Almost every urban chinese family have a laundry machine. In rural areas,ppl are used to wash clothes by hands. So if the price of laundromats is not low enough, they will never enter a laundromat.
David Huang Hmm, and here I was thinking it had something to do with water rights... So it's just the fact that no one could make it economically effective, not that there was some actual rule against it.
Funny - 'this area used to be a big red light distright in Shenzhen' he says then follows on saying 'I used to knock around here a lot back in the day'...He He. Winston you are funny x
+Ima SuperPerson Ironically, the shit people call detergent in 'first world countries' is toxic as shit. I use an organic bar soap (same stuff I use as shampoo and normal soap), I grate it, add Arm and Hammer Laundry Booster at a 50/50 ratio-- And use the appropriate amount in the washer with the clothes. KISS - Keep It Stupidly Simple
Regular laundry soap is way too harsh on your skin to hand wash, hence the bar shaped soap. When Tide first marketed laundry soap in China, no one would buy it because they had never heard of or seen liquid laundry soap. So Tide wised up and started making it in bar form.
The blurry video makes me feel like you're personally giving me a tour while I'm in culture shock , or , I'm drunk and you're walking me home as you talk about China, how it is.
I only recently found your videos and I love them. I have had visits to China and lots of encounters with the Chinese but there were HUGE gaps in my understanding... of course there still are, but your show has seriously helped to fill in the gaps. I don't think people should get upset with you for showing them how they look from an outside perspective because we never look to others the way we think we look to ourselves. I'm a writer and I've learned this the hard way! People read what I write and come back with some funny stuff! I have so much respect for you for sticking to your vlogs and going back and back. You and your wife and your friend ROCK. I'm not posting this on this particular vlog for any reason btw, lol! You have inspired me to make a vlog about Canada, I've done a lot of traveling and even though I'm from Canada I've learned that what everyone thinks is normal in Canada is actually really messed up! Canadians are misunderstood and can also be super high handed and arrogant while thinking they're being the most wonderful people in the world. They are also multi-cultural and accepting of everything that happens to them (which makes them think they're better than everyone else and makes them arrogant and high handed XD). Lately Canada has been pissing off everyone in the world and maybe if someone kind of explains the mentality behind why Canadians think they're helping by telling off world leaders (like China) we could all have a bit of a laugh at ourselves and be friends again. I know right now Canada is much hated in the Chinese media but Canada is totally bewildered by it (which is really sad because Canada is oddly naive). Anyway, again, I love your vlog, congrats on your movie and I'm not sure if you've made a tv show yet, but I think I will look into you on FB! You seem cool and btw, that pic of you when you were 14: you didn't look fat! You just looked like a kid! Maybe people have been calling you fat a little too long cuz, you looked fine (and tell you're wife I'm married and not hitting on you). Peace and stay awesome!
You can buy a mini washing machine for 200-300 RMB. Order it on taobao, receive it the next day. I don't see the need to have coin-op laundry machines everywhere... Plus there are always plenty of dry cleaners to choose from.
Looking back at this older video, it's amazing how much your skill in video production has increased over the years. This old one is still very informative but it doesn't hold my interest like the new ones. My job is sending me to Jiangsu starting next month and I hope to put a lot of this knowledge to good use!
You can get Sunlight laundry soap in bar form in Canada from Home Hardware. My mom used to use it when she wanted to pre-treat an item before putting into the machine.
Dee Ca. Just look for Zote soap here in the US, it's a Pink bar, and it's great for things that need to be hand washed, or pretreated as my grandmother use to use it all the time and I keep a bar of it for tough stains. Walmart has it for $1.27 a bar www.walmart.com/ip/Zote-Pink-Laundry-Soap-14.1-oz/16935505
Interesting to see how your production value has gone from beginner to super pro quality. Content just as interesting back in the early ones though. Kudos Winston :) ∞ ❤
Thank you for the video and information. While in US Marine Corps boot camp, we had to do all our laundry by hand with soap powder and plastic-bristled scrub brushes on a cement wash rack with spigots, as preparation for being in austere conditions/environments. It's not the most fun a person can have, but it is possible.
Thank you for you videos, really enjoy them. Very thought provoking! Well done for getting out of South Africa. Just spent an extremely frustrating morning at the post office in Johannesburg. South Africa, the toilet of the world, what a dump!
To no avail. There are people begging on nearly on every street corner. Its not mr zumas fault after all 220 million rand is spent on building a fire pool.
Yeah, that's my one and only complaint about Winston's stuff; it's a bit scattered and ramble-ly. He's gotten much better than when he first started though. (And it was kinda nice to see the bleary china night-life.)
i really enjoy your youtube show, China , How it is. I only just started watching last week. You have open my eyes to what China is really like.. None of the stereotype we hear from the western media. From you shows China seems very modern society as you would find anywhere, except in Chinese of course. It also gives an idea what to expect if i where to go to china, and it seem much the same if a Chinese person was to come to west not know much english and our culture. I may never go to china, this is the next thing. Keep up the fantastic shows, better than watching National Geographic or Discovery Chanel. To bad these networks never pickup you own documentary on China.
+james gurney China is modern in many ways but it has its quirks. SInce we are talking about washing underwear and such I think Serpentza should have covered this more personal topic.. Serpentza hasn't mentioned is the need to take some toilet paper and soap with you everywhere. The mens rooms are often just have slit toilets and they never have toilet paper or soap for cleaning up afterwards. eeewwww. Be prepared. I play a lot of table tennis. My Chinese table tennis coach has told me about having to go without toilet paper or the money to buy some. eeewwww. I hate shaking hands at trade shows. I think the Chinese should return to the bow like the Japanese.
"I use to live around the corner here, when I was low on money" "this use to be the red light district" ... Is there something you are telling us about past work experience?
