Tomorrow is Chinese National Day, find out why it's the worst time to be in China... if you're a tourist... Join me on Facebook: / winstoninchina Twitter: @serpentza
Hi Winston, I hope you have a good holiday despite the crowds. I visited Shenzhen, Shanghai and Hong Kong at this time the last two years and the crowds definitely left a bad impression and made for a very stressful holiday. Thankfully I've seen other beautiful parts of China at less busy times and I can understand why your so fond of the place.
The 5000 years thing is talking about the Chinese civilization and not China, the nation. There is a very distinct difference between civilizations and nations.
Not really, the whole 5000 year thing is little more than a meaningless slogan for the Chinese national state. The lands and peoples of China obviously has a history long before 5000 years ago. Most of their traditions and culture are way more recent than 5000 years. Everything flows as some greek said.
acetylslicylsyra Thanks for making the meaningless effort to explain that "5000 years" is just an arbitrary number, wouldn't have figured that out without you! You are completely missing the point. The number, regardless accurate or not, is referring to the Chinese civilization and not just China, THE COUNTRY.
Civilization belong to the people who live on the land. The settlement of people is called nation, how can you separate the people and their civilization? That's stupid. And sounds like some Japanese brainwashed opinion during world war 2.
Hi winston , really enjoy your vids appreciate you taking time out to make them , have watched them all to date , have a good national holiday sink a few beers and chillax
Winston, thanks for the video. I have learned a lot about the day to day life of Chinese people while watching for the past several years. Keep it coming!
Thank you for putting the incredible amount of time into producing these videos. I really appreciate the every day insight into a society I know little about. The lack of politics is damn refreshing.
"PRC" is just a modern "regime" of China, and as a modern "regime" of China, PRC is young, but China is very old as a continuous culture and country. China has different layers of meanings and many different dynasties(regimes) through out history, "PRC" is just one of them(so does ROC in Taiwan), and Chinese dynasties all have inherited connections to each others which also makes China as a whole and continuum. China is the cradle of East Asia civilization, and as a "civilization", China does have over 3500 years of recorded continuous history and over 4000 years history if including Xia（夏） dynasty, and that is true, not nonsense.
No, communist dynasty is from 1949 to 1989. Now we are in the 'State capitalism'. And the Communist Party is the largest corporate trust in the planet.
MG47 saying China is old is like saying any european country is old. They're all based on ancinet cultures that have slowly changed over time. That is why most people find the "5000 year history" to be exaggerated and ridiculous.
+Cing Chen I am a mainland Chinese, and I respect Republic of China, Thank you for your rational and respectful comments. I hope I have opportunities to travel in Taiwan one day.
+ffakerr That's one very decent comment from a Taiwanese, but he is not alone. They (the more rational and neutral ones) tend to understand the concept of "Chinese civilization" and the importance of it, unlike serpentza. 马丁·雅克：了解中国的崛起 Martin Jacques Understanding The Rise of China TED演讲集 youtube [[dot]] com/watch?v=oT8ki6ciopI&list=PL32215D034C97E1A6
+Cing Chen He's just making some comments from a western perspective. He didn't say it was wrong or whatever. I'm Chinese and I don't really take it offensively.
I agree what you said China is actually a young country. It was established in 1949. The so called "5000 years civilization, was clean cut off by infamous " culture revolution ".
I agree with you completely. Don't travel and never get on a train during National Day or Spring festival. I am just going to stay home for the first three days and go about locally after that.
U know what Winston, me a Chinese Malaysian here still found it interesting to see and hear through you on anything abt China so I think things would be more interesting to your western followers.
9:10 They do that in Taiwan too. There may be a holiday on Tuesday, so the government makes Monday a holiday too so people get a 4-day weekend. But then they designate a later Saturday as a "make-up work day".
The reason I like your channel is because you don't go into the politics. I just want a concept of what day to day life would be like there. Keep up the good work! Thanks
Serpentza is totally right. Don't travel during national day in China. (Normally from 1Oct to 7Oct) The highway, the train, the airport, the park, the popular resort, everywhere is jammed.
