5 Bizarre Things Tourists Find In China

Opinions expressed are those of the contributor.

China is a huge country full of many strange things. Sometimes so weird that a typical westerner can be so shocked he will never want to come back in China ever again! But that should not be a reason at all because China can amaze everyone with its amazing culture, history, architecture and the beautiful nature.

Today, the team behind Travel Ticker’s website, which helps people find the perfect hotel around the globe, is going to share the most common things about China that Westerners find the most bizarre. Well, they are bizarre, and you might think that we made all that up, but in fact, China is so vast and full of contrasts that everything we are going to mention below is entirely true!

Ghost Cities

China is one of the quickest growing countries in the world, so naturally, they need a lot of new spaces for new families to live. Consequently, because such a vast population is requiring housing, the government has tapped developers to build entire urban infrastructures to accommodate the crowds.

Unfortunately, property prices are pretty huge and not affordable by ordinary families, making many of these cities full of skyscrapers, shopping malls and schools be completely empty. Just by looking at it, you start to remember all those post-apocalyptic movies, since it is so empty and cold.

Dogs

Unfortunately, Chinese have very complicated relationships with dogs. First of all, China is the home of many our beloved dog breeds like a chow, pug, Pekingese or Shin Tzu. But at the same time, Chinese consider dogs not only as man’s best friend but as food too.

To be fair, the popularity of so-called gou rou (the dog meat) recently is getting all time lowest, and there has been a few dog rescuing attempts by activists too. So, people start to change their view to dogs. Chinese middle class, who is emerging pretty rapidly in recent years, now consider dogs being a status symbol, just like a car. Therefore, getting a dog here is a way to show that you are rich and can feed one additional mouth without any problem whatsoever.

So the dog market right now is a real dream come true for all gold diggers – in 2011, a Chinese oil baron purchased a Tibetan Mastiff named Hong Dong for ten million Yuan (about $1.5 million dollars), making this rare breed one of the most expensive ones in the entire world!

Facekins

For us, tanned skin is considered to be a beauty etalon, but in China, beauty is understood in a different way. Here, in a traditionally agrarian country, it is pale skin that is seen as a sign of beauty, since it makes people think that a woman is not working her heart out in fields all day long. So the Chinese make every attempt to maintain fair skin. On sunny days, they are often seen holding umbrellas, but recently a new trend in beachwear began which is pretty bizarre for a westerner’s eyes.

Women in China have been seen hitting beaches in “Facekinis.” They are protective masks that cover their entire heads except their eyes, nostrils, and mouths and they do look awfully similar to traditional Mexican wrestlers mask. But Chinese seem not to care about it since “facekinis” are super popular, and many women do wear them to maintain porcelain white skin.

Children’s pooping and peeing

It might look like Chinese don’t care that much about their public health. As many Chinese small children often wear split pants. Why? Well, they are very comfortable then there is no restroom around and the baby really needs to use it. It is not that uncommon to see a Chinese mother holding her baby, split pants down, over a public trashcan or somewhere behind a bush, so don’t get too surprised by that – I warned you!

But that is not everything worth mentioning while talking about Chinese little ones excrement. In fact, in China, you can even buy a real delicacy – so called urine eggs. And yes, it is a real thing that exists in the world. How to make such eggs? Simply! Get as many eggs as you want and boil it for an entire day in the urine of boys under the age of 10! Traditional Chinese medicine claims that eating these eggs have plenty of health benefits, including increased circulation of the blood. So, if you are brave enough – taste this delicacy too, and begin to cherish your kid’s pee! You might be having a real panacea just nearby you!

Masters of copying

And the last thing I would like to talk today that many tourists find bizarre is Chinese real craftsmanship at replicating things. In China, you can not only find the exact replicas of designer sunglasses we can find at home, but also entire cities, car models or even brands!

For example, don’t get too surprised if one day a local Chinese will over you to drink a coffee in the mini version of London and the Chinese version of Starbucks while he is wearing fake Gucci clothing.