+Jeff Rodgers BWAHAHAHA... but on a serious note, in NA big cities, if you're aware, a lot of old Chinatowns are situated next to the red light districts of the city. Goes to show the social status of the early gens of Chinese immigrants back in the days, doesn't it? Supposed SerpentZA unconsciously recognized the similarity of his early days in a foreign country? HAHA :)
Almost every Chinese family has a laundry machine. My parents got the first one in 1970s. Laundromats do exist in Chinese universities where students living on campus rely on them.
That place looks like something out of Blade Runner with all the lighting. And I just mentioned in the Elephant Adventure pt2 how Id like more of these China How It Is vids and here is a great one. A walking tour at night of a living village...awesome. Thanks.
Have you done a video explaining clinics or the hospitals an expat would likely run into? I was at the new one in OCT a couple months back and was rather impressed by it. Didn't get a chance to see the English speaking services they provided but the facility itself was (of course) huge, like an airport terminal, but visually impressive. For an expat the idea of going to a hospital usually implies serious trouble. But that seems to be the go to place if you have any medical problems that even a clinic would normally do. Do you know of any clinics? I know of only one and it is in Shekou.
I am living in those "hand-shake" homes or farmer's apartment in BaoAn. i have been here for the last 3 years and truly enjoyed the community living in China. I appreciate topics you've shared and i hope you can keep up the good work.
Folks, washing machines, while featuring generally smaller loads than in the West, are common and readily available - and typically cost much less - about half - as much as in the US. Many washers have an integrated dryer function as well. The only difficulty is translating the electronic display settings. About the 'only' ones who have difficulty with clothes washing are expats who cannot speak Chinese and who do not have access to facilities at a hotels and/or schools. Additionally, as the winters tend to be very dry (in terms of humidity), hanging clothes indoors serves as an alternative to the very common humidifiers, thus raising the indoor humidity a bit. A good reason to forgo the dryer even if one is available.
Washing machine is pretty cheap in China,U didn't get one? Luckily we have washing machines in college, just on the ground floor of our dorm buiding. I usually take my laundry there on Saturday, pay 5 yuan, wait for 45 min, get a load of laundry washed.So i don't have to wash them by hand.
They didn't have any in HK thirty years ago either. Those "dry cleaners" did an incredible job and was really cheap. And hey, they did wash my underwear and folded them up nicely.
when I was in university, there was laundry shops, but other places don't, because almost every family has a laundry machine. As for underwears, many people wash them by hands, even if they do have a laundry machine. And it's true that most chinese people don't use dryers.
Hostels will usually have coin-operated washers that you could ask to use - if not, it would probably be cheaper to book a bed for the night just to access them rather than have laundry done at a dry cleaners. The one time I had to resort to using a dry cleaners, they charged me 90 RMB (which is about 20% more than I'd expect to pay for a service wash for a similar load in the UK) and did wash my underwear.
Before watching your videos, I always had a negative view on China since all my friends and teachers says they are. However, after watching a series of videos of yours, my views has changed over time. China exceeds my expectation because of this. Stay awesome :D
Want to point out this is very different in Hong Kong. Likewise, they have no laundromats that I could see, but the dry cleaning places have washers and dryers. You can ask if you want them to dry clean, machine wash, or many machine dry (as many wash by hand or use washing machines but have no dryer). They have no problem handling your underwear at these places in HK.
Travelling or not, I always wash my underthings in the shower - with normal soap, then hang them up - outside preferably. The advantage in Asia was they dry overnight in front of the air con using clothes hangers to position the laundry. So I can travel lighter as less underwear is required.
There are serviced laundromats at some universities. Was working at Nanjing uni a few years back where they had a laundromat in the basement. They accepted underwear. I initially went to dry cleaners where they turned me away as Winston mentioned
You might find some "water-wash joints" around large middle school& university, labor-intensive factories, hospitals(not recommended because usually they wash hospitals' bedsheet and patients' clothes too), military bases( not recommended for 老外 for obvious reason). I think people in those place are heavily occupied. Usually those "water-wash joints" don't have a shop, they just get post some stickers, with their phone number, nearby, or handing out business cards, even spread phone number by peers. The best practice to find "water-wash" business is to ask students or workers in places mentioned above.
I actually washed a linen shirt with hand soap in a hotel once and dried it on the balcony, it came out as good as new and the creases didn't matter as it was linen.
I've washed my clothes plenty of times in basins, sinks, showers etc plenty of times. Baths work well because you can use your feet and hold onto the side of the bath (although bath may be more of a hotel thing).
A1110001 How does it destroy society and families? Who are you to say whats right and wrong? As far as I know prostitution was always there. Its the people choice.
Hiroshige Miyamoto Prostitution is everywhere around the world, but only few countries are willing to legalize it like Holland. It is a pity they shut it down, but sometimes it's the price to pay for the city's development. Time Square in New York is a example.
Hiroshige Miyamoto Prostitution makes the females lazy when they know that they could earn money just by putting off their clothes. But actually they can do much more than prostitution for the sake of themselves and for the sake of the society development. No matter how small the job they can do, it will contribute more to the development than prostitution. For the males, prostitution poisons and breaks the morality and the enterprise that a good industrious man should have possessed. It also can cause more issues for the families. If the family is not happy, where should a industrious, talented man come? Then how could the society develop for a long term? For the public environment, red light districts are prone to arouse much more crimes which harass the harmony and peaceful environment in which we Chinese people have always wanted to live. And for Chinese men, none of them will accept to marry a prostitute! So, for a woman, once you were a prostitute, it will be quite hard for you to get married to a Chinese man. And this aggravates the problem of uneven gender ratio which will cause disturbance to the society. So, at least right now in the developing period, prostitution is a malignant tumour for China that need to be cut off. And actually it's most likely that the prostitution will never be permitted again(Yes!AGAIN. It's legal in old China.) on the land of China as China won't backslide in its great long-lasting culture.