Nice video. China is not an unambiguous concept. It has different layers of meanings and the same is true with its history. I agree that China does not have 5000 years of history, as far as history is commonly understood. Culturally, one may talk about at least 3250 years of written history---and basically in the same writing system at different stages of its evolution. Some archaeologists---Chinese and western alike---have argued for the influence of even earlier, prehistorical elements of culture on historical China, including the layout of public buildings in a settlement, ritual vessels, jade wares etc., whose traces can be detected no later than the 2nd half of the 3rd millennium bce (Late Longshan culture---e.g. Taosi city; certainly the Erlitou Culture dated to 1750 bce.). Politically, though, China has witnessed many "states, starting from those Neolithic city states/chiefdoms (yes you can have a "city" in the Neolithic age in East Asia; in the Near East, Bronze Age began too early for this phenomenon to be possible, I assume), to Shang, Zhou (when a variety of states vied for the power but all acknowledged a common spiritual/political ruler---compare Germany before the 1870s). Imperial China began with the Qin empire (some argue that "China" is derived from Qin which is pronounced Chin---but a few linguists prefer a different origin), reaching its first peak between 200bce-200ce during the reign of the Han empire (whence the term Han---major ethnic group in China), coming to an end with the fall of the Manchurian Qing Empire (at which point Manchurians were mostly Sinicized up to this day). The "China" which is 67 years old is the current state which rules China, with the Communist Party as the ruling party---and in my opinion doing a good job in the past 3 decades at least. So the PRC is 67, but Chinese as a "nation" or China as a cultural concept does have a much much longer history. 5000 years is a bit shaky, but "several thousand years" is certain. Compare India. And unlike ancient Sumer, Egypt Babylon, Assyria and Meso-american civilizations in Mexico, China never lost its major language, the script, basic beliefs and values etc. So I argue that it's a living civilization while the former three are dead---I know modern assyrians exist but religiously and linguistically fundamentally different from ancient Assyrians---basically a modern cultural construct thanks to the rise of nationalism within the Ottoman empire. So PR of China is a young state, while China is a civilization which a long history, with no clear date of founding.
+ofekzpeggy129 Perhaps that's why many westerners believe Taiwan is the true spirit of China? Because that is the remnants of the republic that is very similar to our own governments here in the west.
In the restaurants you see tanks full of live seafood including clams that look half a foot long and shrimps that are moving before they are cooked like going to an aquarium. Across the border in Hong Kong in a market place you find all sorts of live fish in a containers filled with water along with live turtles and frogs waiting to be butchered. Once upon a time you find live chicken in HK market places now mostly quick-frozen to control the spread of bird flu. Fresh ingredients mean a lot here in Hong Kong. Today in HK we are having a holiday for the China National Day. However, people are very much glued to the TV screen as many people are out occupying the main financial district near Central, Causeway Bay, Mongkok and Tsim Sha Tsui tourist shopping area. Small sections of the city are blocked to car traffic and you see many people just sitting in the middle of a busy street like Nathan Rd. for the past 2 days. While all this is going on, the HK Chief Mr. CY Leung is busy celebrating the holiday with fireworks along Victoria Harbour later on. The past 3 days people on the street has become an attraction on its own as many locals flock to places where there are gatherings and started photographing & recoding videos. During the National Day, shops are closed in HK and this year we are seeing people are out on the street like never before.
Picking out our own sea food has actually been one of my favorite things about China so far. Recently we went to a restaurant in Dalian where we got to pick out our own lobster and a fish, and 15 minutes or so later they were cooked up on a plate in front of us. And I agree it is much like a zoo. As far as the National Holiday I wish that I had seen this video before it actually happened here, no joke about places being crazy. We went to a national park here on October 1st and it was ridiculous, we drove to Dandong, on the North Korean border and it was chaos at some points.HE IS RIGHT! DO NOT TRAVEL!! Also the making up the workdays for the day off was totally unexpected and wasn't told to me by my employers until the week before. China how it is. You're hitting it right on the head for me.
Hi, I totally agree that the places are packed! I went to Beijing but my friends and I got lucky, we didn't run into THAT many people while traveling. I have a video up about traveling during the national holiday, check it out and let me know what you think!
On Oct 2nd I bought a plane ticket from GZ to SH for the next day, and paid around 950 RMB. So, they had not been sold out and were not so expensive (although not the cheapest you can get). HK to SH cost 2000HKD though :)
Even traveling to Thailand at that time is best avoided. The flights are booked out so you have to buy more expensive seats. Costs are higher and it's packed.
All though traveling during the holidays is treacherous, I found the traveling the week after the holiday has great discounts and tourist places are almost abandoned.
China does have transportation issues. My wife often complains that it is no longer convenient to drive in Shenyang on a normal day. Too many cars, narrow streets and people not obeying the traffic laws. It has become a “free for all.” So, imagine a holiday with everybody wanting to show off their car to family. They all hit the road at the same time. Many business owners in China like big black sedans. It is status symbol. @Winston, I believe you were there some years ago during Chinese New Year when that big snow storm paralyzed all forms of transportation in the South of China. People were stranded. Our friends told us that thousands of people couldn’t make it their home towns or get back to where they lived.
I wonder what employers still don't provide paid vacations these days? I had pretty good vacations before I moved to the US, I was in Beijing, worked for 5 years, 3 years in a local company and 2 years in a British company, my paid vacations was around 3-4 weeks a year back there.
Question for you: If you don't get days off except for national holidays, what do you do if you have to go to the doctor, or stay home with a sick child, or have a plumbing emergency, or have your car repaired? Now, I asked the same question of a JVlogger and he got furious with me because he thought I was criticizing Japan. I'm just asking out of curiosity, so please don't take offense. Thank you, and I love your channel :-)
Serpentza, You are doing an EXCELLENT Job. Seems like you spoke of subjects that was a No No to speak of and one was Hong Kong. I am glad you stay out of Politics. I enjoy you speaking of yourself and everyday occurrences. You are quite Handsome as well. Anyhow, keep up the good work.
