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Chinese Architecture, Old and New

theatlantic.com

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Re: Chinese Architecture, Old and New

#11

Post by beefsack »

dvdhsu wrote: post #7
firefoxman1 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it necessary to speak the language to get by for a couple weeks?

It really depends where you go. If you're in the big cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Hefei, etc.), you'll be fine without Chinese. If you go into more rural areas, Chinese would certainly help, but you'll certainly still be able to buy food, live in hotels, and ask for directions (look for the younger crowd; they've had mandatory English classes).

I'm living in Guangzhou at the moment, you could get by here with only English, and only a couple of hours by train to Hong Kong.

Re: Chinese Architecture, Old and New

#12

Post by bfung »

espitia wrote: post #3

I've been living in China for the past 4 months and plan on staying until May. It really is two different worlds. Having traveled through the more modern cities (Shanghai and Beijing for example) and contrasting those to Hangzhou that I'm currently in, it truly is marvelous to see the progress and more importantly the WHY to all this. The Chinese culture and gives one a fresh outlook on life. I would recommend anyone…

Looking at the pictures, I actually felt the opposite of "a fresh outlook on life"!

Contrasting the old and the new, I feel like the fake Thames town, the roman columns, the gaudiness of all the buildings loses a lot of the old Chinese culture: the designs of the old and how they relate to the philosophy of the past... but now there's a lot of fake touristy stuff to cover up where the Chinese actually came from.

Anyways, there's no right or wrong here, I just found it interesting =)

Re: Chinese Architecture, Old and New

#15

Post by olalonde »

firefoxman1 wrote: post #5
espitia wrote: post #3

I've been living in China for the past 4 months and plan on staying until May. It really is two different worlds. Having traveled through the more modern cities (Shanghai and Beijing for example) and contrasting those to Hangzhou that I'm currently in, it truly is marvelous to see the progress and more importantly the WHY to all this. The Chinese culture and gives one a fresh outlook on life. I would recommend anyone…

Is it necessary to speak the language to get by for a couple weeks?

I know very few expats in China who can really speak Chinese. I've been here for about 2 years (Shenzhen) and barely know a few words. You should at least make a Chinese friend who can help you out when you really need it.

Re: Chinese Architecture, Old and New

#16

Post by olalonde »

bfung wrote: post #12
espitia wrote: post #3

I've been living in China for the past 4 months and plan on staying until May. It really is two different worlds. Having traveled through the more modern cities (Shanghai and Beijing for example) and contrasting those to Hangzhou that I'm currently in, it truly is marvelous to see the progress and more importantly the WHY to all this. The Chinese culture and gives one a fresh outlook on life. I would recommend anyone…

Looking at the pictures, I actually felt the opposite of "a fresh outlook on life"! Contrasting the old and the new, I feel like the fake Thames town, the roman columns, the gaudiness of all the buildings loses a lot of the old Chinese culture: the designs of the old and how they relate to the philosophy of the past... but now there's a lot of fake touristy stuff to cover up where the Chinese actually came from. Anyw…

The funny thing is that Chinese think exactly the opposite. For them, the fake touristy stuff are the old buildings and traditional Chinese architecture. It reminds me of people who visit Canada and want to see the real Canada: the remote farms, igloos and virgin forests. For us Canadians, it's a bit ridiculous.

Re: Chinese Architecture, Old and New

#17

Post by ThisIBereave »

firefoxman1 wrote: post #5
espitia wrote: post #3

I've been living in China for the past 4 months and plan on staying until May. It really is two different worlds. Having traveled through the more modern cities (Shanghai and Beijing for example) and contrasting those to Hangzhou that I'm currently in, it truly is marvelous to see the progress and more importantly the WHY to all this. The Chinese culture and gives one a fresh outlook on life. I would recommend anyone…

Is it necessary to speak the language to get by for a couple weeks?

It can be very difficult here to get by without knowing chinese unless you live in a foreigner-friendly area (i.e. a tourist area or near a university).

I'd suggest using a tour company if you want to travel more widely. Having a translator at least would be very valuable.

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