刘昊戈 In Germany most prostitutes are from East Europe or Turkish/Arab Countries. Also from Africa. I get your point and agree. Still men have the desire for sex and not all of them are in a relationship. Also sometimes in relationship it works not so well. Or you have desires you don't want to show your wife. All I say that prostitution is very old and you can never get rid of it.
In Romania we don't have them either, because there is no need for them, anybody can afford a washing mashine in their home. We do have some professional loundry shops, but we use them only to wash items we cannot wash at home, as men suits, wedding dresses, stuff like that.
+serpentza +serpentza wow😄，you replied my comments, I learn English through your videos, but not so good right now, thank you for your videos,hope you have a good time in China !
+serpentza +serpentza wow😄，you replied my comments, I learn English through your videos, but not so good right now, thank you for your videos,hope you have a good time in China !
+zhem true he did say there are dry-cleaners. Most Chinese households have washers; I live in the US, and honestly, I never had to use a laundromat(except when I'm travelling).
Good information. Would it be possible in addition to the pin yin to add the tone marks to aid in pronunciation? That would be helpful for those of us not familiar with the han zi. Thanks for the great videos.
Disabler He said crime like that isn't a problem in some of his newer videos. He says it's very safe, which is completely the opposite of my topical impression of China.
Great video as always. However, the detail you went into about how to wash your clothes makes me wonder how un-resourceful some people really are...haha
I would think there would be a market for self-serve laundry facilities, perhaps the aversion to sharing a machine with strangers makes that a non-starter. I'm assuming here that it would be possible to open one as far as finding space to rent/lease and getting it remodeled, and permits and such.
That's interesting. I would not at all be initially inclined to haul off and wash myself with Tide no matter the form it's in, liquid, bar or granular. Since not washing oneself with Tide required such explicit clarification, I gather either Tide makes bath soap overseas or it just isn't that well known and would tend to be misused in just such a manner.
I would just buy a mini washing machine, use it, then sell to used goods store. If you are staying for any length of time (3 month for example). And if you buy used and then sell it back for the about same money, you basically get to use it for free.
I spent some time in the Açores (900 miles west of Lisboa, Think of it as Iceland without the ice.). There were no laundromats there at the time and I doubt if there are any now. I did wash my clothes in the bathroom sink and hung them to dry over the shower door. Looking forward to your next video.
Can't you buy one of those little portable plastic washing machines about the size of a microwave that hooks onto the faucet and drains into the sink? I sometimes see them for under $100 in discount stores.
Laundromats are common in universities for campus students, but not many in cities as most people dont like it, I included. Mainly because many people may throw many extremely dirty clothes or even shoes into the machines which makes you uncomfortable... I prefer buying a washing machine for my own.
Great tips here. I would've been caught unawares, myself! When I was in Japan about 10 years ago, all the hotels I stayed at seemed to have washing facilities. And I wasn't staying at posh places, mostly business hotels.
Ironically, before coin-operated laundromats proliferated in the 1950s, Chinese laundries were common in the U.S. They were so common that they became the stereotype business for Chinese.
Use the hot water in the shower to rinse - if you have a shower curtain rail and a coat hanger just rinse with shower head - then soap up turn around - then turn say shirt or pants inside out and repeat. Then rinse with hot water again on both sides. Take wet shirt and hand on balcony with buttons done up. If you have a thin nylon rope you can use it and buy some pegs too. You can then put socks and jocks on the rope. If no balcony - hang on chair near fan, or leave on shower rail. But hopefully, it won't smell too much by not having fresh air. Check for small window and open up. In an emergency just wash it and wear it and hopefully it will be dry by the time you get to your destination. Now, while you are washing one shirt - you will of course be naked - for the sake of convenience - make sure another shirt is soaking in the sink - ready to be upgraded to a coat hanger and rail stage - It is a good idea to soap up the water in the sink - so at the end of the process most clothing pieces will have soaked for at least ten minutes. You can even soak over night if you are not in a hurry. When the clothes are in the sink you also need to agitate the water by massaging the clothes - whilst turning. Lastly, if you have an iron you can iron clothes dry if in an emergency. Good luck - remember to repeat process if need be.
I might add the idea of a tub is useful as a third option. You can just use your hand to agitate the water and clothing piece clockwise then anti-clockwise - but do so in the shower recess - again best to be naked - to avoid getting more clothes wet - but still the best way to rinse is as described in first post.
This was one of those videos I hold close to my heart. My wife is from China (as well as many of our friends) and they were perplexed by the washer/dryer need in the U.S. because they like to hang their clothes. They also didn't like the dishwasher until I showed how nice it is for clean up after parties. I love the "special soap" by the way. :)
because China is no rich enough and there are few dishwashers in China. Chinese think that is expensive for it uses water and electric power, you should appreciate your wife , she is hard-working and saving money for you , she has good features of Chinese women
I noticed they don't have garbage disposals in Japan, they have filters below the sink. Is that the case in China too? I'd be ranting about that too if I had to live there.
I found dryers hardly exist... our school had one dryer.. but it was locked in a cage... weird huh? Token operated washing machines but the only dryer was locked in a tiny cage haha... thankfully the American teacher who lived in our doors was a friend of mine from same school and let us use his dryer
I dont know how people clean their underwears in public washing machines where everyone's underwear has been there trillion times. Eww. Just a buy a washing machine. PS: dry cleaners are not for basic items like tshirts, bras. it is usually for suits, fancy dresses etc. because people do not want to waste their time cleaning and ironing those type of clothes.
To be honest, China is a well civilized place for food, clothing, historic places. People are very polite and civilized. Some spitting issues and street food unhealthiness is there, but overall excellent place to settle.
