Maybe you’ve never really thought about it but, are bathrooms the same everywhere on earth? Of course not. So it shouldn’t surprise you that in China one must often squat to use the toilet. There are western-style toilets around, usually for the handicapped, or in western-style places, like hotels, KFC, McDonald’s, etc. I guess if you wanted to, you could probably manage to visit China and never use a squat toilet, but why miss out on the fun? Shortly before the 2008 Olympics and my first trip to China, my dad forwarded me a silly email, (clearly written by someone like this guy (not my dad)), ridiculing China for having squat toilets. I think my dad was trying to scare me or at least just jesting. Personally I wasn’t afraid of squat toilets per se, but afraid of using them incorrectly. Like what happened if I uh,..went to the bathroom, on my pants? That’d be a shitty situation. (har har!) Long story short, that never happened and I learned it wasn’t all that difficult, in fact now I’m totally okay with it. All it took a little practice, and remembering to bring a package of tissues with you wherever you go.

I had,in fact, considered writing a blog post about toilets in China, but this post from the Lost Laowai Blog covers it pretty well so I’ll share it with you.

“The Women’s Bathroom in China — The Honest Truth about Chinese Toilets”

After getting into Hong Kong, we left the ferry station, into the attached building, which turned out to be a mall. That was convenient I guess, we found an ATM machine so that we could get some Hong Kong dollars, since they don’t even use the same money as mainland China does. We had two options to get to the place we were staying, take a taxi or take the metro. The only difficulty was we weren’t exactly sure where we were, and couldn’t find any sign of a metro station nearby. So we eventually conceded to taking a taxi. It took a few tries, but finally we found a driver who knew where we wanted to go. It wasn’t easily noticeable at first, but oh shit, these guys drive on the other side of the road! Clearly Britain had been here before. The driver happily took across the harbor to Kowloon (a section of HK) and the place we were staying. Chung King Mansion, was the name of the place. Sounds pretty swanky right? Hardly. It’s actually a huge converted “project” building that has more than a dozen “guesthouses” some licensed, some not. As soon as we got out of the taxi there were quite a few middle eastern and Indian guys trying to help us with our bags, and get us into their guesthouses. We declined and walked through the lines of restaurants, net bars, and people selling random crap, this place seemed pretty shady, and on first sight, scared me a little that we were even staying here. Finally we managed to find the only one, out of 12 or so elevators that went where we needed it to. Upon arriving on the 12th floor and getting our tiny and expensive room, I actually felt rather comfortable. Looking online the night before, I had read many good reviews, saying that this guesthouse was pretty respectable and not too expensive compared to some of the others in the building.

After finding some good Indian food we went out to explore the area a little bit. Every time we left our guesthouse, walking outside we’d be accosted by Indian guys trying to sell us fake Rolexes or get us into their tailor shop. It never failed, I must have been asked if I wanted a copy watch or tailor like 20 times each day. Down near the pier, I saw something that I would never expect to see anywhere that belonged to China. But apparently the people in Hong Kong enjoy a fair number of civil rights that even the Chinese aren’t privy to. I don’t want to mention exactly what these things are on my blog out of fear of being blacklisted by the great firewall of China, but perhaps the following picture will explain a bit.

Hong Kong is a much different feeling that China, even a big city in China like Beijing. It’s just different. In fact, I kind of felt like I was in New York City Chinatown, only the entire city was Chinatown. There is just so much English, so many foreigners (not tourists), it just doesn’t feel like China. After living in China for the last 6 months, it’s just a different feeling, I could definitely tell after being there for only a few hours. I’ve even come up with a list of things I noticed, just in comparison to mainland China.

Money: Hong Kong dollars vs. Chinese Yuan. They’re worth almost the same (1 HKD = 0.88 RMB), but compared to mainland China, things in HK are crazy expensive. Also the notes in HK are interesting, as they are printed by one of 4 different banks, all with slightly different designs, rather than one central mint.

Smoking: Smoking is banned practically everywhere in HK, as opposed to mainland China where you can smoke just about anywhere. Good for people who don’t smoke, bad for people who do.

Spitting: Everyone in China spits, it’s a totally normal thing. Do that in HK and you might have a $950 HKD fine on your hands.

English: Many people in HK speak English, all the signs are in English, there’s too much English. Helpful for tourists, but it doesn’t feel like China.

