I step outside of the busy airport into my first taste of China. I ignore the lady who works at holding the door for travelers saying “Welcome to China,” and look around. Taking my first deep breath I start hacking uncontrollably and try to stay out of the way of numerous travelers. Not that there is a bad smell in the air, but there is a noxious taint to it that seems to pervade your lungs even if you can’t quite smell it. Breathing more carefully now I take a few more steps forward to get out of the way of the new rush of people behind me and wait for my friend Chris. He was held up at security and both of us have enough supplies and clothes for a year in China.

He finally joins me outside and starts coughing too even though he is more prepared for it then I am. Worse is the heat, even with the sun starting to set and standing in the shade, it was still sweltering. It is easily forty degrees and muggy so that even if the air was clean it would still catch in your throat sending you into a spasm if you aren’t careful. Hefting my large pack and checking to make sure my other bag is still by my side I turn to Chris and ask him if he can see our driver waiting for us.

“No but he will probably be late. Traffic in this country is hell and Taixing is about 3 hours away.” He answers letting his own duffel bag fall beside mine so as to take a rest from its weight. “We might be here a while man so you might as well take a rest too. So what is your first impression of China?”

It was a short question but one I took a while to answer. Looking around at the distant skyscrapers and the city that seemed to go on forever my eyes found there way to the horizon. I followed the sight up past the layer of smog to the blue sky above me and besides the sheen of grey closer to the ground it was a nice day out. A sense of vertigo invaded me, traveling so far in one day lets you see just how much the world has shrunk and I look again at the sky. It doesn’t seem nearly so big now and squinting I think I can see the curve of the atmosphere following the roundabout way all the way to where my home is far to the east.

My answer wasn’t nearly close to my thoughts though. “It is hot, humid and smelly, and there are entirely too many people around. How did you put up with this for a year?” I ask him while dropping my second pack. I don’t wait for him to answer and so I carry on, “I hope your driver is here soon, for some reason hanging out in Shanghai all night doesn’t appeal to me.” However, we would not be waiting long.

They arrive and once in the car and greeted by everyone we start the long and painful drive home. We cannot even start that until we are out of the city itself though and from what I heard before I came here getting out can take hours. I fall asleep twice and each time I wake up in almost hour long intervals we are still in the city. The last time I do this I complain that we still aren’t out of the city itself and that this sucks.

Chris laughs at me “Dude, we have been out of the city for the past hour this is the countryside.” I look around and sure here and there is a patch of field but for the most part there are houses everywhere and people moving throughout them working and living. What a weird country, well I guess they have to put the one and a half billion people somewhere and settle in for the rest of the ride.

Needless to say once I realized that we were out of the city the drive back was long, hot and cramped. For some reason the driver brought along two extra people so that when we actually all got into the compact car I had my knees drawn up against the seat in front of me and was pressed against the door from the very large man sitting between Chris and I. Our new assistant was sitting comfortable in the front and being the petite 90 pound Chinese woman, had plenty of room to spread out. So far I am not at all impressed with what I will come to call the Chinese mentality. Why would you have the three biggest people in the car sit together in the back and the two smallest people share the front? I query Chris about this and he just shrugs and tells me to get used to it. “Well this sucks.” I say to myself and despite my uncomfortable position (and the smell coming from the man next to me) I try to fall asleep to pass the trip faster.

We get to the school and the sudden jerk and stop wakes me from my catatonic state and I even though it is dark I peer outside of the car at my surroundings. The driver gets out of the car and opens my door first and walking around gets Chris’s. Carefully unfolding myself so as not to damage anything further I gently lower my foot to the cement and pull myself out of the car. A back spasm is the only punishment my body gives me for such an unnatural and uncomfortable body position and I stretch out noticing for the first time how tired I am. You can only travel so far in a day and now it is time for rest. I barely remember the climb up to the second story, or the fact that straight after first using my key I lose it. The most important thing is the bed and I climb in and am asleep before even getting undressed.

The next day we had to go re fill our new fridge, the last food having long ago rotted. After waking up at the ungodly hour of five o’clock (thanks jet lag) I was more then ready for some action and to do some exploring. We leave the school, the first thing I notice is that every single person upon seeing me stops everything they are doing to stare at the both of us as we walk by. Chris; used to this nonsense glares back with all of the disdain he can muster.

“You have to either completely ignore them or screw with them a little by letting them know that we are aware of them staring,” Says Chris giving me my first piece of advice without breaking his line of sight.

”Come on man it isn’t that bad, it is kind of fun being the center of attention.” I reply as I smile and wave at some of the other people on the street who reluctantly wave back. “See, they are friendly you just have to give them a chance.”

Now Chris does break of his staring contest to look at me. “Believe me. It gets old really quick, one month from now you will start to dislike these people for this and a month after that you will be bitter and join me in mocking them.”

I still choose not to believe him and during this tirade I did not notice what was coming. In full view of everyone I fall flat on my face over a pile of concrete chunks. “Oh yeah look out for the rubble that is everywhere. For some reason they are always building stuff over old stuff and then tearing everything down again.” I glare up at him as he gets a kick out of the first of what will become many little victories China has over me. I get up anyway and dust myself off and notice again that the street except for the cars and construction is quiet and everyone is still watching us. It doesn’t matter though as long as they don’t laugh.

We finally arrive at the RT Mart which turns out is kind of like a Chinese Wal-Mart with me staring at the ground the whole way. Every few steps is another obstacle be it open trench, uncovered man hole or just pieces of building scattered everywhere. Walking inside once again except for the background music over the loudspeakers everyone stops whatever they are doing to stare at the two foreigners. People mid-transaction are pointing us out to their children and I can sort of see why this would get old really quick but still smile at them all refusing to give in.

Here are a few things about a Chinese market and/or grocery store that happen everyday. They will kill the animal right there in front of you, graphically, regardless of the animal or the person. There are bulk food bins, instead of candy and nuts it is different cuts of meat, and if you are foreign people have an alarming tendency to come up and say hello to you or just stare meanwhile crashing there cart into a stand of merchandise. Chris is hurrying, he obviously does not want to be here longer then we absolutely have to. We get everything we need and head up to the front to pay for our food. We get the receipt and he tells me to keep it otherwise we can’t leave the store.

“Well at least they are taking steps to stop shoplifting.” I say to Chris. “Do they go through our bags and everything?” The only reply I get is him laughing and telling me that I will wait and see. We reach the exit to the rest of the mall and sure enough there are some people checking receipts and stamping them. Of the four standing there not a single one was checking the bags, you could pay for your stuff walk back in get more things and walk out and even though they are reading the receipts.

“This is another example of the Chinese mentality. Sometimes man I just don’t get this country.” The bitterness in my friends voice sets the mood for the trip home, in fact the only thing he did was rant about China.

That night right before sacking out he asks me again what my first impressions of China are. This time I didn’t have an answer for him though I just shook my head in disgust and went back to my room.

By: Alex Murray