I was touring across China a couple of years ago during national day, one of my stops was the terracotta warrior museum... Big mistake! It took forever just to get in and out of the site, never mind round it. As you say in the video, don't come to the touristy areas of China during this time unless you just want to see crowds of people!
My friends and I went traveling around the dongbei region last national day holiday and honestly it was totally fine - OK, 12 hours standing on a train wasn't ideal (top tip: book train tickets in advance...) but in terms of visiting touristy places it was fine. Have a look at the videos I did vlogging our travels on my channel :)
What sort of decision making did you use to pick the new apartment? I've often wondered what picking a good apt. in a city would be like... (always lived in rural areas)
He got a job in China teaching medical students or something. Ofcourse he intends on staying in China because he has his own business there making his own bikes and he's a teacher. He is apparently also British since SA was part of UK before apartheid. I was living in SA since born and that country has gone to shit. The government is so bad. No body wants to say it but it has to be said, a white president in SA would have such a positive effect on the country but too bad the majority of them are blacks so there will never be a white president unless the people wake up.
Yeah whites are whites but we don't group white people into a European category. We simply call them by what they are, such as UK or Americans or Germans etc... I live in New Zealand now but when I was born in SA, people would just go up to your car and rob you infront of day light. I remember every shopping mall I went to, there were always Police inside the shopping malls hanging out just as a safety measure.
***** no, the distinctions are national and not on race really. But in Europe we'd see Latino's as white, but I guess that's not the case in America. We also don't call mixed race people of black/white parentage black. The references to Obama as 'black' was a bit odd to us.
Basically, don't give a sh*t about it. Just a bunch of students manipulated by a few careerists. Before 1997, the Governor of HongKong was designated by the Queen, no one fought for democracy. Now they are able to elect the Chief Executive, and they call it dictatorship. Ridiculous.
***** Nope- he's nominated by the local hong kong elite and approved by Beijing. This entire beijing pupet propaganda is just that- nonsense to cover up the ambition of a bunch of socialists to ruin the freest economy in the world.
***** That's funny. HK is part of China so the chief of course may listen to the China gov somehow. That's the nature of political game isn't it? If you call the HK chief a puppet then call all mayors and governors puppets of white house. Are you too busy to fight for freedom which caused you forget the basic rule of our world and basic etiquette of humanity?LMAO
Too true! The first time I travelled to the East, I planned to spend a week in Hong Kong and Macao, then fly to Chongqing and get on a cruise down the Yangze River (this was when the dam was still being constructed, so I wanted to see the famous gorges). A colleague whose family is from Hong Kong, advised not to try to book flights from HK to Chongqing on-line. Back then, there was only one English language site, and it was a rip-off. He said I should wait until I'm in Hong Kong and go to a travel agency - I'd get a much better deal there. What he didn't think important to tell me was that I was going to HK during the National Holiday. Everything was sold out! The place was packed! I ended up cancelling the second week, thinking I'd come back in six months or a year, but I never did.
I think I'm telling history,not politic. Xia Zhou Qin Han··········Qing dynasty,now ROC in Taiwan and PRC in mainland All are called China（中国） Word "中国" is created form Zhou Now "China" means "中国" But it's different from ROC(republic of china) and PRC(people's republic of china) You must split the meaning of China、ROC、PRC etc.
I love your videos (speaking as a mainlander). I dislike travelling at national holidays also. But I am the 'privileged' people who has 20 days for annual leave so what do I know. :D
Politics is not what the news are giving to people, in fact politics is probably like Prince Bismarck Duke of Lauenburg, said: "Politics is not a science, as most teachers say, politics is an art ", if you destroy a piece of art, you'll get in big problems.
It's a matter of taste. If you come from a culture that doesn't eat 'seafood' it does look, and taste, really disgusting. Not for me thanks! I prefer real food:meat and potatoes.
+Ham and Eggs I feel like for people living in the west, you don't have the chance to know how delicious seafoods are after proper cooking. You haven't seen the new world yet... Honestly, Ever since I came to the US, I stop having seafoods for 3 years, because they are not the same here. Truly miss the food in China ㅠㅠ
Serpentza's claim that "China is new with only 65-yr-history because everything around is new, etc" is completely wrong. He doesn't get the difference between Civilization State and modern Nation State. Most countries in the world are the latter whereas China is the both. Everything around in China is new because China is fastly modernizing which means to a large extent "westernizing at the surface", not because she is changing her true identity. No matter how many ppl wear Jeans and use iphones in China, China and a Chinese family remain as quintessentially Chinese instead of Texas whenver you look deeper, with distinguish and unshakable 2.500-yr-plus Confucius social values and cultural norms.
The real interesting action on National Day is happening in Hong Kong. Potential history in the making - Tiananmen 2.0 You cannot just "ignore" politics dude... Especially in China...
polestar brian It's too early to tell yet. The dynamics of the movement are already changing as of this post. The youth movement is starting to take control of the agenda. It's important considering eventually Taiwan will have to deal with the same oppression from Beijing thugs...
