He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man

My South American travels are over, officially, but my travels aren't. A new challenge has brought me to China. My main purpose here is to attend a conference. But, interesting as the worlds fastest growing economy looks to me, I'll spend a fortnight in this booming country to get to know more about Chinese and their culture. I'll start in Dalian, which is in the far north-east, close to the North-Korean border and end my trip in Beijing.

After a ten-hour flight I arrive in Hangzhou, where I'll have a couple of hours to kill before my connecting flight to Dalian departs. Although Hangzhou is said to be worth a visit because it's considered one of China's greenest cities, I decide the time is too short to leave the airport and relax a bit before continuing my journey. After going through custums and migration, which is quite easy to my great suprise, I'm looking for an ATM to take out my first Chinese yuans. The ATM, however, doesn't same to accept my Visa card and I try to use my other card, without any success. Luckily another machine is very close, but this one also refuses to give out cash due to 'machine anomalities'. After trying the third machine without any success I start to feel a little nervous. I go to the airport information point, where I encounter my first experience with Chinese politeness: friendly people who are willing to help me but only provide answers to questions I'm not asking. Good afternoon Mr. language barrier. They send me to the currency exchange bank, which turns out to take cash only. With only a few euro coins in my pocket I won't get far. Back to the information point, where the friendly lady recommends me to take a taxi into town to go to a bank. However, this might be difficult to pay for without any money. Then I run into a police man who's driving an electric trolley through the airport and I explain him my story. He invites me to get into his vehicle and drives me to a colleague. After some Chinese discussion into which I obviously cannot mingle his colleague decides to drive me to the nearest bank. So without planning it, I get to see some parts of Hangzhou. At the nearest bank my first try is a succesful one and I'm able to take out 1000 yuans (about €100) here. Lesson learned: always bring cash!

My first experiences with China are very positive: people are friendly, seem to be well-organized and now and then they tend to speak some English or try to. If they speak it, they'll always ask me where I'm from and how much money I make. I have to get used to some more of these curiosities (not to begin about the spitting habits most Chinese men practice) such as the friendly way they approach you, but the silent indifference they seem to show when they won't be able to help you. Chinese people are generally much more introvert and convinceable which makes it quite easy to get things done. They simply can't say no. Please don't think I treat people like that. I'm just saying how it feels to talk to them.

Food is interesting in China. On my first day I have to control my reflexive thought that every store showing Chinese signs on the front door (virtually all of them do) is a Chinese restaurant. It's one of these typical things. But restaurants are easy to find and it's not as difficult as I thought to order a foreigner-friendly meal. During my first dinner, however, the ladies in the restaurants tend to make some fun of me. Not because of the way I use my chop-sticks, but apparently I'm supposed to eat this specific dish with a spoon! Crazy foreigner, they'll probably think.

Dalian is a pleasant city, although there's not that much special to see. It's a good city to acclimatize to Chinese culture and lifestyle. After my first week I take the overnight train to Beijing. These trains are fairly comfortable, including a little bed and wake-up service with Chinese music. Early Tuesday morning the train brings me in Beijing on time, and I make my way into this massive capital of Eastern history and ... bicycles!