A Whirlwind Chinese Romance

Photos: Syed Shahed Imam

When we, a group of four, were planning our China trip, we made our own rules to rule China. We decided to explore as much as possible, eat till our stomach was at bursting point and shop till our suitcase would reach the 23 kilo limit. I had been to China a long time ago and loved the country despite the difficulties due to the language barrier. This time the trip was with three other adventurous folk and we had three cities to visit in ten days- Beijing, Shanghai and Anhui.
Beijing was our first destination where we stayed for three days. I would say the Beijing days were our training period, those eventful three days gave us time and experience to learn about the Chinese way of life. Every day we came across surprises! The moment we got to Beijing our wrestling with different vendors started. Starting from the sim card salesman, taxi drivers to restaurant waiters, the war went on. We failed to understand what they were offering and they failed to get what we wanted. For example, ordering food in a restaurant was like a word guessing game. Everything on the menu was in Chinese thus vigorous sign language was the only answer. We wanted chicken, so one of our friends started clucking like a hen. After 10 minutes of mimicry and contortions, not to mention hysterical laughter, we finally were able to order quite a few items on the menu. Food was very cheap, and in a few minutes our table was overloaded with mouthwatering dishes. We became regulars at the restaurant, coming for meals or stopping by after a night walk to have spicy satay and drinks.
Late night walks remind me of an interesting encounter. One night on our way back to our hotel we were speaking in Bangla, cracking jokes and being rather loud. Suddenly from a dark silent alley we saw a shadow approaching towards us.

The Forbidden City.

Chinese Delight

Beautiful Anhui.

Terrified we froze, our minds feverishly working on how to fight off the potential attacker. Suddenly the shadowy figure asked: “Bhai ki Bangaladeshi naki?” What were the chances of finding a fellow countryman at such an unearthly hour, in an alley in Beijing? In a couple of minutes we came to know he was from Bangladesh currently living in China and working in an Indian restaurant. “Globalization at its best”- I said to myself! Later our newly-found Bangladeshi friend gave us tips on the subway routes and shopping places.
Beijing is a perfect blend of vibrant city life and ancient heritage. We walked miles after miles and explored many historical relics of Chinese emperors. Visiting the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Olympic Park and the Tiananmen Square are must dos in Beijing and believe me they are worth all the effort. It was 3 degree Celsius in Beijing, and under heaps of warm clothes I could still feel the goose bumps when I landed on the Great Wall! Interestingly, we found a newly wed couple doing a photo shoot in wedding attire standing on the corridors and basements of the Great Wall. “Chinese tradition”, a local tour guide commented.
Once we had ticked off all the 'must dos in Beijing' on our list, we headed towards Anhui. Not many tourists go to Anhui, but this should be a highly recommended traveller's haven. Anhui is the hometown of one of our Chinese friends and he had invited us there. After three hectic days in Beijing, his hometown was the perfect respite. We experienced some amazing landscapes in Anhui, attended a traditional Chinese dinner with all of his close relatives and friends and danced along with the local people.
Anhui made us fall in love with Chinese people's warmth and hospitality. After two days stay there, our mission-Shanghai began.
The Shanghai days were definitely more comfortable and hassle-free. By then we had picked up some Chinese words other than ni hao (hello) and xie xie ( thank you). Whenever we visited any eatery in Shanghai, we started flaunting our limited Chinese knowledge like niú ròu for beef, chi ròu for chicken and fapiao for the bills. What was most amusing was that calling out “excuse me” could never get you to the waiter, you needed to make a strange sound from the pit of the stomach like “Waaaay” to get attention. Needless to say we had a lot of fun practicing the sound and would say it at the slightest reason to call the waiter, sometimes for no reason at all. In Shanghai we stopped wasting our RMB on taxis, since we became more comfortable with the subways and buses. We became the best mime artists ever born in this world.
Shanghai seemed more happening and more cosmopolitan to me, we explored most of the famous places like the Bund and the Huangpu river cruise, Yuyuan garden, Dong Tai road and Shanghai museum. But what struck me with utter surprise was the 580 Nanjing West Road. The fake goods market here is the ultimate shoppers' paradise! It would give you the pleasure of buying anything and everything you ever wanted. However like its name, nothing you see here is real. The market is overloaded with identical stores selling copies of branded shoes, bags, clothes, electronics and what not. There are many shops which had secret chambers and once you got there, the vendors would unfold the bewildering variety of whatever stuff you wanted to buy.
The rule is to bargain hard (sometimes 1/10 of the price) and just walk away if your price does not stand. I was offered 600 RMB for a bag, and I confidently said 40 RMB. The angry vendor screamed at me,“ You crazy lady, go back to your country.” And finally I got the bag for 50 RMB. Trust me that was the most wonderfully complete English sentence I heard during my stay in China.
Customers would come empty-handed and leave with a huge fake Samsonite suitcase filled with world famous brands of luxury items, all of which were clever copies. Bangladeshis are good bargainers, we bought many things that we wanted, a few other things that we needed and many fancy, flashy goods that we were not even sure why we were picking.
During our ten days tour I don't remember how many times we vowed never to come back to this country. Then on our way back to Bangladesh sitting in the China Southern plane, while reminiscing those ten days, suddenly we found ourselves talking about what we should do during our next visit to China!

The Great Wall.