Guy Person Hey there Guy, it's an important event. And I didn't post anything that can be considered "political" for your information. How about minding your own business and stop criticizing my comments? Nobody wants to hear it from you either. Got it?
Because people don't want to know political shit here. Full of lie in every political issue on both sides, people are just tired of those nonsense. If you really are interested in such issue then go to the place and join them instead of wasting time on internet. Just don't bother others with your opinion.
The disgusting things at the video's beginning appear to be Geoducks, or elephant trunk clams in China, a type of clam that can dig really fast. It's from northwestern North America, considered to be both a delicacy and an aphrodisiac.
I wonder if teachers give students projects during the break. Whenever I had Christmas/Thanksgiving break, there was always one teacher who couldn't resist the temptation and had us do a big project.
I am a teacher living in China and we receive a lot of pressure to give homework to our students for the holiday. This is my first year in China and where I'm from this isn't common. So I tried to get away without giving homework... But it was demanded of me.
have you ever seen the movie The Last Emperor of China it can't tell the story of the founding of the modern China state from the perspective of the boy that was the last emperor of China last decision the last real emperor of China and I wonder if he's got any descendants that are still alive today in China The Last Emperor the Son Of Heaven
So ´China` is actually Zhong Guo, or Hua Xia. Now, all of you should have guessed what does `Huawei` mean? Huawei: meaning Done/Made by Hua Xia people! And BTW, do you know what Huawei´s hometown competitor ZTE means? ZTE´s name is Zhong Xin: meaning May Central-Celestial Empire Prosperous! LOL
I am going to China for 3 weeks, 13th Dec to 3rd Jan. Which sites to visit? Also is there a EDM scene there? I'd love to see that at the same time. 我会说一点点中国!
Serge Trud Precisely! There is far too much to visit! I was thinking going to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong for 1 week each. But I really have no idea.
I am chinese. But I like to watch your video a lot.
Me too. 因为他说的是真话。
Hi Winston, I hope you have a good holiday despite the crowds. I visited Shenzhen, Shanghai and Hong Kong at this time the last two years and the crowds definitely left a bad impression and made for a very stressful holiday. Thankfully I've seen other beautiful parts of China at less busy times and I can understand why your so fond of the place.
Lol why am I watching this video since Im Chinese ..
Because you want to see Winston? ;)
Since you are China Chinese, please share a story of some of your Holiday experiences. Jia You
DavidisDawei Dude, your name! :) Check out my name, I'm Chinese by the way!
DavidisDawei And my english name is David because of my Chinese name! lol
DavidisDawei go out and shopping :
The 5000 years thing is talking about the Chinese civilization and not China, the nation. There is a very distinct difference between civilizations and nations.
***** How many deg difference for ROC
Not really, the whole 5000 year thing is little more than a meaningless slogan for the Chinese national state. The lands and peoples of China obviously has a history long before 5000 years ago. Most of their traditions and culture are way more recent than 5000 years. Everything flows as some greek said.
acetylslicylsyra
Thanks for making the meaningless effort to explain that "5000 years" is just an arbitrary number, wouldn't have figured that out without you! You are completely missing the point. The number, regardless accurate or not, is referring to the Chinese civilization and not just China, THE COUNTRY.
Civilization belong to the people who live on the land. The settlement of people is called nation, how can you separate the people and their civilization? That's stupid. And sounds like some Japanese brainwashed opinion during world war 2.
朝代的更替能大概算出来
Thank you so much for these videos. I don't hear much of China outside of politics, so these videos do wonders in humanising such a different culture.
Hi winston , really enjoy your vids appreciate you taking time out to make them , have watched them all to date , have a good national holiday sink a few beers and chillax
Winston, thanks for the video. I have learned a lot about the day to day life of Chinese people while watching for the past several years. Keep it coming!
Geoducks are the unidentified creature in your zoo segment.
geoduck is sought after food in usa. somehow it is disgusting in china. how ignorant.
the guy made the absolutely right choice to leave politics out of the channel. otherwise, the comment section of each video is going to have WARS
Also probably safer for his internet access, hah.
Oh how things have changed! 'Thanks Xi!'
Thank you for putting the incredible amount of time into producing these videos. I really appreciate the every day insight into a society I know little about. The lack of politics is damn refreshing.
The things at the beginning are Geoducks, a type of clam. They have them in Washington States, and are the mascot of The Evergreen State College.
I really enjoy your politics-go-to-hell sort of attitude
I think I just saw a seadick at the beginning.
+ghollisjr these are geoducks lol fancy food i can only get on special family dinners as a chinese grew up in california
Seadick tasted really nice
That is fanny.lol
"PRC" is just a modern "regime" of China, and as a modern "regime" of China, PRC is young, but China is very old as a continuous culture and country. China has different layers of meanings and many different dynasties(regimes) through out history, "PRC" is just one of them(so does ROC in Taiwan), and Chinese dynasties all have inherited connections to each others which also makes China as a whole and continuum. China is the cradle of East Asia civilization, and as a "civilization", China does have over 3500 years of recorded continuous history and over 4000 years history if including Xia（夏） dynasty, and that is true, not nonsense.
