in a foreign country and you don't know what to eat, your safest bet is to find the nearest McDonald's, which is what we did!

I decided to try the chicken rice bowl after hearing so much about it, and it did not disappoint!

It's served with rice at the bottom, followed by lettuce, then chicken, then drizzled in mushroom sauce. It was perfection!

On my final night, we went to Show Coffee and Tea (秀玉红茶坊 (汉街店)), which, unlike the name suggests, did not just serve coffee and tea.

I initially had my heart set on the Thai Basil Rice that would come on a sizzling stone plate, but the whole selection of Thai food was unavailable!

I went with the Japanese Beef Rice, and I quickly forgot about what I previously wanted.

For the table, we got a spicy Mexican beef pizza, fries, spring rolls, and mini chicken wraps, along with two jugs of lemon ice tea, and orange ice tea.

Also ordered were steaks, which came with spaghetti, a fried egg, a baked potato, swimming in gravy, all served on a sizzling stone plate.

Probably the best meal I've had in a long long time!

Being in Wuhan was so much fun and I definitely want to venture out and travel a whole lot more this year.

I hope you enjoyed this post, it's very different from my usual, but I loved looking back on this day!

I'll see you in the next one!

Top Apps You'll Need To Survive In China

China is known for having an app for just about anything you can think of. Do you want someone to stand in line for you for a product you've been waiting for? There's an app for that! However if you're coming to China for the first time, then these apps I'm going to show you are the absolute essentials. You'll need to download them before coming here so your stay will run much smoother.

Some of them I'm sure you'll have heard of, but I'm going to explain how they work and how you can use them!

VPN

Undoubtedly the most important app you will download is a VPN. VPN stands for virtual private network, and it changes your IP address to one in a different country so you can access blocked sites. If it sounds illegal, it is, but it's known by the government and all foreigners use them, whether they come for school, work, or travel.

In China, apps and websites like the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even WhatsApp are blocked. If you try to connect to any of them, your page will just keep loading for years. However, if you connect to your VPN, you can browse anything that you did back home! It's easy enough but sometimes a pain in the behind!

You can get free VPN's or paid ones. I prefer free ones for now, and I use Turbo VPN and Psiphon Pro. The best paid one I have seen is Express VPN. One thing to note is that sometimes, around Chinese holidays or even just random days, the VPN connection will be so poor for a while. It passes but when it's there, it's super annoying!

Make sure you download this before you come, because it's going to be really hard to get one once you cross over into China!

WeChat (微信)

The next most important app is obviously WeChat. Think of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp all rolled into one. On top of that, imagine being able to buy plane tickets, order food, and pay for things in the shops all within the same app! I hope every single day that other countries begin using WeChat too because it makes life so much more convenient.

WeChat is how everyone communicates here (the WhatsApp element) and how they share what's going on in their lives (the social media element). If you set up your bank details to it too, you'll be able to pay for anything, either in the shops, a restaurant, or online. 

I use it to talk to my friends, ask my teachers questions if I have any, order food, check train tickets, and buy everything I need (and I mean everything, I don't carry cash anymore!). It has so many other features I don't use, like booking taxi's and paying bills but the fact that it's there is pretty amazing! I only wish there was a weather feature to be honest!

Definitely one to download if you're staying long-term! You'll absolutely need it to contact anyone you need!

Pleco

The next most important app for those still learning Chinese like me is Pleco. Pleco is a dictionary that has translations for 99% of things you'll want to translate, either from Chinese to English, or vise versa.

You can draw the character out, search it up, and speak the word too. It's been so useful; if I don't know what to say or how, I type it up and show it to someone who can help!  

There are also options for you to create and save flashcards, which is super useful if you're learning the language! 

On a similar vein, Google Translate is also a great one to download if you want to translate small phrases too! Surprisingly, this one works without VPN!

READ: The Best Language Learning Apps

Baidu (百度)

Baidu is what I'd say is the equivalent to Google. It can do anything Google can do, but what I use it for is translating screenshots on my phone.

I wouldn't say it's a necessity but I find it super useful for when I'm looking at something online and nothing is making sense. It's also great if my VPN connection is terrible that day.

A currency converter app

This one is self explanatory, if you want to convert prices, get a currency converter app! 

All of them work the same if you ask me so it doesn't really matter which one you choose. I like to convert currencies so I know how much money I'll be getting in Chinese Yuan. It's also nice to see how things compare back home!

Amap

My favorite map is definitely Amap. Google maps only works if you're connected with your VPN and none of the addresses are in Chinese.

It's best to download a Chinese map app because everything in real life will be in Chinese anyway. The app also gives me weather updates so I know if it's going to rain this week or not which is pretty cool!