Food: Diverse area with many options for other ethnic foods, such as Indian, middle eastern, or western. Maybe it’s just my experiences there, but I thought most of the Chinese food I had was pretty bad compared to what I’m used to.

Other Good Things: big motorcycles (great on the windy island roads) and better than the 250cc limit China has on motorcycles, nice weather, good public transportation (very good metro system), ethnically diverse, open internet (no GFW), pretty girls, beautiful cars (everyone has a Benz or BMW, saw many Porsches and Lamborghinis), Disneyland

Bad Things: Speak Cantonese, Cantonese pinyin, always foggy

I think what I’m trying to say is, I liked Hong Kong, but the benefits don’t outweigh the drawbacks as far as ever wanting to live there. It is however nice to visit. Tyler and I spent a few nights shopping in the night markets, enjoying the food street food and cheap beers from the 7-11. In fact, I thought it drinking $15 bottles of beer from 7-11 outside at a restaurant was more fun than going to a bar and paying $55 for the same beer. A trip to Victoria Peak provided us with a great picturesque view of the harbor, where so many people take their “postcard” shots of Hong Kong.

After three days in Hong Kong, quite a bit of sight-seeing, shopping, and a visit to Disneyland I took Tyler to the airport for his return trip to the US. It was a little disappointing that he was going home, but at the same time I was pretty tired of traveling and just wanted to go back to Xi’an and relax. A day later, and a 5 hour flight delay in Shenzhen I was finally able to make my way back home.

Guangzhou was the first stop on our tour of southern China. Getting off the airplane was nice, I didn’t need to wear my coat, and what’s this? There was actually green vegetation outside! Something Tyler nor I had seen for at least a couple months. Since we were only in Guangzhou for about a day, we simply roamed around, checked out the Pearl River, sampled some of the good local foods (Egg McMuffins are nothing compared to the egg biscuit I had!) and in the evening went tor a night ferry ride on the Pearl, to see the beautifully lit up buildings and bridges.

The next day, about an hour train ride later and we were in Shenzhen, mere kilometers from the border to Hong Kong. We didn’t do a lot in Shenzhen because it’s mostly just a border city and shopping haven for those coming from Hong Kong to buy cheap goods. Not to mention, so much of the shopping and eateries were still closed for the Chinese New Year “golden week” (what they call their week long national holiday). Thus there wasn’t a lot to do in the city, but it was alright, we relaxed and had some really spicy noodles as well as some local beer while we planned on how to get to Hong Kong, as well as what we’d do when we arrived.

Later in the afternoon my dad came to pick us up from my school and take us downtown to my grandparent’s home where we’d be spending the holiday. Along the way we stopped at a small fireworks vendor on the street corner. The amount and size of the fireworks was quite impressive! Sure, I’ve seen a lot of fireworks at warehouse sellers around July 4th, but these fireworks, they were huge! Apparently the biggest fireworks vendors are able to legally sell, at least in North Dakota, are 500 grams or less, due to safety concerns. Well, China has none of that. There were very large items for sale, many large canister-style munitions weighing in at 3000+ grams were for sale, for less than 200 Yuan (about $30). We bought a few big ones, and a large string of firecrackers for later in the evening.

After arriving at my grandparents’ home, my parents showed me how to put up the traditional signs that hang around and on top of the front door of most homes, these signs speak of good luck in the new year to all who enter the home. I also put some traditional Chinese paper cuts up on the windows for decoration. These are things  that small children usually enjoy shortly before the holiday, but since this was my first Chinese new year, it was almost as if my 24 year old self had turned 5 again. After putting up the paper cuts, my parents and grandparents gave Tyler and I our hongbao, a red envelope filled with money, which the older generation traditionally give to the younger generation at Spring Festival time, rather than actual presents.

Around 6 PM my family walked to a nearby restaurant for our New Year’s Eve dinner, where we had had reservations for nearly two months. At the dinner was me, Tyler my parents, my grandparents, my cousin, my other cousin’s husband (He Chao), and his parents. The meal was delicious as always, but who knows, that could’ve been my thought after consuming a large amount of baijiu. He Chao, told me I had to toast every person at the table individually with a shot of baijiu, so 9 people. But that was after, Tyler, He Chao, and I had gone shot-for-shot through one bottle of baijiu already. I was barely able to make it around the table. Fortunately I’m pretty sure I did much better that Tyler. After a lively stumble home, we went outside to play with fireworks along with some of the other children in the apartment complex. We had a great time, drank some beer, and blew things up. I guess you’re supposed to stay up pretty late on New Year’s eve, but by about midnight I was wiped out from the lack of sleep the previous night and a good amount of baijiu.

