Language barriers

Trip Start Jan 02, 2008

Trip End Jun 17, 2008

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Flag of China Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
Wednesday, May 14, 2008

My plans for my week in China are vague. I don`t have a guidebook, just a few names of places people have recommended to me. A phrasebook would be of use too. Generally people don`t speak a word of English, but I`m discovering that sign language and the odd word written in Chinese can get you a long way. However at times the simplest things can be so difficult. Finding a toilet was a challenge. It`s not something you can easily indicate with sign language. I thought if I showed that I wanted to wash my hands, I might be directed to a loo. But I was just shown to a sink in the middle of a restaurant. I cant piss in that! I have now taken a picture of the Chinese sign for `WC`, so next time should be easier. My own personal menu written by Candy was very useful. It fascinated everyone on the tables around me, who all came over to have a look at it...quite amusing!

My journey from HK into China was easy. Communication wasn`t a problem because I had Carmen and Chiu`s instructions written in Chinese. I actually managed to get to the main shopping area in Shenzhen without speaking, I just showed people the name of where I wanted to go and the rest was sign language. So I went by train from Kowloon to Lo Wu in the New Territories. From there I walked across the Chinese border into Shenzhen.   I found my way to the metro station where all the signs are written in English. Only problem was I didn`t know the English name for where I wanted to go. I attempted to play match the Chinese symbol, but it`s actually quite difficult, so again I relied on other peoples help.

I got to the main shopping area and wanted to check out the cheap shops, but had my backpack and didn`t want the hassle of finding a room for the night. I was considering just catching a night train to the next place (wherever that was going to be). But Carmen and Chiu had mentioned that they often got massages in Shenzhen and if I go to a sauna I`d be able to stay the night for free. Finding a sauna may be simple if you speak Chinese, but even with `sauna` written in Chinese to show people, I had difficulty finding one. I ended up in a massage salon, not a sauna. Of course no-one could speak English. We were just laughing at each other and trying every possible way to communicate.   Finally we found someone who could translate for us and they kindly offered to let me leave my backpack there for the afternoon. So I did and went shopping, not even bothering to think about where I was going to sleep the night. The shopping was great, so cheap, but you do have to be prepared to search a little, because there`s alot of crap. Once I started I couldn`t stop and kind of forgot that I had to fit everything into my backpack.

At dusk I returned to collect my bag, still unsure on where I was going to spend the night. At the massage salon they had a note for me written in English. It said they would give me a 3 hour massage for 100 yuan (about 7 pounds) and then I could stay the night for free. It sounded too good to be true, and I later discovered it was. But I didn`t have many other options at the time, so I accepted their offer. Everyone had been incredibly friendly, but I was slightly nervous that something was going to go wrong. And it did. I wasn`t robbed like I thought, although my massage didn`t last 3 hours and I had to tip way too much. The worst part was that my room didn`t lock. I hate that feeling of being unsafe, but I had to stay there, because it was midnight and would be far more unsafe to wander the streets.  I`m not going to go into details about what happened.  It wasn`t too bad, just a little scary. It could have been much worse.