Packed

There are too many fucking people in China. Living and traveling is a hassle because the population has exceeded the capacity of its systems. These include car lanes, subway ticket machines, bank teller counters, restaurants, and the size of public transportation areas (subways themselves, bus stops, and train stations are usually full). Having traveled to Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Guangzhou over the past couple days, I am not inclined to domestically travel again anytime soon. It was such a hassle buyingtickets, waiting in line after line and then being shoved into a train/subway. Perhaps it's my fault for not flying, but for as convenient as China promotes it's high speed rails to be, it's clear government officials don't use them themselves.

With that said, I think the bigger contributor to the mess is Chinese people. Hong Kong is physically smaller and crammed full of people, but they wait for traffic lights, queue, apologize if they bump into you, and generally respect the rules of public space. Upon my arrival into Shenzhen customs, people were pushing, running to the immigration lines, and arguing. Again, I understand that Shenzhen is the main port in which to transport goods bought in HK and inevitably will be busy, but the behavior was beyond unnecessary.

On one hand, it was super cool to see some of the major cities in the south of China. However, doing so reinforced my negative thoughts and opinions about Chinese people. It was a zoo and it absolutely didn't need to be. Traveling anyway besides a plane was an experience, and one that I will work to avoid again at all costs. 

Degen Hill

Degen Hill is an American editor, writer and reporter who loves traveling, reading, and exploring the world around him. "Aventuras" is a travel blog and writing portfolio covering the food, people, and cultures of China, South America, Southeast Asia, and many other countries around the world

#Travel #TravelBlog #Expat #LifeAbroad #Traveling #Aventuras #Writing

http://www.degenh.com
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