Krishna Chaitanya you just get what you paid. when the fresh pork 20rmb a pound, and you paid 10rmb for cooked food, you should prepare to have poor thing.
During my 3 week vacation, this was bugging me since day one. And you know what? I found dry cleaner on my last day, in Beijing. All this time had to wash clothes on my own...
We have the same problem in Australia :) Everyone has washing machines, so you don't have laundromats. If you do find one, it's run down as all hell and run by Chinese who barely speak English and charge a fortune.
I used to live in an apartment that didn't have a washing machine so I had no choice but to go to the laundromat. A washing machine is very expensive here and takes a lot of space in a small apartment.
That brick of soap is Tide. Made by procter & Gamble in Cincinnati Ohio U.S. Imagine the money they're making with a billion people needing to wash their clothes by hand.
Just spend like 400-500yuan or something, you can have a very nice full size brand new washing machine from Guomei国美 online store, and have it delivered to your house the next day; or alternatively, you can get a mini washing machine for like 100 yuan or something from Taobao, you will have it within 2 days normally, of course they are not fully automatic, but sure to be enough if you are single or stay for a fairly short period in China;
So you rent an apartment with a washer in it. or you take it to the laundry shop and have them do it. Or if you find a girl she'll wash your clothes by hand. But you have to be prepared and not be stupid.
At least I have never met one commercial before outside of campus. there're shops doing laundry or dry cleaning for customers but laundromat. maybe there's not any profit to open one.
I used the dry cleaning business on campus at Zhengzhou University last summer and they washed my underwear, maybe that is not a universal thing but I never had any problems.
Good luck finding Tide in bars here in the States - I've never seen such a thing - American's would never think of washing their own cloths in a sink - although I have when i was really poor - but I didn't have the luxury of Tide I had Dawn dish washing soap lol
A chinese "village" is not what you think... it means more like town. but yeah its generally crowded as hell. most places in china are crowded as hell hence the chineses saying saying "people mountain people sea."
>Now how do you know that this is the kind of soap to wash clothes Because it says Tide on it, man. To my knowledge, they don't sell body soap under that brand name.
This place was a red light district before.
Minutes later: I used to come to this place a lot back in the days 😂
tmokleby --- What's your point?
🤣🤣🤣
It seems like a great business opportunity to start up a chain of laundromats in major cities.
Was just thinking the same thing.
DIY business is never big in China as labor & material cost are reversed there as compare to the west.
Almost every urban chinese family have a laundry machine. In rural areas,ppl are used to wash clothes by hands. So if the price of laundromats is not low enough, they will never enter a laundromat.
Hm... mini washing machines on taobao are generally priced from 200 to 300 RMB. Hostels usually provide washing machines for free...
David Huang
Hmm, and here I was thinking it had something to do with water rights... So it's just the fact that no one could make it economically effective, not that there was some actual rule against it.
Funny - 'this area used to be a big red light distright in Shenzhen' he says then follows on saying 'I used to knock around here a lot back in the day'...He He. Winston you are funny x
just buy a mini washing machine with dryer for a very cheap price, trust me they're exist.. the price is about $50 usd
"you can get a special kind of soap just for washing clothes" 😂
And don''t forget to bring your wash board when you travel.
Of just travel to a first-world country and forget about living in the gutter.
and it's freaking Tide soap of all things lmao
I was expecting some obscure perhaps weirder looking type of Chinese soap
+Ima SuperPerson
Ironically, the shit people call detergent in 'first world countries' is toxic as shit.
I use an organic bar soap (same stuff I use as shampoo and normal soap), I grate it, add Arm and Hammer Laundry Booster at a 50/50 ratio--
And use the appropriate amount in the washer with the clothes.
KISS - Keep It Stupidly Simple
Regular laundry soap is way too harsh on your skin to hand wash, hence the bar shaped soap. When Tide first marketed laundry soap in China, no one would buy it because they had never heard of or seen liquid laundry soap. So Tide wised up and started making it in bar form.
little tip, find a university, near the student accommodation building u'll always find Laundromats, called "洗衣房" “Xi Yi Fang".
The blurry video makes me feel like you're personally giving me a tour while I'm in culture shock , or , I'm drunk and you're walking me home as you talk about China, how it is.
I only recently found your videos and I love them. I have had visits to China and lots of encounters with the Chinese but there were HUGE gaps in my understanding... of course there still are, but your show has seriously helped to fill in the gaps. I don't think people should get upset with you for showing them how they look from an outside perspective because we never look to others the way we think we look to ourselves.
I'm a writer and I've learned this the hard way! People read what I write and come back with some funny stuff!
I have so much respect for you for sticking to your vlogs and going back and back. You and your wife and your friend ROCK.
I'm not posting this on this particular vlog for any reason btw, lol!
You have inspired me to make a vlog about Canada, I've done a lot of traveling and even though I'm from Canada I've learned that what everyone thinks is normal in Canada is actually really messed up! Canadians are misunderstood and can also be super high handed and arrogant while thinking they're being the most wonderful people in the world. They are also multi-cultural and accepting of everything that happens to them (which makes them think they're better than everyone else and makes them arrogant and high handed XD). Lately Canada has been pissing off everyone in the world and maybe if someone kind of explains the mentality behind why Canadians think they're helping by telling off world leaders (like China) we could all have a bit of a laugh at ourselves and be friends again. I know right now Canada is much hated in the Chinese media but Canada is totally bewildered by it (which is really sad because Canada is oddly naive).
Anyway, again, I love your vlog, congrats on your movie and I'm not sure if you've made a tv show yet, but I think I will look into you on FB! You seem cool and btw, that pic of you when you were 14: you didn't look fat! You just looked like a kid! Maybe people have been calling you fat a little too long cuz, you looked fine (and tell you're wife I'm married and not hitting on you). Peace and stay awesome!
