Went to China, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and some other places last year in october… well, where to start? Sometimes it was like everything was the exact opposite of how things are back home (Sweden).
People will fart loudly and smoke during dinner. Not after. During.
Water is served with food, but it's steaming hot.
"Hole-in-the-floor"-toilets. Nothing can prepare you.
Amazingly hard beds. We tried four different hotels before we found one we could actually sleep in.
"Cupping" being done as a part of a regular massage. Google it. My girlfriend was in shock afterwards.
The smog, oh my god the smog. On some days it was like Mordor. Whenever the sky was blue and the sun came out I felt like crying.
Haggling over prices at stores (can't find a good word for the types of stores where this is acceptable. Not supermarkets, but markets and smaller stores, I guess) and actually getting a bit upset and yelling at each other is completely natural. I never did this but my Chinese friends did it for me. Which felt incredibly awkward because everything was so cheap anyway. I would sneak the store owner some extra cash if I got the chance.
And to end on a more positive note the food was AMAZING and people in general are amazingly nice, helpful and surprisingly chatty. Surprising for me because I had the impression that the Chinese are more reserved. I'd go there again. I will go there again. I really hope they are able to work out the smog problem though.