The next day I awoke at 9 AM, like I do nearly everyday, and was greeted with a “Xinnian kuaile!” (“Happy New Year!”) and a bowl of dumplings. Wonderful breakfast! We spent a good part of the day visiting with relatives and family friends who would come over a few hours during the day. Similar to relatives stopping by on Christmas day back home. We ate some good home-cooked food, played a lot of mahjong, and watched TV most of the day. Most of the family members who’ve never really met me were all impressed that I can actually play Chinese Mahjong since they apparently consider it a tough game to master. I’m no master, but I can hold my own without giving away too much money!

Tyler and I spent the remaining days in Xi’an going shopping, hanging out with friends and visiting the important attractions around the city like the Terracotta Warriors, the city wall, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Muslim street, etc. Evenly spaced out with some drinking excursions to nearby bars (that were actually open!) and a visit to Club Salsa. After 5 days in Xi’an, we left again, this time for warmer weather in Guangzhou.

Harbin Snow & Ice Festival

Arriving in Harbin was bittersweet. We were happy to be there but Marina was still very worried about what she was going to do about her missing ID card. How was she going to stay in a hotel, how was she going to do anything, how was she going to get back to Beijing? Not only that, but we didn’t actually have train tickets to go back to Taiyuan and Xi’an for Spring Festival yet. Of course I tried to comfort her, telling her that, no matter what, we’d be okay and I’d make sure she got home for Spring Festival either by train or plane. Of course, my word only means so much, considering I can’t really speak Chinese. She must have felt pretty stressed, since she’s practically babysitting two foreigners.

The weather in Harbin wasn’t too bad, a bit colder than it had been in Beijing. But it was still the middle of the day. We stayed a decent hotel, nothing fancy, but it had good heat and that was important. The first night there we took a stroll down through the old district with its European and Russian architecture, a striking difference from typical Chinese architecture. The street was lined with many small ice sculptures, in fact, there were ice sculptures all over the city. Along the roads were a lot of “pac-man” ice sculptures, it struck a chord with a geeky person like myself. St. Sophia’s church was another interesting place in Harbin, it was designed and built in a Russian Orthodox style, something you don’t see in China.

St. Sophia's Church

The second day in Harbin we took a train to Yabuli, only a 3 hour train ride away. It was a kinda long 3 hours though since the train we were on was packed. We were only able to get standing room tickets for the train. Fortunately we were able to find places to sit and rest, but standing for a good portion of the trip wasn’t much fun. The Yabuli Ski resort was quite impressive, at least it looked quite impressive. Unfortunately for whatever reason, despite having 20+ ski runs, there was only 2 of them open. I was a little upset that I paid so much money (a foreigner discount premium I might add) and there was only 2 runs open! If I had known that, we probably wouldn’t have bothered coming or at least negotiated a hefty discount. Either way, we made the best of it, spent the first hour giving Marina a little ski lesson; one crash into the fence was enough. Even though I’m nothing but an average skier I felt like I was top-notch at this place. Apparently Chinese people don’t go skiing very much.

Skiing at Yabuli

Later that night, after another 3 hour train ride back to Harbin, we went to the Harbin Snow & Ice Festival. This was the main attraction that drew me to traveling to Harbin. I was a little distraught at the 200 yuan entrance fee, but after going inside I decided that 200 yuan was totally worth it. The snow & ice fest was not only beautiful, but simply impressive, and fun! There were so many humongous snow and ice sculptures, all lit up by neon or cold cathode lights embedded in the ice. The lights danced in harmony and the buildings glowed, shifting color and pattern periodically. There was also a huge ice slide that was crazy fast, it looked pretty dangerous, but it was literally awesome. Marina was pretty afraid to go on the ice slide, but I practically forced her to go down once. When I met her at the bottom she could only tell me how she had been a little scared but it turned out to be a lot of fun, she wanted to do it again!