Thank you! So glad to hear from someone reasonable :) good luck with the Canadian vlogs!
You can buy a mini washing machine for 200-300 RMB. Order it on taobao, receive it the next day.
I don't see the need to have coin-op laundry machines everywhere... Plus there are always plenty of dry cleaners to choose from.
Wow that's cheap! for ref: £23.50~£35
... order a mini washing machine as tourist doesn't come in handy.
Looking back at this older video, it's amazing how much your skill in video production has increased over the years. This old one is still very informative but it doesn't hold my interest like the new ones. My job is sending me to Jiangsu starting next month and I hope to put a lot of this knowledge to good use!
Anyone from America would instantly recognize Tide, it's a brand of laundry detergent made by the American company Procter & Gamble.
However, this isn't your mother's Tide. Chinese Tide comes in a solid bar, not a powder or liquid.
You can get Sunlight laundry soap in bar form in Canada from Home Hardware. My mom used to use it when she wanted to pre-treat an item before putting into the machine.
If they had Tide bar soap in the states I would buy it
Dee Ca. Just look for Zote soap here in the US, it's a Pink bar, and it's great for things that need to be hand washed, or pretreated as my grandmother use to use it all the time and I keep a bar of it for tough stains. Walmart has it for $1.27 a bar
www.walmart.com/ip/Zote-Pink-Laundry-Soap-14.1-oz/16935505
So much for the famous "Chinese laundry"! I guess they have them everywhere EXCEPT China lol!
720p unfocused, just as good as 360p focused.
Interesting to see how your production value has gone from beginner to super pro quality. Content just as interesting back in the early ones though. Kudos Winston :) ∞ ❤
Thanks mate!
Thank you for the video and information. While in US Marine Corps boot camp, we had to do all our laundry by hand with soap powder and plastic-bristled scrub brushes on a cement wash rack with spigots, as preparation for being in austere conditions/environments. It's not the most fun a person can have, but it is possible.
Thank you for you videos, really enjoy them. Very thought provoking! Well done for getting out of South Africa. Just spent an extremely frustrating morning at the post office in Johannesburg. South Africa, the toilet of the world, what a dump!
didn't the DA gain a lot?
To no avail. There are people begging on nearly on every street corner. Its not mr zumas fault after all 220 million rand is spent on building a fire pool.
A 16 minute video that gives us 30 seconds of information about what's in the title.
Barry Piper Yea but we got to view out of focus street life for 16 glorious minutes
We might have to increase our donations so he can buy better camera equipment. Lol.
Yeah, that's my one and only complaint about Winston's stuff; it's a bit scattered and ramble-ly. He's gotten much better than when he first started though. (And it was kinda nice to see the bleary china night-life.)
i really enjoy your youtube show, China , How it is. I only just started watching last week. You have open my eyes to what China is really like.. None of the stereotype we hear from the western media. From you shows China seems very modern society as you would find anywhere, except in Chinese of course.
It also gives an idea what to expect if i where to go to china, and it seem much the same if a Chinese person was to come to west not know much english and our culture.
I may never go to china, this is the next thing.
Keep up the fantastic shows, better than watching National Geographic or Discovery Chanel. To bad these networks never pickup you own documentary on China.
+james gurney Oh no. Don't trust stereotypes. I'm Canadian.. and somehow the world has us pegged as maple syrup doused, igloo dwellers.
True, do not trust Stereotypes. I am Canadian also.
true Kimberly
+james gurney China is modern in many ways but it has its quirks. SInce we are talking about washing underwear and such I think Serpentza should have covered this more personal topic.. Serpentza hasn't mentioned is the need to take some toilet paper and soap with you everywhere. The mens rooms are often just have slit toilets and they never have toilet paper or soap for cleaning up afterwards. eeewwww. Be prepared. I play a lot of table tennis. My Chinese table tennis coach has told me about having to go without toilet paper or the money to buy some. eeewwww. I hate shaking hands at trade shows. I think the Chinese should return to the bow like the Japanese.
Interesting insight Peter. If i ever go to china, bring toilet paper. And for a side note, if you go to Cuba take toilet paper and wipes / soap.
"I use to live around the corner here, when I was low on money" "this use to be the red light district" ... Is there something you are telling us about past work experience?
When in Asia, you sometimes have to do whatever it takes for a bit of cash. Westerners can be very 'sought after' ;)
+Jeff Rodgers BWAHAHAHA... but on a serious note, in NA big cities, if you're aware, a lot of old Chinatowns are situated next to the red light districts of the city. Goes to show the social status of the early gens of Chinese immigrants back in the days, doesn't it? Supposed SerpentZA unconsciously recognized the similarity of his early days in a foreign country? HAHA :)
You think someone hit his rock bosom?
When the Chinese went overseas to the UK in the early 20th century, most of them opened laundries - it was hard very hard work with long hours.
Almost every Chinese family has a laundry machine. My parents got the first one in 1970s. Laundromats do exist in Chinese universities where students living on campus rely on them.
That place looks like something out of Blade Runner with all the lighting.
And I just mentioned in the Elephant Adventure pt2 how Id like more of these China How It Is vids and here is a great one. A walking tour at night of a living village...awesome. Thanks.
Have you done a video explaining clinics or the hospitals an expat would likely run into? I was at the new one in OCT a couple months back and was rather impressed by it. Didn't get a chance to see the English speaking services they provided but the facility itself was (of course) huge, like an airport terminal, but visually impressive. For an expat the idea of going to a hospital usually implies serious trouble. But that seems to be the go to place if you have any medical problems that even a clinic would normally do. Do you know of any clinics? I know of only one and it is in Shekou.
I am living in those "hand-shake" homes or farmer's apartment in BaoAn. i have been here for the last 3 years and truly enjoyed the community living in China. I appreciate topics you've shared and i hope you can keep up the good work.
