Mijn eerste "China" ervaringen (First impressions)

I flew with Cathay Pacific (apparently a Hong Kong airline). The flight Amsterdam to Hangzhou took 14.5 hours. I skipped actually the whole night, so I flew in the daytime and arrived in the morning 😂. The feeling is still unbelievable that in 14.5 hours you're more than 10.000 km away. I had a bit of a jetleg the first days. Strange feeling, I cannot really describe. When I arrived at the airport in Hong Kong I missed my direct flight to Hangzhou, unfortunately I had to wait. I took the next flight to Hangzhou. Now I was in the mainland of China, official: the people's Republic of China. Everything was arranged: the Airport pick-up, the Hotel in "Hangzhou" where I had training (with a few other English teachers) the first couple of days in a trainings-centre from the Chinese partner. (Initially I was sent by a Dutch recruiter) Anyway, above that we had to follow strict formalities like: arranging a Chinese bankcard, a Chinese simcard, issue of all the original and legalized documents. A Medical check. Really.... the Chinese way. And above that all foreign media like: what's app, Facebook ,Google etc. is Blocked in China. So, you really NEED a vpn (that doesn't really work well).

Hangzhou is a Huge city, 9.5 million people. You won't believe , but in the city centre I felt like one of the very few foreigners. And often it's very rare for people to see a foreigner. Especially when you're tall (like me), steady, blond /red/ brown hair and not Chinese 😉. To be honest, I had a little bit a culture shock. The food, Chinese language and people who actually don't speak a single word English.. but it is all interesting. The first few days we (other teachers and I) have been to Japanese, Korean , Chinese and Thai's restaurants. Some delicious, some a bit strange. Nobody pays with Cash in China .. you can either pay with WeChat (which is also the Number one MultiMedia WhatsApp of China) or with Alipay, also a phone App. Very new to me. >Photo's will follow<