I agree sir
now, communist dynasty
No, communist dynasty is from 1949 to 1989. Now we are in the 'State capitalism'. And the Communist Party is the largest corporate trust in the planet.
MG47 saying China is old is like saying any european country is old. They're all based on ancinet cultures that have slowly changed over time. That is why most people find the "5000 year history" to be exaggerated and ridiculous.
American multinational corporation traitor dynasty
this guy is the very very few unbiased outsiders i've ever seen. enjoy your life in china. cheers!
任何國家和民族都有自己的歷史和文化傳統 需要理解和尊重 你的影片和評論很真實 期待有更多影片 我是台灣人也希望看到強大的中國
+Cing Chen I am a mainland Chinese, and I respect Republic of China, Thank you for your rational and respectful comments. I hope I have opportunities to travel in Taiwan one day.
+ffakerr
That's one very decent comment from a Taiwanese, but he is not alone. They (the more rational and neutral ones) tend to understand the concept of "Chinese civilization" and the importance of it, unlike serpentza.
马丁·雅克：了解中国的崛起 Martin Jacques Understanding The Rise of China TED演讲集
youtube [[dot]] com/watch?v=oT8ki6ciopI&list=PL32215D034C97E1A6
作为大陆人 很奇怪你的想法
+Cing Chen He's just making some comments from a western perspective. He didn't say it was wrong or whatever. I'm Chinese and I don't really take it offensively.
English please?
I agree what you said China is actually a young country. It was established in 1949. The so called "5000 years civilization, was clean cut off by infamous " culture revolution ".
I agree with you completely. Don't travel and never get on a train during National Day or Spring festival. I am just going to stay home for the first three days and go about locally after that.
As a chinese, it is not ideal to travel in national holiday.
No worries. I always kept it in my mind what topics to avoid or not to talk about if we visit China.
U know what Winston, me a Chinese Malaysian here still found it interesting to see and hear through you on anything abt China so I think things would be more interesting to your western followers.
Wow, even when you say that China is packed in National Day. I still want to go there in that time.
Wilson, can you show us your new apartment and explain why you actually moved from old place?
Lol the beer promotion could have been done a tad better. Thanks for another informative video.
9:10 They do that in Taiwan too. There may be a holiday on Tuesday, so the government makes Monday a holiday too so people get a 4-day weekend. But then they designate a later Saturday as a "make-up work day".
The government is young not China.
Joey Man he means new china,not china whole history
The reason I like your channel is because you don't go into the politics. I just want a concept of what day to day life would be like there. Keep up the good work! Thanks
Hi Serpentza.How are you going.I like your video very much.Thank you for the great job you have done.Greetings from South Australia.
+Zee Li (Leemouzee) You are a Chinese and studying in Australia ?
I find these videos by you very informative. I want to learn more about China as a businessman, investor, & US citizen
Serpentza is totally right.
Don't travel during national day in China. (Normally from 1Oct to 7Oct)
The highway, the train, the airport, the park, the popular resort, everywhere is jammed.
Nice video. China is not an unambiguous concept. It has different layers of meanings and the same is true with its history. I agree that China does not have 5000 years of history, as far as history is commonly understood. Culturally, one may talk about at least 3250 years of written history---and basically in the same writing system at different stages of its evolution. Some archaeologists---Chinese and western alike---have argued for the influence of even earlier, prehistorical elements of culture on historical China, including the layout of public buildings in a settlement, ritual vessels, jade wares etc., whose traces can be detected no later than the 2nd half of the 3rd millennium bce (Late Longshan culture---e.g. Taosi city; certainly the Erlitou Culture dated to 1750 bce.). Politically, though, China has witnessed many "states, starting from those Neolithic city states/chiefdoms (yes you can have a "city" in the Neolithic age in East Asia; in the Near East, Bronze Age began too early for this phenomenon to be possible, I assume), to Shang, Zhou (when a variety of states vied for the power but all acknowledged a common spiritual/political ruler---compare Germany before the 1870s). Imperial China began with the Qin empire (some argue that "China" is derived from Qin which is pronounced Chin---but a few linguists prefer a different origin), reaching its first peak between 200bce-200ce during the reign of the Han empire (whence the term Han---major ethnic group in China), coming to an end with the fall of the Manchurian Qing Empire (at which point Manchurians were mostly Sinicized up to this day). The "China" which is 67 years old is the current state which rules China, with the Communist Party as the ruling party---and in my opinion doing a good job in the past 3 decades at least. So the PRC is 67, but Chinese as a "nation" or China as a cultural concept does have a much much longer history. 5000 years is a bit shaky, but "several thousand years" is certain. Compare India. And unlike ancient Sumer, Egypt Babylon, Assyria and Meso-american civilizations in Mexico, China never lost its major language, the script, basic beliefs and values etc. So I argue that it's a living civilization while the former three are dead---I know modern assyrians exist but religiously and linguistically fundamentally different from ancient Assyrians---basically a modern cultural construct thanks to the rise of nationalism within the Ottoman empire. So PR of China is a young state, while China is a civilization which a long history, with no clear date of founding.