+Eugene Yeo thanks mate, will do
Folks, washing machines, while featuring generally smaller loads than in the West, are common and readily available - and typically cost much less - about half - as much as in the US.
Many washers have an integrated dryer function as well. The only difficulty is translating the electronic display settings.
About the 'only' ones who have difficulty with clothes washing are expats who cannot speak Chinese and who do not have access to facilities at a hotels and/or schools.
Additionally, as the winters tend to be very dry (in terms of humidity), hanging clothes indoors serves as an alternative to the very common humidifiers, thus raising the indoor humidity a bit. A good reason to forgo the dryer even if one is available.
Washing machine is pretty cheap in China,U didn't get one? Luckily we have washing machines in college, just on the ground floor of our dorm buiding. I usually take my laundry there on Saturday, pay 5 yuan, wait for 45 min, get a load of laundry washed.So i don't have to wash them by hand.
I guess they don't sell Tide brand clothes washing soap in South Africa...but as soon as I saw the brand name, a light went on inside my head!!
They didn't have any in HK thirty years ago either. Those "dry cleaners" did an incredible job and was really cheap. And hey, they did wash my underwear and folded them up nicely.
China: How It Is, are the best videos. Keep them coming Winston! This is my favorite youtube channel.
when I was in university, there was laundry shops, but other places don't, because almost every family has a laundry machine. As for underwears, many people wash them by hands, even if they do have a laundry machine.
And it's true that most chinese people don't use dryers.
Hostels will usually have coin-operated washers that you could ask to use - if not, it would probably be cheaper to book a bed for the night just to access them rather than have laundry done at a dry cleaners.
The one time I had to resort to using a dry cleaners, they charged me 90 RMB (which is about 20% more than I'd expect to pay for a service wash for a similar load in the UK) and did wash my underwear.
Before watching your videos, I always had a negative view on China since all my friends and teachers says they are. However, after watching a series of videos of yours, my views has changed over time. China exceeds my expectation because of this. Stay awesome :D
Want to point out this is very different in Hong Kong. Likewise, they have no laundromats that I could see, but the dry cleaning places have washers and dryers. You can ask if you want them to dry clean, machine wash, or many machine dry (as many wash by hand or use washing machines but have no dryer). They have no problem handling your underwear at these places in HK.
Travelling or not, I always wash my underthings in the shower - with normal soap, then hang them up - outside preferably. The advantage in Asia was they dry overnight in front of the air con using clothes hangers to position the laundry.
So I can travel lighter as less underwear is required.
There are serviced laundromats at some universities. Was working at Nanjing uni a few years back where they had a laundromat in the basement. They accepted underwear. I initially went to dry cleaners where they turned me away as Winston mentioned
You might find some "water-wash joints" around large middle school& university, labor-intensive factories, hospitals(not recommended because usually they wash hospitals' bedsheet and patients' clothes too), military bases( not recommended for 老外 for obvious reason). I think people in those place are heavily occupied. Usually those "water-wash joints" don't have a shop, they just get post some stickers, with their phone number, nearby, or handing out business cards, even spread phone number by peers. The best practice to find "water-wash" business is to ask students or workers in places mentioned above.
I actually washed a linen shirt with hand soap in a hotel once and dried it on the balcony, it came out as good as new and the creases didn't matter as it was linen.
I've washed my clothes plenty of times in basins, sinks, showers etc plenty of times. Baths work well because you can use your feet and hold onto the side of the bath (although bath may be more of a hotel thing).
I knew the "special soap" was for laundry because it says Tide on it. Tide is an American brand that only makes laundry soap.
It's a pity that the red light districts go down. :(
A1110001
How does it destroy society and families? Who are you to say whats right and wrong? As far as I know prostitution was always there. Its the people choice.
Hiroshige Miyamoto Prostitution is everywhere around the world, but only few countries are willing to legalize it like Holland. It is a pity they shut it down, but sometimes it's the price to pay for the city's development. Time Square in New York is a example.
Hiroshige Miyamoto Prostitution makes the females lazy when they know that they could earn money just by putting off their clothes. But actually they can do much more than prostitution for the sake of themselves and for the sake of the society development. No matter how small the job they can do, it will contribute more to the development than prostitution.
For the males, prostitution poisons and breaks the morality and the enterprise that a good industrious man should have possessed. It also can cause more issues for the families. If the family is not happy, where should a industrious, talented man come? Then how could the society develop for a long term?
For the public environment, red light districts are prone to arouse much more crimes which harass the harmony and peaceful environment in which we Chinese people have always wanted to live. And for Chinese men, none of them will accept to marry a prostitute! So, for a woman, once you were a prostitute, it will be quite hard for you to get married to a Chinese man. And this aggravates the problem of uneven gender ratio which will cause disturbance to the society.
So, at least right now in the developing period, prostitution is a malignant tumour for China that need to be cut off. And actually it's most likely that the prostitution will never be permitted again(Yes!AGAIN. It's legal in old China.) on the land of China as China won't backslide in its great long-lasting culture.
刘昊戈
In Germany most prostitutes are from East Europe or Turkish/Arab Countries. Also from Africa.
I get your point and agree. Still men have the desire for sex and not all of them are in a relationship. Also sometimes in relationship it works not so well. Or you have desires you don't want to show your wife.
All I say that prostitution is very old and you can never get rid of it.
NeoMennon, writes _"Time Square in New York is a example."_
An example of what happens when prostitution is illegal.
cool area, reminds me of a part of Kunming I used to like walking around in. Nice video Winston.
In Romania we don't have them either, because there is no need for them, anybody can afford a washing mashine in their home.
We do have some professional loundry shops, but we use them only to wash items we cannot wash at home, as men suits, wedding dresses, stuff like that.
