Travel Rewind: China

By: Mengchen Zhang

Mu Tian Yu section of Great Wall of China

I traveled to China in the summer of '24 to visit family. While there, I visited many restaurants and museums, learning more about the history and culture of the country that my family comes from. It was also interesting to see the Western influence that would occasionally show through different parts of life in China, as well as the differences.

For example, a significant portion of women like to tan by the beach during the summer. Interesting as it is that we now applaud and fawn over darker, honey-kissed skin despite looking down on such tones until the 1920s, China and much of Asia has maintained the view of lighter skin = high status and wealth. Although a lot of people drive motorcycles or other open-air vehicles, I saw very extensive sun coverings. From heavy cloth drapings over handlebars to put your hands under to scarves covering the lower half of faces, it was rare to see someone in a T-shirt and shorts riding an open-air vehicle, despite the overbearing heat. More frequently, all I saw of these travelers were their eyes. I think this difference is really interesting given that both cultures have a long history of celebrating lighter skin tones, yet evolved in different ways.

Example of the extensive sun coverings in China(not my photo)

Another observation I made was how China adopted Western culture and changed it a little bit to reflect Chinese culture as well. China houses many popular fast-food restaurants like McDonald's and KFC, but they put their own flair to it, adding traditional Chinese cuisine to the menu of burgers and fried chicken. When I went to a KFC near my grandma's house for breakfast one day, they had the familira Sausage/Egg/Cheese Biscuit as well as traditional Chinese breakfast items such as different porridges and soy milk. There were also hybrid items, which utilized traditional sandwich items and, instead of using bread, were sandwiched between a traditional Chinese shortbread pastry. I like how the restaurants fused two cultures together so that there'd be something for everyone, including foreign visitors like me. I also noticed that even though these restaurants were supposedly "fast-food," the service was only slightly quicker than a sit-down restuarant might be--different from the grab-and-go fast food I became used to in the US.

Breakfast menu at a KFC in China

Besides fast food restauants, I found that Starbucks was also different in what it offered. When I went, peach was the seasonal flavor, with peach Frappucinos and other peach-flavored drinks. I wanted to try the peach Frappucino but my mom ordered the wrong drink, leading to an interesting experience. Instead of a creamy, icy Frappucino, I got an iced black coffee with peach boba... and it was carbonated? It was a very strange drink and I've never had anything like that ever since I got back to the US. I also saw that the pre-bottled versions of Starbucks drinks had a greater variety than what is offered here. There were pre-bottled Refreshers, as well as Lattes and the Coffee Frappucinos frequently seen in American grocery stores. I think this was an interesting contrast between a country who is the birthplace of Starbucks and a country where Starbucks is trying to play catch-up against a booming tea/milk tea industry.

A weird, or strange, thing I experienced was seeing an alpaca(llama? I don't know what the difference is) at a mall. I've never seen animals beyond service dogs in public spaces, but we visited a mall twice near my grandma's house and saw two different alpacas there, one white and one brown. I'm honestly just curious what those guys were doing there; they didn't seem too fazed by the people walking by and actually appeared relaxed??? Like, look at this guy:

All in all, I think my favorite thing about visitng China besides eating and visitng family was being able to observe the cultural differences between the two places that make me who I am.

Until next time!