Harbin that night was very cold, but it felt like North Dakota, the bitter cold felt so… comfortable. It brought back a feeling that I recognized, it was the kind of cold that my winter is usually like. It was so cold that I had to hold my camera battery in my mitten the entire time because otherwise my camera would think it was dead. There was of course sufficient opportunities to warm up with a cup of cocoa or, seemingly ironic, a cold Harbin beer. The park shut down at 10:30 PM, but nothing we were easily able to stay and look around until 11:00 PM, so we were able to take some good pictures without a lot of other people in the way. A nice DSLR camera would have been great at this place, so many beautiful pictures to be had. The ice & snow festival is without a doubt a good enough to reason to visit Harbin, even if it’s the only thing you do.

The night before we were going out seperate ways we had a nice dinner at a Russian restaurant. Surprisingly, when looking at the menu, I realized these were dishes I knew! I actually ate “pigs-in-a-blanket”, though they weren’t called that, it was nearly the same only without the tomato sauce bath. We also had what was basically “fleischkuchle”, despite not being called that either. I had never realized that my grandparents “Germans from Russia” heritage had been so Russian influenced. I had just assumed all these things were actually German. That or the Russians really like German food.

The next morning we flew from Harbin to Beijing. Marina had to go to the security office to get a temporary ID card, allowing her to board the plane. Fortunately she hadn’t lost her student ID, which is so important and official that it acts as a secondary ID card for Chinese students in many situations. After landing and acquiring our bags at the airport we took the shuttle to Terminal 3 where Marina had lost her ID. Tyler stayed with the bags, while I found an ATM and Marina inquired at the lost and found. Five minutes later she emerged from the office, big smile on her face, immediately giving me a big hug. They had found her ID! Apparently many people lose their IDs at the airport as there was a big box full of hundreds of ID cards.

After the airport, and the acquisition of our scalper-bought train tickets, we finally parted ways in the subway station. Marina’s train to Taiyuan would leave from Beijing Railway Station, whereas our train to Xi’an would leave from Beijing West Railway Station. I wished her a happy new year, as well as a happy Valentine’s day, and she left for another 2 weeks. Tyler and I set out for the railway station, I’d be back in Xi’an in 10 hours.

Check out all the photos from the Harbin Snow & Ice Festival here.

Upon arriving in Taiyuan about 2 hours later I was greeted by Marina. I was pretty happy to see her because she had been in Taiyuan for a little over three weeks before I arrived. We spent a good part of the afternoon just walking around and seeing things in her hometown. A bit later on we met up with

Back to School

two of her friends (one of which we visited in Chengdu in November) and hung out with them as well. They showed me their high school, we ate some local snacks  as well as a nice dinner and then went to a club for a few drinks. A very enjoyable day without all the touristy sightseeing.

The next morning I went to pick-up Marina outside her house so we could walk to the train station. There I met her mother who wanted to come out and see who this boy, her daughter was going traveling with, was. We didn’t really talk, but I said “hello” and shook her hand and 30 seconds later Marina and I were walking to the train station.

We rode the fast train to Beijing so it only took about 3 hours. From the train station we were able to get on a subway to go to our hostel. After checking in, we spent most of the day just hanging out and doing whatever we wanted to do before heading to the airport. You see, my friend Tyler is visiting for the next 18 days or so, and would be joining us in Beijing, so we went to pick him up at the airport later that night.

Of course since Tyler would be here we’d have to some of the more touristy things in Beijing, but this being my second trip to Beijing in two years, I made it a point to do some different things and see things that I hadn’t seen before. That way it’d be exciting for me and him, and hopefully Marina as well.

The first day we visited Tienanmen square, but unfortunately were unable to visit Mao Zedong because his mausoleum wasn’t open. After Tienanmen square we took a look through the Forbidden city, which is really quite large and impressive. It’s impressive due to the size and craftsmanship considering it was built hundreds of years ago. The best part of that day actually was when the three of us went to eat hot pot at Hai Di Lao that evening. Seeing Tyler fishing for food and having a hell of a time with chopsticks was very amusing for Marina and I.

Gate to the Forbidden City

The second day in Beijing we took a trip up to the Great Wall of China. I had already seen this before as well, but we were able to go to another part of the wall called Mutianyu. I actually thought this place was much nicer than Badaling, the place I visited before, as it was much less crowded with tourists and way fewer shops selling crap. The fresh snow on the wall also made for a beautiful and unique experience.

