Initial Impressions of China

I had read terrible things about China's lack of friendliness toward foreigners. I was prepared for everyone to not like us, give us a bad time, and otherwise abuse us as tourists. I was intimidated by its reputation before I arrived but I think I understand the reputation a little better now and have figured out how I will deal with it.

When we got to the immigration desk at the Beijing airport things were starting to shut down. Several desks were not manned and the gates in front of them were shut. One of the agents was still at his desk checking someone's passport even though his gate was shut. When he finished with that other person he motioned for me to come around the gate to him. After I stepped around the gate and approached the counter I heard someone behind me shouting in an angry Chinese from across the cavernous room. I was sure I was going to be arrested and thrown in jail for crossing the gate. The immigration officer spat a few angry words back in the direction of the shouting and dismissed the other person with a wave. Even though I made it through immigration just fine this put me on edge. I was so worried about doing something wrong (even if I didn't understand it was wrong) and suffering the consequences. I was ready to be done. I got very anxious when the kids raced ahead of us and around a corner where I couldn't see them.

We made our way to the taxi stand to get transportation to our apartment. At this point I would just about have paid any price to get to the apartment. The first cab wanted to charge us 700 yuan (113 USD) for the 20km (12 miles) journey. We were all loaded in the van and ready to go when we decided it was too expensive. We felt like we were getting ripped off. Later we were able to hire a van and driver for the entire day for 700 yuan.

When we arrived at our apartment our "landlord" was there to meet us and show us the apartment. It looked and felt like someone was still living in it. There was food in the refrigerator. There were family pictures on display on the walls and shelves. There were clothes in the drawers and closets. The landlord was very kind and has helped us out quite a bit. He showed us where the grocery store is. He helped us get registered at the Police Station. Foreigners who do not stay at a hotel have to register with the police. Before we could go to the Police Station the landlord's mother had to retrieve some papers from the closet in the room where Elaine was resting. I went in first and quietly spoke with Elaine to let her know what was happening. Then I motioned that it was ok for the mother to go in. Remember that the apartment felt live in? This is HER apartment. Nonetheless, she went in and humbly asked for Elaine's permission to enter the room before retrieving the papers. I was amazed that Elaine was resting on what must have been the mother's bed, in the mother's bed room and yet the mother still hesitated to go in without Elaine's explicit permission. Pretty cool.

The ladies at the Police Station were very friendly. I noticed that they both made a big deal about counting the passports (1-2-3-4-5-6) as they processed things. They both gave me big smiles and waves when I went back to thank them.

Having 4 children seemed to be a VERY BIG DEAL here. We got looks everywhere we went. We caught people trying to take our picture on the sly.

A friend of a friend, Kevin, accompanied us to the Great Wall. He was awesome. He helped us communicate to get tickets. He helped us order an awesome authentic Chinese lunch. He helped us communicate with our driver. He helped us get tickets to an acrobat show. He took us to the Silk Market and showed us around. At the end of the day he wouldn't accept any money. He spent the whole day with us and was invaluable.

My point is that everyone we have dealt with thus far has been super friendly even when we can't communicate. Maybe there will be a point where being intimidated is justified but until then we are enjoying China a lot.