1. Of course is the food. From banquet to food stands, fruit stands to super market, there is much more varieties of food that are more yummy and cheap in china. These are all of my food pictures. I love the breakfast and snacks at food stands. The health standards are much higher now so luckily my stomach dealt fine with all the food I ate. We will see about how many pounds I gained. Haha but it will be worth it. Also it's actually not hard to be on a low carb diet in china. Most food are served first without any starch. Rice and noodles are served last so you can basically get full and not eat any, although I ate plenty ;-)
2. Bullet trains and subways. I am impressed with how well the bullet trains ran. My 5 hour trip to shanghai would have taken 2 hours of flight time. All major cities have great subway systems that are clean and on time and easy to navigate as they all have English signs.
3. Pampering service are very cheap. There are a ton of massage places that are nice and with good technique. An hour massage may only cost $15-20 with no tip needed. Yeah no tipping is needed anywhere in china in restaurants or services. There are also services we don't have in the us. I got an hour head scalp massage with dry conditioning, shampoo and hair styling for $10. The scalp massage was simply divine.
4. Prices are cheap except for clothes. Taxis are only $1-4 in Tianjin for up to 30 min drive. Food and fruits are cheap. Brand clothes on the other hand are at least 50% more han the US. Service is overall is also so much better than before. I used to not like the part of shopping because the sales person would criticize you if you didn't buy after looking. Now almost everywhere I go service is pretty good and courteous. Same things with taxi driver. Much nicer.
5. Last but not the least. Warmth of family. I didn't realize how much I missed my extended family until I came here and how welcoming everyone is. There is nothing that can compare to love of blood relations. I have been in the US so long with my parents that I forget that warmth. Don't get me wrong, I also love my own family and Jaimes. My life have been very enriched by them. What I mean is that a part of me though missed my Chinese relatives. Perhaps it's just my own extended family but perhaps overall the Chinese culture promotes closer relationship with blood relatives than that of American culture. This time I feel like I am more complete after spending some quality time with my extended family here ;-)
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