Tyler climbing the Great Wall

There were of course a many people selling shirts and other random things, but the funny part about this was their concept of “one dollar”. You see, we’d walk past and they’d hold up shirts saying “you want t-shirt? one dollar!”, we say no and they say “two shirts for one dollar!”. So Tyler took out an American one-dollar bill and tried to get two shirts. Of course they say they want Chinese money, and then they want 30 yuan for a shirt! Sorry but one American dollar is only worth about 7 yuan, so when I offered them 7 yuan for a shirt they told me I was crazy. I think they’re the ones that are crazy.

While in Beijing we were also able to visit the Olympic grounds, which, now that the olympics are over, are actually very empty. We also saw the Temple of Heaven, which, in my opinion wasn’t all that impressive. Perhaps I’ve seen too many temples or perhaps it is because I just don’t understand everything, but eventually a temple looks like a temple looks like a temple. They all just blend together and aren’t that special anymore.

Bird's Nest in Beijing

Our last day in Beijing we simply woke-up, and headed for the airport to go to Harbin. The day started out pretty well but turned bad quickly. Unfortunately I had forgotten to put something in my checked luggage and didn’t want to discard it when going through security so Marina and I quickly searched for a post office or place to leave it while our departure time was quickly approaching. We found one, but in all the running around and confusion she lost her ID card. So now, her only ID card is her student ID which isn’t nearly as official as her government issued ID. Marina and I were the last passengers to board the plane, but we fortunately made it, although without her ID. So hopefully we can recover the ID when we get back to Beijing airport.

Check out the pictures! www.shaneburkle.com/photos

When I arrived in Pingyao it was still dark. I didn’t really know where to go but I simply followed the other people to the train station exit. On the outside of the train station I must have been asked if I needed a taxi at least 5 or 6 times. I didn’t. The hostel I was looking for was only a couple kilometers away, and I wanted to see the city early in the morning before most people were awake. I stopped for breakfast, and ate some sort of noodles and bread, though I don’t really know what it was called.

My first look at the old city of Pingyao was beautiful. The surrounding city wall and the old buildings within, give it a very quiet and ancient feeling, like stepping back in time a bit. I found my hostel without too much hassle and despite having requested a dormitory style room I was given a really nice double room for only 30 yuan. I guess they don’t have too many visitors here. Finding such a nice room warm room, compared to the cold air outside, I decided this was an opportune time to take a quick nap.

Later on in the morning I took a quick tour along the city wall to see the old city from above. On this walk with a guide I learned that most of the buildings in the old city are nearly 200 years old, as well as one that is nearly 400 years old! I also learned that one of the first banks in China was started in Pingyao, which propelled it to be a bustling economic city in ancient times.

Lunch was actually very entertaining, not because of the food, but because of the young daughter of the restaurant’s owner. I don’t think she was much more than 4 but she wanted to talk, a lot. So while I ate we chatted, and she showed me some of her books, pointing out what was happening in the pictures. She was in actually very entertaining and gave me a sticker just like the one she stuck on her forehead.

Lunchtime Entertainment

During the afternoon I did a bit more exploring, and just took in the scenery. After walking around for awhile I decided I was rather tired and decided to stop in to one of the local Chinese massage parlors. I received a full body and foot massage for 100 yuan (~$15). The 1.5 relaxing hours was totally worth it.

For dinner I tried the famous “Pingyao beef”, which was actually cold pieces of beef dipped in chili powder and vinegar, decent tasting I guess, but not necessarily worth the expensive price. After dinner I headed back to my hostel where I had a nice chat with the owner and played some cards with some of the employees. Tomorrow I’ll head to Taiyuan to see Jinfei.

Go here to see the photos of Pingyao

• Added about 100 new photos of the area around my school and interesting things I snapped with my phone cam.
• Tomorrow evening I’m heading to train station for the first leg of my trip to Taiyuan. My vacation is finally starting!
• Keep checking back here as well as on Twitter, I plan to take a little bit of time and make some posts as well as update pictures throughout the trip.

Marina advised me  of a lesser-known ticket office semi-near my school so I went there. I was rather nervous because I’ve never bought a ticket before and don’t think I know enough Chinese to complete the transaction. Being the helpful girlfriend that she is, Marina sent me a text message to show the ticket clerk telling him exactly what I wanted. Long story short, I arrived at 7:30, waited til the window opened at 8 AM (3rd in line), showed the clerk my message and had my ticket in about 5 minutes. Pretty smooth actually!