+ofekzpeggy129 *with a long history; last line.
+ofekzpeggy129 Perhaps that's why many westerners believe Taiwan is the true spirit of China? Because that is the remnants of the republic that is very similar to our own governments here in the west.
ofekzpeggy129 cool dude
I feel like this is the last time anyone foreign will enjoy china. Thankyou Winston
Hello from 2022, Winston started talking politics
In the restaurants you see tanks full of live seafood including clams that look half a foot long and shrimps that are moving before they are cooked like going to an aquarium. Across the border in Hong Kong in a market place you find all sorts of live fish in a containers filled with water along with live turtles and frogs waiting to be butchered. Once upon a time you find live chicken in HK market places now mostly quick-frozen to control the spread of bird flu. Fresh ingredients mean a lot here in Hong Kong.
Today in HK we are having a holiday for the China National Day. However, people are very much glued to the TV screen as many people are out occupying the main financial district near Central, Causeway Bay, Mongkok and Tsim Sha Tsui tourist shopping area. Small sections of the city are blocked to car traffic and you see many people just sitting in the middle of a busy street like Nathan Rd. for the past 2 days. While all this is going on, the HK Chief Mr. CY Leung is busy celebrating the holiday with fireworks along Victoria Harbour later on. The past 3 days people on the street has become an attraction on its own as many locals flock to places where there are gatherings and started photographing & recoding videos. During the National Day, shops are closed in HK and this year we are seeing people are out on the street like never before.
people mountain people sea made me laugh a lot ~~~~ love your video!!! good job!!
quite true , i'd rather stay home or go to some nearby places than travel during the national day vocation. I am Chinese.
Picking out our own sea food has actually been one of my favorite things about China so far. Recently we went to a restaurant in Dalian where we got to pick out our own lobster and a fish, and 15 minutes or so later they were cooked up on a plate in front of us. And I agree it is much like a zoo. As far as the National Holiday I wish that I had seen this video before it actually happened here, no joke about places being crazy. We went to a national park here on October 1st and it was ridiculous, we drove to Dandong, on the North Korean border and it was chaos at some points.HE IS RIGHT! DO NOT TRAVEL!! Also the making up the workdays for the day off was totally unexpected and wasn't told to me by my employers until the week before. China how it is. You're hitting it right on the head for me.
Loved those Red Envelopes, lol...National Holiday week sounds like a trip to Disney, overcrowded, long lines and price gouging.
Hi, I totally agree that the places are packed! I went to Beijing but my friends and I got lucky, we didn't run into THAT many people while traveling. I have a video up about traveling during the national holiday, check it out and let me know what you think!
On Oct 2nd I bought a plane ticket from GZ to SH for the next day, and paid around 950 RMB. So, they had not been sold out and were not so expensive (although not the cheapest you can get). HK to SH cost 2000HKD though :)
Even traveling to Thailand at that time is best avoided. The flights are booked out so you have to buy more expensive seats. Costs are higher and it's packed.
Great point about National Day holiday. Didn't know much about it.
All though traveling during the holidays is treacherous, I found the traveling the week after the holiday has great discounts and tourist places are almost abandoned.
good video serpentza what good points of the holiday
China does have transportation issues. My wife often complains that it is no longer convenient to drive in Shenyang on a normal day. Too many cars, narrow streets and people not obeying the traffic laws. It has become a “free for all.” So, imagine a holiday with everybody wanting to show off their car to family. They all hit the road at the same time. Many business owners in China like big black sedans. It is status symbol.
@Winston, I believe you were there some years ago during Chinese New Year when that big snow storm paralyzed all forms of transportation in the South of China. People were stranded. Our friends told us that thousands of people couldn’t make it their home towns or get back to where they lived.
Good time to catch up on the new PS4 games, movies that you want to watch but haven't got the time!
I wonder what employers still don't provide paid vacations these days? I had pretty good vacations before I moved to the US, I was in Beijing, worked for 5 years, 3 years in a local company and 2 years in a British company, my paid vacations was around 3-4 weeks a year back there.
I just want to say thank you for sharing.
no wonder my chinese friends are not online.
Question for you: If you don't get days off except for national holidays, what do you do if you have to go to the doctor, or stay home with a sick child, or have a plumbing emergency, or have your car repaired? Now, I asked the same question of a JVlogger and he got furious with me because he thought I was criticizing Japan. I'm just asking out of curiosity, so please don't take offense. Thank you, and I love your channel :-)
The disgusting thing you saw is one of the most expensive things in the video. They treat it like the Japanese sasimi - eat without cooking.
Serpentza, You are doing an EXCELLENT Job. Seems like you spoke of subjects that was a No No to speak of and one was Hong Kong. I am glad you stay out of Politics. I enjoy you speaking of yourself and everyday occurrences. You are quite Handsome as well. Anyhow, keep up the good work.