I think its different in hostels because all hostels I stayed at in china had a laundry service and washed ALL my clothes and some even folded them.
The local pub chain has recently started selling a beer called Tsing Tao and its really quite good. Is it a popular beer in China and is it expensive?
Tsing Tao and Tiger Beer are very popular in China, it's cheap and it's very good!
probably the biggest national beer brand in china, i like the draft one, around 1USD per bottle
it is almost in every Tesco.
the Tsing Tao brewery was founded/built/paid for,,,, by germans before ww2,
after the war the commies took it as commies normally do.
"you're getting married to a dragon" :)
That's salon transliteration"沙龙"
That's not true, I am a native chinese, I think you're just not find the place,There are lot of laundromat called 干洗店 even in small towns
that is a dry cleaners, not a laundromat, there is a big difference :)
+serpentza +serpentza wow😄，you replied my comments, I learn English through your videos, but not so good right now, thank you for your videos,hope you have a good time in China !
+serpentza +serpentza wow😄，you replied my comments, I learn English through your videos, but not so good right now, thank you for your videos,hope you have a good time in China !
+zhem true laundromat 是一排洗衣机干衣机，你投币然后洗衣干衣，一般都是学生宿舍或者是经济不好，家里没有洗衣机的人用的
+zhem true he did say there are dry-cleaners. Most Chinese households have washers; I live in the US, and honestly, I never had to use a laundromat(except when I'm travelling).
Good information. Would it be possible in addition to the pin yin to add the tone marks to aid in pronunciation? That would be helpful for those of us not familiar with the han zi. Thanks for the great videos.
Perhaps it isnt the best idea to walk around in a suit in the slum area in the middle of the night
Disabler He said crime like that isn't a problem in some of his newer videos. He says it's very safe, which is completely the opposite of my topical impression of China.
ZergIsUnderpowered Thats very strange, i would never have guessed
Disabler plus he towers over everyone. and at 160 lbs he is the biggest guy on the block.
um, hello!? Do you see black people everywhere? NO? Then shut the fuck up! It's fucking safe!
Great video as always. However, the detail you went into about how to wash your clothes makes me wonder how un-resourceful some people really are...haha
I would think there would be a market for self-serve laundry facilities, perhaps the aversion to sharing a machine with strangers makes that a non-starter. I'm assuming here that it would be possible to open one as far as finding space to rent/lease and getting it remodeled, and permits and such.
That's interesting. I would not at all be initially inclined to haul off and wash myself with Tide no matter the form it's in, liquid, bar or granular. Since not washing oneself with Tide required such explicit clarification, I gather either Tide makes bath soap overseas or it just isn't that well known and would tend to be misused in just such a manner.
I would just buy a mini washing machine, use it, then sell to used goods store. If you are staying for any length of time (3 month for example). And if you buy used and then sell it back for the about same money, you basically get to use it for free.
I spent some time in the Açores (900 miles west of Lisboa, Think of it as Iceland without the ice.). There were no laundromats there at the time and I doubt if there are any now. I did wash my clothes in the bathroom sink and hung them to dry over the shower door. Looking forward to your next video.
Can't you buy one of those little portable plastic washing machines about the size of a microwave that hooks onto the faucet and drains into the sink? I sometimes see them for under $100 in discount stores.
Laundromats are common in universities for campus students, but not many in cities as most people dont like it, I included. Mainly because many people may throw many extremely dirty clothes or even shoes into the machines which makes you uncomfortable... I prefer buying a washing machine for my own.
1:50 That bicycle in the background is my type of paint job.
Great tips here. I would've been caught unawares, myself! When I was in Japan about 10 years ago, all the hotels I stayed at seemed to have washing facilities. And I wasn't staying at posh places, mostly business hotels.
What about washing sheets snd towels. Don't appartments have a washing machine? If you like everything clean you will be forever hand washing.
Hint for experts, dont buy special soap. Use the soap thats already in the hotel, it works just as well and its FREE!
Ironically, before coin-operated laundromats proliferated in the 1950s, Chinese laundries were common in the U.S. They were so common that they became the stereotype business for Chinese.
Buying a washing machine is a good idea. For hand wash, a washing up bowl and washing powder/liquid will work.
Use the hot water in the shower to rinse - if you have a shower curtain rail and a coat hanger just rinse with shower head - then soap up turn around - then turn say shirt or pants inside out and repeat. Then rinse with hot water again on both sides. Take wet shirt and hand on balcony with buttons done up. If you have a thin nylon rope you can use it and buy some pegs too. You can then put socks and jocks on the rope. If no balcony - hang on chair near fan, or leave on shower rail. But hopefully, it won't smell too much by not having fresh air. Check for small window and open up. In an emergency just wash it and wear it and hopefully it will be dry by the time you get to your destination. Now, while you are washing one shirt - you will of course be naked - for the sake of convenience - make sure another shirt is soaking in the sink - ready to be upgraded to a coat hanger and rail stage - It is a good idea to soap up the water in the sink - so at the end of the process most clothing pieces will have soaked for at least ten minutes. You can even soak over night if you are not in a hurry. When the clothes are in the sink you also need to agitate the water by massaging the clothes - whilst turning. Lastly, if you have an iron you can iron clothes dry if in an emergency. Good luck - remember to repeat process if need be.
I might add the idea of a tub is useful as a third option. You can just use your hand to agitate the water and clothing piece clockwise then anti-clockwise - but do so in the shower recess - again best to be naked - to avoid getting more clothes wet - but still the best way to rinse is as described in first post.
This was one of those videos I hold close to my heart. My wife is from China (as well as many of our friends) and they were perplexed by the washer/dryer need in the U.S. because they like to hang their clothes. They also didn't like the dishwasher until I showed how nice it is for clean up after parties. I love the "special soap" by the way. :)
They should try hang-drying in areas like Chicago or the higher altitudes of the Rockies. ;)
They still need to be washed beforehand!
