Veiko Huuse and I were invited to spend a week in China during February of 2018, we have some business partners there and they were quite insistent when extending us the invitation. –And, I was also quite excited by this new experience.
Everyone talks about China, and we see tons of different stories about it since we are kids so I was happy to witness their culture with my own eyes, to know the truth about this wonderful and legendary country. Believe it or not, the first time I realized I was in China was when I had breakfast on the plain. I had no idea of what I was eating 🙂
First Day In China – March 1st We arrived early in the morning at Xiamen Airport in the Fu Jian Province. Our friend was waiting for us at the airport, and everything went well. We visited Jin’s home and left our big luggage at his place. It was the best place to get a panoramic view of the lake and that was for me a beautiful first impression of Xiamen city. Right away we had breakfast at Starbucks which was the only thing I understood and later we drove to Long Yan city had dinner and walked around.
In China everything is only in Chinese I mean E V E R Y T H I N G street signs, toilet signs, food, numbers etc. So, basically, not having a translator or guide or Chinese friend who speaks English means you will be lost.
It is also really hard to get outer help, no one speaks English there, and I mean it! N O O N E! This is the reason why business people to speak Chinese is future. Because they don’t speak a word. I think next generate will already start talking as our Translator Ken told us young generation learning it already in school. So in future, this is not so hopeless.
Even out business partner and friend spoke only Chinese which made this a warming challenge. But, we had KEN, Thank God we had KEN and THANK YOU KEN, for being our eyes and ears on this weekly trip to China.
Xiamen City was a positive surprise! It was just so clean and perfect. There all streets are new, traffic is well organized and even the bushes are cut so correctly that it looks artistic. Also, the architecture wasn’t boring those huge buildings had a nice look and made quite an environment.
Food was tasty and healthy –junk food aside- I mean real China food.
And China doesn’t automatically translate in cheap like we are used think. You know when we say “cheap stuff is made in China” or “China town purchases” thinking this is cheap. HUGE mistake, so no, it was the complete opposite. Made in China is expensive and quality level dependent. It turns out that in China there are three levels of goods with different prices according to their quality.
Second Day In China – March 2ndWe visited the office in the FTA of Xiamen city, went to the Gulangyu Island and bought some tea. Xiamen City is well known as the City Of Tea.
In China, the Tea is really important, not only to their culture but to their daily lives. There, every home, office, and restaurant has its particular tea table, and everyone knows how to make tea and enjoy the special Tea Ceremony. That day we also visited a shop where our friends made us tea package gift. They serve tea in small cups and drink it very hot and taking sips up to 20 times. This particular Tea is made from tea tree leaves.
The food we got for Dinner and lunch was very tasty. Their kitchen includes a lot of soups and steam food which makes their menu really healthy. My favourite dish was an egg and tomato soup with all green steamed vegetables. I skipped breakfast for the first three days or just went to Starbucks. I didn’t know what to eat. But, later I discovered an amazing Steam egg omelette that was so tasty and healthy I couldn’t keep from repeating. At this point, I realized that China’s food is made with knowledge and traditions from thousand years ago. We have so much to learn from China kitchen.
Annika Urm is a journalist, blogger, public speaker, international influencer, the director of i-Marbella.com, and her job is to report emotional experiences and facts in the best possible way. Annika is a modern entrepreneur, a business lady of high standards and exquisite taste. Annika’s incredible performance is best described by her numerous followers (more than 200,000.00 each month).
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