Awesome, informative vid as always! Thank you!
Those are called gooey duck clams
I was touring across China a couple of years ago during national day, one of my stops was the terracotta warrior museum... Big mistake! It took forever just to get in and out of the site, never mind round it.
As you say in the video, don't come to the touristy areas of China during this time unless you just want to see crowds of people!
yeah，for u foreign guys,to visit the gorgeous place in china during Christmas would be a good choice.
You hit 30k subs I expect your next vid to be suprising!
My friends and I went traveling around the dongbei region last national day holiday and honestly it was totally fine - OK, 12 hours standing on a train wasn't ideal (top tip: book train tickets in advance...) but in terms of visiting touristy places it was fine. Have a look at the videos I did vlogging our travels on my channel :)
Harbin! Encountered any Russian?
+alexander shek Lots of Russian students here! I really need to start learning some Russian off them, planning a trip through Russia this summer :)
I lived in China (Suzhou) for six months, I miss that place..
More knowledge. Thanks.
Should be in Shenzhen on the 15th October. Will love to meet you.
PRC is young China is not!
What sort of decision making did you use to pick the new apartment? I've often wondered what picking a good apt. in a city would be like... (always lived in rural areas)
When you first moved to China, did you intend on staying? Why did you move? Where were you living before (SA?)?
He got a job in China teaching medical students or something. Ofcourse he intends on staying in China because he has his own business there making his own bikes and he's a teacher. He is apparently also British since SA was part of UK before apartheid. I was living in SA since born and that country has gone to shit.
The government is so bad. No body wants to say it but it has to be said, a white president in SA would have such a positive effect on the country but too bad the majority of them are blacks so there will never be a white president unless the people wake up.
Yeah whites are whites but we don't group white people into a European category. We simply call them by what they are, such as UK or Americans or Germans etc...
I live in New Zealand now but when I was born in SA, people would just go up to your car and rob you infront of day light. I remember every shopping mall I went to, there were always Police inside the shopping malls hanging out just as a safety measure.
***** He explained why he left SA
***** no, the distinctions are national and not on race really. But in Europe we'd see Latino's as white, but I guess that's not the case in America. We also don't call mixed race people of black/white parentage black. The references to Obama as 'black' was a bit odd to us.
China does have more than 5000 years history, and only changing thing was dynasty !
good stuff man. i just got back from china. so im catching up on youtube lol.
I'm actually more curious about the Chinese media on what's happening in Hong Kong right now.
Basically, don't give a sh*t about it.
Just a bunch of students manipulated by a few careerists.
Before 1997, the Governor of HongKong was designated by the Queen, no one fought for democracy. Now they are able to elect the Chief Executive, and they call it dictatorship. Ridiculous.
***** Nope- he's nominated by the local hong kong elite and approved by Beijing. This entire beijing pupet propaganda is just that- nonsense to cover up the ambition of a bunch of socialists to ruin the freest economy in the world.
Quick question, were Hong Kongers allowed to freely elect WHOEVER they wanted between 1997-2014?
***** what differene does it make if that was what was agreed? the agreement between two countrys. was still broken.
***** That's funny. HK is part of China so the chief of course may listen to the China gov somehow. That's the nature of political game isn't it? If you call the HK chief a puppet then call all mayors and governors puppets of white house. Are you too busy to fight for freedom which caused you forget the basic rule of our world and basic etiquette of humanity?LMAO
Those rather phallic shellfish were geoduck :D No ruder looking bit of food LOL!
Too true! The first time I travelled to the East, I planned to spend a week in Hong Kong and Macao, then fly to Chongqing and get on a cruise down the Yangze River (this was when the dam was still being constructed, so I wanted to see the famous gorges).
A colleague whose family is from Hong Kong, advised not to try to book flights from HK to Chongqing on-line. Back then, there was only one English language site, and it was a rip-off. He said I should wait until I'm in Hong Kong and go to a travel agency - I'd get a much better deal there.
What he didn't think important to tell me was that I was going to HK during the National Holiday. Everything was sold out! The place was packed! I ended up cancelling the second week, thinking I'd come back in six months or a year, but I never did.
National Day is business people's holiday. Thats it. It gives you nothing but traffic jams and all that.. btw, crowded everywhere at attraction places
I like to see the fish when I go to restaurant since I was a child lol
I think I'm telling history,not politic.
Xia Zhou Qin Han··········Qing dynasty,now ROC in Taiwan and PRC in mainland
All are called China（中国）
Word "中国" is created form Zhou
Now "China" means "中国"
But it's different from ROC(republic of china) and PRC(people's republic of china)
You must split the meaning of China、ROC、PRC etc.
Yeah,that's quite true about the National Day,the best thing to do is to rest in bed and watch the traffic jams,LOL
I love your videos (speaking as a mainlander).
