CHINA
SURVIVAL GUIDE How to Avoid Travel Troubles and Mortifying Mishaps
Larry and Qin Herzberg Stone Bridge Press • Berkeley, California
Published by Stone Bridge Press P.O. Box 8208 Berkeley, CA 94707 tel 510-524-8732 •
[email protected] • www.stonebridge.com
Book design by Linda Ronan. Front cover ilustration by Lloyd Dangle. Text © 2008 Larry and Qin Herzberg. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
L BRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG NG-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Herzberg, Larry. China survival guide : how to avoid travel troubles and mortifying mishaps / Larry and Qin Herzberg. — 1st ed. p. cm. ISBN 978-1 933330-51-8 (pbk.) 1. China—Guidebooks. I. Herzberg. Qin. II. Title. DS705.H47 2007 915.104'6—dc22 2007014401
Contents Welcome to China! 5
1 2
A User’s Guide to the Chinese Restroom 15
3
How to Stand in Line and Not Have a Cow 28
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
What to Expect (and Inspect) at Your Hotel 31
Never Take a Black Cab and Other Taxi Tips 23
A Walker’s Guide to China’s Streets 57 Shop till You Drop 73 Medical Emergencies 84 Encountering the Unusual 100 Mass Protests and General Mayhem 125 The People 134
11 12 13 14 15
A Basic Guide to Chinese Etiquette 139 Restaurants 156 English Made in China 162 Learning Chinese 169 Going Home 179 So Why Go to China? 189 Topic Index 191
Welcome to China! Everyone we know is going to China these days. Or so it seems. There are the business people who now travel frequently to China for their jobs, dealing with everything from office furniture and shoes to Amway products. There are the staff members at our college, who are heading to China to adopt a Chinese baby. The Women’s Chorale from our school just returned from performing at Christian churches in Beijing and Xian. Four of our fellow