So now that I’ve got my train ticket, and Marina booked us another train ticket as well as airline tickets, I can actually say that I have solid plans for this trip. It looks a little something like this:

(click the city link for info about the location)

• 2/3 – Pingyao, Shanxi
• 2/4 – Taiyuan, Shanxi (Marina’s hometown)
• 2/5 -2/9 – Beijing (Great Wall, Forbidden City)
• 2/10 – 2/12 – Harbin/Yabuli (Ice festival and skiing)
• 2/13 – 2/17 – Xi’an (Chinese New Year with my Chinese family)
• 2/18 – 2/25 – Shenzhen/Guangzhou/Hong Kong

My buddy Tyler from the U.S. is going to be joining me on this trip as well, and I’ll be picking him up from the airport in Beijing. This will be his first experience in China and we’re going to make it well worth it. Marina is also coming with as well for the first half, after Harbin/Yabuli she’ll be heading back to Taiyuan for New Years with her own family. Outside of Beijing and Xi’an, I haven’t been to any of these places either, so it’ll be an exciting trip for me as well.

I’m also really excited for Chinese New Year, as I’ll be spending it with my Chinese family. Just like the wedding in Xunyang I posted about a month ago, I don’t really know what to expect so it’ll be an adventure. I plan to have quite a few blog updates as well as pictures in the coming month.

Earlier this week I went out for a few drinks with the British friends I met a few months ago. We started off at the Park Qin, a popular expat bar in Xi’an where I was introduced to a friend of theirs, Jackie. I think I complimented Jackie pretty well actually, she’s Chinese, looks Chinese, but speaks English like she was born in the U.S. I actually asked her “are you actually Chinese or are you an ABC?” She was surprised to say the least, but her English speaking is just so polished that it sounds very natural. We hung out at the Park Qin and put back a few while a few more friends joined in, bringing the crew to an even six, three guys, three girls. One of the girls, another Brit, suggested we check out another bar down the street. I’d never been there and this was a night to have a good time so why the heck not.

I don’t know if this bar has a name, and if it does I certainly don’t know it. But I do know where it is, and that’s all that matters. When I first walked in I didn’t know what to think. There was a room, not much larger than my living room with a long coffee-table type thing in the middle of the room. At each end of this table was a small fire pit made of bricks where small pieces of anthracite burned to keep the place warm. Around this table was two concentric rectangles of benches and lastly furthest from the door was a stage just large enough for 2 guys with guitars. The dark and smoky feel to the place just reminded me of a sweat lodge.

There was probably a dozen people in the place when the 6 of us (4 whities, and 2 Chinese). Everyone was so friendly, I sat at the end, next to a Chinese man who must have been in his late 20’s to early 30’s. He started trying to chat me up right away, offered me a few shots of baijiu and the night really got goin’. With the guys up on stage singing some acoustic songs, someone pounding on the hand drum, and booze flowing, this place was literally a community bong short of a hippie drum circle. Everyone was having such a good time there, drinking and singing and talking that we didn’t leave there until 3:45 AM. That place is definitely, my new favorite bar.

I crashed that night at my British friend’s apartment since he actually lives in the city as opposed to an hour drive north of the city like me. The next morning I woke up feeling alright, which was a good thing because I had made plans to meet a student of mine for lunch. I met up with Sara at about 1:15 PM and she took me to a really great German restaurant. She really surprised me because we had talked about this place before, but I had forgotten about it. Sara and I had kinda made a connection because I used to study German and she has a crush on a friend of hers who is from Germany.  Either way, the German restaurant was great, not too expensive, and all kinds of German sausages, breads, and really delicious craft-brew beer. I think I’d like to just go there an get drunk on their amazing beer one day.

After lunch I hung out with Sara for awhile and she suggested we go to a movie. So we decided on seeing “孔子” (aka: Confucius). The movie was an overview of the life of Confucius, it was an interesting story but not a great story. Perhaps if I knew a little more about Confucius it might have been better, perhaps not. The movie was all in Chinese, but fortunately there were English subtitles. I could understand a little of the Chinese being spoken but would have, overall, been very confused without the English subtitles. After the movie I finally went back home, having been out and about for the past 24 hours, I was rather tired. But the whole excursion was totally worth it.