If you are coming to Xinjiang, China, for a sightseeing vacation or are planning to live here, expect it to be an unforgettable experience.
Whether it’s a good unforgettable experience or a bad one depends on how well you can adapt to such a different lifestyle. Here are some tips and advice I’ve picked up from my own experience.
Learn the local language
From my travels, I have seen firsthand that speaking someone else’s language is a great way to make a friend. Even if you can only say a few simple words, more times than not the people you meet will be happy just to know you took the time to learn a bit of their language.
However, in China, and especially in Xinjiang, this presents a small problem. Chinese is the official language of China, but with 56 minority groups – most with their own language – it can be pretty challenging to learn enough to satisfy every group. In Xinjiang, the most commonly used languages are Chinese, Uyghur and Mongolian.
Don’t recycle
For a country that suffers from horrendous pollution problems, it’s a surprise how easy recycling is in China. In fact, it’s so easy that you don’t even have to do it. This is all thanks to the hordes of thrifty retired elderly people who have a lot of free time and want to save money for their families. Day and night you can see them digging through trash cans searching for recyclables to sell or for items that can be reused.
Armed with sticks and large bags filled with whatever they find, they’ll do your recycling for you. I once tried an experiment: I left a box of plastic bottles and other items in front of a dumpster and waited to see how long it took before it disappeared. Twenty minutes later, everything was gone, including the box.
Beijing time
Trying to convert Chinese time to American time is difficult enough, but in Xinjiang, it gets a whole lot more complicated.
Imagine that in the U.S we had only one time zone and that time zone was based on Washington D.C. time. Now, think what it would it be like in California if it had to use that same time. This is how Xinjiang is.
China only has one “official” time zone, and the whole of China has to use it. In Xinjiang, that means going to work at 9 a.m. is actually going to work at 7 a.m. Then to complicate things, there is the “unofficial” Xinjiang time, which certain people (mostly the Uyghur population) use. It is two hours behind Beijing time, so when making plans always ask about time zone.
Baijiu as a medicine
In China, food poisoning can be a daily thought, especially if you are somewhat adventurous and willing to eat where many foreigners aren’t.
Now, before you change your mind about visiting China, there is a trick that can help prevent food poisoning. If you think you’ve eaten something bad, take a shot of Baijiu (Chinese rice wine). Although the smell of Baijiu makes many foreigners want to throw up, one shot of this spirit, which is 56 percent alcohol by volume, will keep your stomach from being your worst enemy, and you won’t regret it.
Forget your manners
My biggest fear about returning to the U.S is that I will be invited to a nice dinner, start eating, then spit out a chicken bone right on table while my horrified hosts watch.
It took me a while to get used to Chinese table manners, and even now, I am the horrified one. Spitting bones out on the table is a normal occurrence as is spitting on the ground, smoking, slurping your noodles and burping. So when in China, do as the Chinese – just don’t forget how to eat in America.
Smell smoke before seeing the fire
In China, Xinjiang gets a bad rap for being a dangerous place, and while there are problems here, it’s usually not as bad as many of the Chinese make it seem.
The best thing to do to stay safe is be observant. Many times the government will block news about what’s going on, but by looking for signs, you can usually get a good idea something is happening.
When an attack or riot has happened, you will always see the signs before you hear anything. Usually, the biggest one is military presence and heightened security. Security in Xinjiang already is pretty tight, but when something happens, it increases even more. So if you see more military, it’s usually a good sign to avoid going out.
Be patient
The biggest and most important tip I can give is to have patience. If you are already patient, China will make you more patient. If you don’t have any patience, China will either teach you to be patient or make you crazy.
David Scott, a 2008 Durango High School graduate, is teaching English in China’s far western province of Xinjiang (New Frontier) in the city of Korla. He can be reached at darysc24@gmail.com.
