Ever since we boarded the Swiss Air flight back to Paris I’ve been trying to process our experiece in China. Two drastically different cities  – Beijing, the cultural and administrative epicenter and Shanghai, the showpiece, China’s financial hub and modern metropolis – both of which felt completely foreign at times and oddly familiar at others. Yet unlike my feelings of dépaysement after a mere three days in Istanbul, I wasn’t quite so moved by either city. My expectations were high before arriving – I was going to be transported, culturally jarred, I thought. After all, it was my first visit to Asia, with a capital A.

But I wasn’t. I was, however, fascinated by the people and the culturally driven characteristics that defined them. Sitting in the front seat with taxi drivers while fumbling through the handful of expressions I had memorized to explain our destination, bargaining with vendors at the fabric market, interpreting complex and pages-long restaurant menus, and navigating the metro (miraculously unscathed from all the elbow jabs) put us face to face with so many different people whose daily lives I tried to imagine.

After a few unjudicious decisions, being accosted by a couple of over-eager girls looking to practice their English and French over a few beers (or so they said… our friend in Shanghai said it sounded to him like the start of a scam) and encountering friendly anglophones, one of whom kindly directed us to an amazing semi-clandestine noodle restaurant we were struggling to locate, it was clear that what excited me most were the interactions with people we met along the way (as strained as they may have been).

And the dumplings.

We heeded Ann Mah’s dining recommendations in both cities and are grateful we did. Din Tai Fung’s dumplings were simply outstanding (we went to their Shanghai location), we had stellar service at Made In China (Beijing) and loved sitting around the circular bar at Noodle Bar for front-row action of the chef pulling our noodles by hand.

People and food aside, there were other elements that contributed to making this an eye-opening experience. For the sake of organizing my thoughts, these were some of the things that struck us most: 

| Western and yet… not
Despite all visible signs of Western influence – from big box stores, fast food establishments and clothing brands – I couldn’t help but revert to all of the articles I read before and during our trip about Chinese censorship, countless arrests of dissident lawyers and human rights activists, and the government’s draconian family planning measures.

It was this dichotomy – what we saw and what we know/are told – that makes visiting both cities so intriguing. Regardless of whether locals agree or disagree with government control of Western media penetration, they’re rabidly consuming Western imports.Someone asked me if it felt Communist. Aside from experiencing the internet limitations, we were shielded from anything blatantly oppressive or dissonant.

| Transportation

The subway is exceptionally clean and highly monitored. No unusual or fetid odors linger in the halls and no build-up of grime-dust balls or pockets of trash line the floors. Even the smallest stations had handfuls of employees checking handbags in security, picking up trash, shoving people into already packed subway cars, selling tickets, and fixing the slightest paint blemish. Compared to Paris and its lack of available staff, the Beijing and Shanghai subways were like luxury liners. 

Unfortunately, luxury comes at a price. Locals do not wait for passengers to get off the train before they start aggressively elbowing their way in to the car. No one sighs or fights back as is custom in Paris. No, they are conditioned to resist stampedes. 

| Hygiene + the split-pants phenomenon 

An indelible image from our first few days in China: parents helping their adorable little boy relieve himself on a busy street by removing the flap to his pants. He was sporting a pair of split-pants where the seams open up in the front and the back to allow for bathroom breaks wherever and whenever the urge should strike (without wiping). Ultimate convenience, perhaps, but questionable hygiene. (Photos of these split-pants in action here)

| Air Quality
It really is as bad as you read, though far worse in Beijing. Yesterday’s Le Point magazine reported about the thick, yellowish fog that greeted Beijingers as they awoke yesterday morning – a cloud of pollution that exceeded dangerous levels. Understable, then, why spitting is so commonplace!

We were beset by a dour veil of pollution and gloom wherever we went in both cities, save for a day or two of sunshine in Shanghai which drastically changed our attitude. The gloom in Beijing was thick and the lack of sunshine and glacial temperatures only compounded our impressions of the city as melancolic, lacking the energy and ‘cool’ that oozes freely in Shanghai.

| Shanghai won us over 
That said, it was Shanghai that gradually won us over. Its international cuisine, charming shops, jazz lounges and bars coexist perfectly with its more traditional neighborhoods, markets and museums – there’s something for everyone. It’s funny, everytime we travel to a new city we inevitably go through the routine of judging it based on whether or not we could imagine ourselves living there permanently. Futile, really, because that’s not what most travel is about. Ultimately it was the balance of familiarity and novelty that gave us the adventure we were seeking.

It was an incredible trip that not only shattered certain stereotypes (and confirmed others) but planted the desire to explore much much more of Asia.

**Thank you for all of your recommendations, we definitely used them!

{Check out over 150 more photos from China HERE}
{Top photo taken at Hangzhou, 192km from Shanghai}