Ask me about China - a Chinese-born Foreigner's Impression

[Zeestein]

Various tidbits:

#1: in most public toilets, including places like McDonalds and KFC, you'd have to squat to poop

#2: there is an exam for further education once you reach the end of year 9, or your 3rd year of high school. The failure rate is high and the costs to continue schooling exhobirant. This is presumably why I only ever get served by cute chicks that would most certainly be jailbait in any place that attempts to "Western" like cafes or steakhouses.

#3: a popular drink sold widely in Fuzhou (north of HK/Taiwan, just south of Shanghai, located right along the eastern seaboard) is olive juice, which is basically the consistency and appearance of apple juice but with no apples, but olives. I like it.

#4: apparently the going rate for a massage/hooker in a hotel is $100 RMB, which is like ~US$13. I did not take her up.

[NewTeaBag]

It's sooooooooooooooooooo darn HUDGE!

What spots would you reccomend (outside the big touristy traps like the great wall) to get a "taste of different parts" of CHina on say a 2 week visit. (I'm in Thailand so the jump isn't too far for me.

[Zeestein]

NewTeaBag,

for all the hustle and bustle of the major cities, a little further inland reveals truly beautiful mountain-sides. I went to Wuyi Mountain during my trip, one of the 4 major UNESCO listed heritage sites in China. Just gorgeous, you could take a barge along the river in the morning and see the mountainside from the water. You could climb various peaks and sample the local tea which is really really excellent. The star attraction is undoubtedly the beautiful views from the mountains. There is now a genuine developed township, with tons of hotels and restaurants. Stay in the cheap places and you could have a great time for not much at all. The shops in the mountains itself are pretty expensive though.

I assume the 3 other world heritage sites are similar, though I understand Wuyi Mountain is the smallest in scale.

It was a 5 hr one-way train trip from Fuzhou (the capital of Fujian province).