1.
Be aggressive when waiting for a taxi, there is
no queuing or courtesy when it comes to flagging down a taxi. People will see
you waiting and just stand 10m further up the road to be in front of you. When
you are waiting its likely you will have to push in front of someone at some
point….it’s every man for himself. If a taxi is free there will be a little red
neon light on the dashboard meaning the taxi is free. It can also be difficult
to get a taxi around 5:00pm as a lot of the taxi drivers finish their shifts,
so even though they might pull over unless your final destination is on the way
to their house they probably won’t take you.
2.
Try to go travelling for Chinese New Year. The
actual main celebrations last for about 7-10 days and during this time a lot of
China completely closes down, many of your local shops and restaurants will
close. Imagine Christmas day for about a week, because of mass migration from
rural areas of China to the cities means that a large population of cities
such as Wuhan, Beijing and Shanghai return to their respective home towns
usually in the surrounding rural areas. It can feel like a bit of a ghost town
although McDonalds is still open.
3.
Cars can turn right through red lights at all
times. I didn’t realise this until a friend told me a few months after I first
arrived here so I had a couple of occasions when I nearly got run over and had shouted
abuse at drivers. I still think it’s a funny old set up and often forget on
occasions as drivers here aren’t exactly cautious with their driving and come
flying around corners. Quite a few foreigners working as teachers in Wuhan buy
electric scooters to get around, although no matter how careful you are with
driving them, other drivers in China can be unpredictable so I wouldn’t
recommend using one.
4.
If you’re out and about and need the toilet do
anything you can to find your way to a Starbucks. Some of the public toilets
in China are disgraceful so using a clean western toilet is a real treat. Even some
of the toilets in the modern expensive shopping malls are awful….the shops are
spotless so…what are the cleaners doing? Most toilets in cafes and restaurants
are acceptable but I’ve had occasions when I’ve been holding one in all
day until I got home.
5.
On a freezing Wuhan day visit the spa. There are
plenty of these all around the city, you are given a wristband with a tag on
entry and you pay for various services as go. You can have a relatively cheap
day unless you start paying for facials and massages which can be pricey. Wuhan
can be really cold in the winter and as most buildings don’t have central
heating it is nice to be toasty warm for an entire day. Spa places have an all
you can buffet 3 times a day as well as hot baths and shower facilities,
massages and beds to relax on with your own TV. Men, women and child all go
although obviously the bath/shower facilities are separated by gender. You are
given some matching Hawaiian shorts and t-shirts to wear, on a cold day it’s a
great place to eat, play pool/table tennis and relax in the hot baths. It’s
also not a bad idea to take your laptop so you can watch a few movies.
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