Ugh, I hope so....
because China is no rich enough and there are few dishwashers in China. Chinese think that is expensive for it uses water and electric power,
you should appreciate your wife , she is hard-working and saving money for you , she has good features of Chinese women
The whole "special soap for washing clothes" phrasing until Tide was revealed seemed a bit odd. Don't they have Tide/Cheer/etc. in South Africa?
Could have bought a washing machine on Taobao, costs as little as a Dry Cleaning run. And you can throw it away after you're done.
I took clothes to a laundromat in Baoding, it cost more to clean the clothes than buy new ones.
Tide detergent (powder or liquid) is pretty popular in the states. Here it doesn't come in brick form though.
Winston, I like that suite - fits well on you. Was that one you had tailor made at that store you did a video on?
I noticed they don't have garbage disposals in Japan, they have filters below the sink. Is that the case in China too? I'd be ranting about that too if I had to live there.
I found dryers hardly exist... our school had one dryer.. but it was locked in a cage... weird huh? Token operated washing machines but the only dryer was locked in a tiny cage haha... thankfully the American teacher who lived in our doors was a friend of mine from same school and let us use his dryer
What about Wrinkles ?Do you all have an iron to use? Love your videos they're fantastic keep up the good work better than TV. 😎🙋♂️🏃♂️👍🐊
I dont know how people clean their underwears in public washing machines where everyone's underwear has been there trillion times. Eww. Just a buy a washing machine.
PS: dry cleaners are not for basic items like tshirts, bras. it is usually for suits, fancy dresses etc. because people do not want to waste their time cleaning and ironing those type of clothes.
To be honest, China is a well civilized place for food, clothing, historic places. People are very polite and civilized. Some spitting issues and street food unhealthiness is there, but overall excellent place to settle.
Krishna Chaitanya you just get what you paid.
when the fresh pork 20rmb a pound, and you paid 10rmb for cooked food, you should prepare to have poor thing.
Poisoned food
I think the Vibrant activity and life down that street you are walking down is pretty cool. Saw that in Israel when I was there and loved it
During my 3 week vacation, this was bugging me since day one. And you know what? I found dry cleaner on my last day, in Beijing. All this time had to wash clothes on my own...
+Jacek Czerniakiewicz Beijing? there are so many places.
Hi there, serpentza ! I don´t know if you have already produced a video about medical care and hospitals in China. If not, that´s my sugestion. Tks !
Special kind of soap to wash your clothes.... like laundry detergent??? Lol
they washed everything (even my underwear) in HK by weight for 0.6 - 1.2 $ per bag, as far as i remember.
buy a bucket and wash it yourself
like your new "china how it is" icon!
We have the same problem in Australia :) Everyone has washing machines, so you don't have laundromats. If you do find one, it's run down as all hell and run by Chinese who barely speak English and charge a fortune.
I used to live in an apartment that didn't have a washing machine so I had no choice but to go to the laundromat. A washing machine is very expensive here and takes a lot of space in a small apartment.
That brick of soap is Tide. Made by procter & Gamble in Cincinnati Ohio U.S. Imagine the money they're making with a billion people needing to wash their clothes by hand.
How strange that there are no laundromats. But This one was filmed 3 years ago so China can't be the same now. Right?
the soap says tide, it's the most recognizable clothes detergent in America. that would be easy to pick out.....that's it, im headed to China
Hehe. He's moving to China because they have Tide. That was funny. lol
yeah I was like I don't need to know Chinese to know it's a clothes soap
I just think that it's cool that they use dragons breath to dry the clothes.
first? wow~ Nice going mate! keep it up!
So if you are going to use a dry cleaner, then it is better to go commando! lol
Just spend like 400-500yuan or something, you can have a very nice full size brand new washing machine from Guomei国美 online store, and have it delivered to your house the next day; or alternatively, you can get a mini washing machine for like 100 yuan or something from Taobao, you will have it within 2 days normally, of course they are not fully automatic, but sure to be enough if you are single or stay for a fairly short period in China;
So you rent an apartment with a washer in it. or you take it to the laundry shop and have them do it. Or if you find a girl she'll wash your clothes by hand. But you have to be prepared and not be stupid.
At least I have never met one commercial before outside of campus. there're shops doing laundry or dry cleaning for customers but laundromat. maybe there's not any profit to open one.
as I don't skid my pants or drip I don't consider them dirty, so I ash mine in the bathroom sink and peg them on the balcony when I'm away
I used the dry cleaning business on campus at Zhengzhou University last summer and they washed my underwear, maybe that is not a universal thing but I never had any problems.
just look at the color, if it's orange and half transparent, it's for the clothes.
Do a video on the happy ending massage parlors! lol
Good luck finding Tide in bars here in the States - I've never seen such a thing - American's would never think of washing their own cloths in a sink - although I have when i was really poor - but I didn't have the luxury of Tide I had Dawn dish washing soap lol
Village ?! :O
Looks bigger and more populated than the capital city of my country.
A chinese "village" is not what you think... it means more like town. but yeah its generally crowded as hell. most places in china are crowded as hell hence the chineses saying saying "people mountain people sea."
Golday ALB those are called 城中村（village inside a city），it was a village，but due to the expendment of city，those villages are now inside the city
Golday ALB it was a village. people replaced those old houses and built as tall as they can afford to.
Golden opportunity for somebody to open up a chain of laundromats
It’s because all the Chinese people start these businesses in USA and UK.
Make sure the camera is in focus. Most of the video was ruined by being blurry.
Shanghai has Speed Queen laundromats nowadays (haven't checked them out yet), don't know about other locations.
>Now how do you know that this is the kind of soap to wash clothes
Because it says Tide on it, man. To my knowledge, they don't sell body soap under that brand name.