Chinese medicine clinical rotation Part II of IV

Bike parking lot in Zhejiang University

Getting Around

You will put your life in god’s hands every single time you cross the street. There are people on bikes, scooters, and every other form of motor vehicle seemingly in a rush, but not really traveling that fast. All of the stereotypes about Chinese drivers are true, the absolute worst. I’ve had people look me right in the eye, acknowledge me, and then hit the gas pedal in a panic. I was actually hit in a parking lot the other day while looking the driver right in the eyes, we were smiling at each other and I was mouthing “you see me right?” She just waved and drove off as I limped to the bus. Bike riders will fall over, or hit random people, scooters on the sidewalk, driving down the wrong side of the road or the wrong way on a one-way street, its pure chaos. And the honking never stops!!! If you can get into the flow you can actually move quickly through the city, but seriously its crazy. There is zero traffic enforcement here, really you never see the police. Most security is performed by building or apartment complex security teams, and they can be kind of bully-ish to the locals.

The subway is very easy to use with English and Chinese announcements. One warning, your map apps may have English street names, but the automated subway machine will not, so best to look up the street name in both Chinese and English before you try to buy your tokens. Also, the Apple map app often has difficulty finding an exact address. Best to enter the street name only with the city, and then narrow down your street address by picking a location close. On several occasions the app tried to lead me across town or to a different city with the street number in the search. There must be errors in the translation algorithm.

The bus is equally as easy, and your map apps should show you available routes and times...

There is an Uber type called DiDi, but I ran into difficulty when it wanted to use my as yet unlinked WeChat or Alipay app for payment so I never got to try it. 

Eating...

                                  Beef Noodle Soup

Food, this is not your Americanized Chinese food. It’s better!! Much less sugar, and lighter sauces, but there is MSG, in some places its practically a table condiment. Again, I’ve never (knock on wood) had food poisoning here, but I’m relatively careful. I eat at restaurants with a high turnover, and really give a place the once over before I try it. One piece of advice, don't ever look in the kitchen. Also, a lot of restaurants reuse plastic and sometimes wood chopsticks, if the freaks you out, bring or buy your own...

Hangzhou in particular has quite a few high end places to eat, and seems to be undergoing a bit of a foodie moment with very new, clean, western looking restaurants opening. Of course, if you’re desperate, there is McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen, Burger King and Starbucks. Ahh Starbucks, whatever your feelings are about Starbucks at home, it will probably become your place of respite in China. Guaranteed internet, familiar drinks and food, relatively clean bathrooms, and plenty of locations. In Hangzhou you could practically walk from location to location before finishing your tea. Some locations are mostly empty, and others a zoo. At my local, people will sit there all day on a Saturday, sleeping and watching videos. The internet there is faster than what most people have at home too. 

Internet...

Which brings me to the internet. Yes, the great firewall will shut you down. If you’re constantly plugged in at home you will be tortured here. You must have a VPN app on all of your devices. The VPN basically lets you jump the wall by sending small encrypted packets to servers around the world allowing you access to google, gmail, Facebook, Instagram, etc. The issue of course is that the government doesn’t like VPN’s so they’re constantly updating the firewall. It’s a cat and mouse game for sure. I have 2 paid VPN’s (Expressnet, and Vyper) and a few free ones, and sometimes nothing works. Internet can go from blazing fast to an early 1990’s crawl, to instant stoppage. If you’ve got podcasts and TV shows you follow I would suggest pre-loading before you come to China. 

Zhong's Huge Bookstore, Hangzhou

Communication

With regard to phones, I always have 2 phones in China. My current iPhone with international service turned on, and most of the data roaming shutoff (actually I keep messenger and map data on, everything else is off), and I have a Chinese cell. For the second phone, use whatever phone you can find that is China compatible (usually quad band), and order a SIM card online. You can get them in vending machines at the airport when you land, but I find it easier on my brain to have this little detail sorted before I land. Its just one less thing to think about after 14 hours of travel, customs, and worrying about getting to your hotel or apartment for the first time. It’s really nice to have a local number, your Chinese peers will appreciate it, and the calls home are cheaper. Also, many restaurants and cafes will require a local phone number for you to log into their wifi. It’s a security feature at most foreign owned businesses like Starbucks. That being said, the entire country communicates with WeChat (Weixin). Set it up at home, and be prepared for the onslaught of messages. It’s like Facebook, Instagram, and a messenger app all in one. In some local places, including the clinics, you can only sign into their wifi with WeChat. 

There’s also a huge push to use e-payments here. WeChat and Alipay are the dominant ones. I wasn’t able to make them work from China because you need a Chinese bank account which foreigners cannot get. I’m hoping when I get home I can open an account at ICBC in the states and enable the payment apps. Also, Union Pay has replaced Visa and MasterCard at most places, and once again only Chinese banks issue Union Pay cards. I hear American Express and Discover are Union Pay compatible, and I’ll investigate those as well when I’m stateside. Either way I will post an update…


11/21/17 P.S. Just as I was leaving China I saw a billboard for a Unionpay app, so I'll also investigate that one too.

To be continued...