Taobao (淘宝) or Pinduoduo (拼多多) 

Online shopping is a huge market in China and the most popular company is definitely Taobao. Think of eBay and Amazon combined. You can get anything and everything on there and their selection is huge. 

You can buy Chinese products, western products, fresh fruit and veg, electronics, just everything you need!

Pinduoduo is another popular shopping app and I prefer it to Taobao only because I can directly access it from WeChat and it's cheaper too. 

A few times a year all shopping apps have massive sales and I've been able to get some real bargains! I once bought a clothes rack for 15 yuan, approximately £1.60 and a handbag for 11 yuan, around £1.20! The quality is so good too. I know people have fears that the quality of these products won't be good, but I personally have never had that problem.

So those are the absolute essential apps I think you need if you're coming to China. Other people's lists may have different things, but for me and my daily life, I use these the most and they're brilliant!

I hope you enjoyed this post and I'll see you in the next one!

Experiencing Cultural Shock In China

Living in a country halfway across the world is definitely going to bring some cultural differences. Some are good, some are bad, and all of them are certainly interesting.

I've lived in China for 5 months now, and as soon as I stepped off the plane, there were some differences I noticed that were so different to both Zambia and the UK. As the months have gone on, I've noticed how so many things are different over here compared to anywhere else, and I want to share them with you!

The first thing I've noticed is that phones are absolutely everywhere and it's impossible to escape. Over in England, there's a whole thing with young people being on their phones too much but over here, everyone is doing it, from teenagers to grandparents.

It's so strange entering a bus or the subway and seeing everyone (not exaggerating) with their heads bent down scrolling on their phones. It's makes me think about how different our cultures are and what counts as acceptable too.

The next thing is that if you're visibly foreign, you're gonna get stared at A LOT, and have your photo taken for good measure. I've only ever been intensely stated at in some areas of the UK, but this is a whole new level. Imagine walking outside and having everyone stop what they're doing, start pointing, whispering, and whipping their phones out to start recording you. It's so overwhelming!

Usually it doesn't bother me; I can go through the day and it won't phase me but when I'm upset about something or not in the best of moods it bothers me a lot. If you're ever in China, be prepared for that.

Another thing is that queue jumping is totally normal here. For someone who grew up in the UK, having someone push in front of me in the queue lowkey ticks me off, but here it's a totally normal thing. Don't be surprised when you suddenly end up at the back of the queue when you were so close to the front, or if people physically push you out of the way, especially older people. That's just how the culture is here and no matter how annoying it is, I've learned to adapt and jump back in place!

Having no cold water is another thing different about China. People here prefer drinking warmer water, even in summer because it's healthier for you, so when you go into a restaurant whether it's Chinese or western, you'll be served with a glass of warm water when you're seated. I love warm water so it doesn't bother me one bit, but it's so different from what I'm used to. Waiters even come round to your table and refill your glass with warm water when you're done! Some restaurants even have stations where you can add fruits or herbs to your water for extra benefits, like chrysanthemum, goji berries and cloves.

One thing I have noticed about Chinese girls is that they're always dressed to impress, especially in summer. Their outfits are so pristine and lovely and it's so weird because in the UK if you dressed up, people would ask you why you're dressed up, but here no one questions it. From teenagers to young adults, to mums dressing their children (even some grandmas) the ladies here always look so photoshoot ready it's easy to feel underdressed, especially if you're a fan of jeans and t-shirts like me!

The last thing I'll talk about is how smoking and spitting here are so commonplace. Now, I was raised where you had to go in designed areas to smoke, but here, anyone can smoke anywhere; in the car, in a restaurant, in any part of a building. Smoking is a nasty habit and I really do not like this part of living in China, but it's just what happens.

Spitting is also very common, but only amongst older people. And it's not normal light spitting you sometimes see at home, this one comes from somewhere deep down in the gut. The sound alone is awful and it makes me shudder whenever I hear it to be honest.

Those are some cultural things I've seen here in my almost 6 months in China (how crazy is that!) Some of these are really negative, but it's the reality and there's no point in forcibly being positive all the time.

One thing I'll say about moving to a country with a different culture is if you accept things as the way they are, instead of constantly comparing to the way life is back home, you'll be much happier. Yes, some things aren't perfect but you will not survive if all you do is complain about your new life. I've learned that the best course of action is to just observe and understand that this is the way of life here.

It's doesn't do you any good to always err on the side of negativity!

I hope you enjoyed this post! There are a few more I can think of, but I don't want this post to be too long and I think this is good for now. Please down below tell me of any cultural differences you've come across while travelling!

I'll see you in the next one!

Getting Your Life Back On Track | Travel Reset Routine

Hello everyone and welcome back to another blog post!

Today’s post is going to be all about how to get back into the swing of things after you’ve been travelling. Whether it was a weekend get-away, a holiday abroad, or just a regular road trip, we all know how strenuous travelling can be.