I dislike travelling at national holidays also. But I am the 'privileged' people who has 20 days for annual leave so what do I know. :D
Politics is not what the news are giving to people, in fact politics is probably like Prince Bismarck Duke of Lauenburg, said: "Politics is not a science, as most teachers say, politics is an art ", if you destroy a piece of art, you'll get in big problems.
As a Chinese, new china is just one part of china history, China does have 5000 years history.
I notice you use the word disgusting so much. Even when you see the sea food, they a look cute and they taste delicious. They are not disgusting🤗
+Jack Xin so true
It's a matter of taste. If you come from a culture that doesn't eat 'seafood' it does look, and taste, really disgusting. Not for me thanks! I prefer real food:meat and potatoes.
+Ham and Eggs I feel like for people living in the west, you don't have the chance to know how delicious seafoods are after proper cooking. You haven't seen the new world yet... Honestly, Ever since I came to the US, I stop having seafoods for 3 years, because they are not the same here. Truly miss the food in China ㅠㅠ
very helpful for other people to china life.
Well said -from Changsha
Wohooo My weekly Entertainment :) Stay awesome
Serpentza's claim that "China is new with only 65-yr-history because everything around is new, etc" is completely wrong. He doesn't get the difference between Civilization State and modern Nation State. Most countries in the world are the latter whereas China is the both.
Everything around in China is new because China is fastly modernizing which means to a large extent "westernizing at the surface", not because she is changing her true identity. No matter how many ppl wear Jeans and use iphones in China, China and a Chinese family remain as quintessentially Chinese instead of Texas whenver you look deeper, with distinguish and unshakable 2.500-yr-plus Confucius social values and cultural norms.
The real interesting action on National Day is happening in Hong Kong. Potential history in the making - Tiananmen 2.0
You cannot just "ignore" politics dude... Especially in China...
How clowns make history? Like in HongKong, the ones who miss the Governor designated by the Queen cries that it is not democratic to elect the CE.
polestar brian It's too early to tell yet. The dynamics of the movement are already changing as of this post. The youth movement is starting to take control of the agenda. It's important considering eventually Taiwan will have to deal with the same oppression from Beijing thugs...
Guy Person Hey there Guy, it's an important event. And I didn't post anything that can be considered "political" for your information. How about minding your own business and stop criticizing my comments? Nobody wants to hear it from you either. Got it?
ignorance is bliss
Because people don't want to know political shit here. Full of lie in every political issue on both sides, people are just tired of those nonsense. If you really are interested in such issue then go to the place and join them instead of wasting time on internet. Just don't bother others with your opinion.
great talks,hope you can enjoy China
Nice video！ Thanks
The video is awesome and true but FYI people do have annual leave in China
The people‘s republic of china is the name from the current government. But China means more than that.
The disgusting things at the video's beginning appear to be Geoducks, or elephant trunk clams in China, a type of clam that can dig really fast. It's from northwestern North America, considered to be both a delicacy and an aphrodisiac.
I wonder if teachers give students projects during the break. Whenever I had Christmas/Thanksgiving break, there was always one teacher who couldn't resist the temptation and had us do a big project.
Oh yeah,every teacher is good at skew your holidays, Chinese teachers are the experts
Our students even have assignment during new year,summer break ,etc. so national day is not that much different than school days
Through My Eyes That stinks! I hope they don't mind if I do everything the night before.
I am a teacher living in China and we receive a lot of pressure to give homework to our students for the holiday. This is my first year in China and where I'm from this isn't common. So I tried to get away without giving homework... But it was demanded of me.
Darren MacQueen
That's unfortunate, but at least you're trying to be the best teacher for your students.
have you ever seen the movie The Last Emperor of China it can't tell the story of the founding of the modern China state from the perspective of the boy that was the last emperor of China last decision the last real emperor of China and I wonder if he's got any descendants that are still alive today in China The Last Emperor the Son Of Heaven
He has no children but his cousins did.
Of course, stock up on beer. :D
Can you ride your motorcycle on the great wall? How long of a ride would it be?
Don't go that day if you don't want to die from a patriotism overdose.
that willy looking shell fish thing is a Geoduck
Geoduck 0:20
What about the television shows during this holidays? Do they have good entertainment?
Happy National Day!
I respect your views Winston, this is a great reminder of how China really is, thanks for that !
the government has launched a plan to make company give free-selection holidays to employees
So ´China` is actually Zhong Guo, or Hua Xia.
Now, all of you should have guessed what does `Huawei` mean?
Huawei: meaning Done/Made by Hua Xia people!
And BTW, do you know what Huawei´s hometown competitor ZTE means?
ZTE´s name is Zhong Xin: meaning May Central-Celestial Empire Prosperous! LOL
People mountain People sea 人山人海 哈哈。
I am going to China for 3 weeks, 13th Dec to 3rd Jan. Which sites to visit? Also is there a EDM scene there? I'd love to see that at the same time. 我会说一点点中国!
Where in China are you going? It is a big country!
Serge Trud Precisely! There is far too much to visit! I was thinking going to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong for 1 week each. But I really have no idea.
OK, you have not decided.
Where you from
Mediocre-Motorcycle-Modifications