A travel influencer said she was constantly “being watched” while visiting China – and kids touched her to check if she was real – but thinks we could learn a lot from their culture.
Karolina Wachowicz first had to “navigate a rigorous bureaucratic process” before arriving in the country.
The 35-year-old, from Poland, said she filled out a long application form that included copies of her plane tickets, the hotels she would be staying in, and confirmation of her citizenship.
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She said she then had to wait about a month before receiving approval for her tourist visa, which allowed her to spend a maximum of one month in China.
Karolina told Need To Know: “When I finally stepped onto Chinese soil after a 15-hour flight, I felt like I was on another planet.
“Shanghai and Beijing were as clean as an operating room.
“I thought I’d see dirt and cheap labour on the outskirts, but nothing of the sort.
“Every place looked like something from a futuristic world, the modern skyscrapers in Shanghai seemed to symbolise the future, while the ancient temples in Beijing were a reminder of the country’s rich history.”
Karolina said she was amazed by the differences between western children and Chinese kids after attending a birthday party in a local village.
She said: “I didn’t expect that my neighbours – a young married couple – would invite me to their son’s birthday party.
“Wanting to immerse myself in the local culture, I decided to attend.
“When I arrived at the venue, a modest but carefully decorated house in the centre of the village, it turned out that the party was really big.
“I was the only white person there, and they looked at me like I was some kind of phenomenon.
“I was surprised to see entire families attending the celebration, everyone treated it like an important social occasion.
“In fact, the apartment door was left wide open the entire time.
“After the birthday boy, the star of the celebration was his mother.
“A woman in her forties, smiling but clearly exhausted, bustling around the kitchen like an orchestra conductor.
“She had prepared an unimaginable amount of food.
“I tried everything, not because I wanted to, but because it was the right thing to do.
“The hosts watched carefully to see if I liked it, and it was truly delicious.
“Guests looked at me with friendly curiosity, as if I was something they hadn’t expected but worth seeing up close.
“Children gingerly touched me, as if checking if I was real.
“Parents pushed their children towards me, saying ‘go ask her how to say cat in English’ and others.
“For many of them, contact with a foreigner was something special.
“They treated me as an educational opportunity, but not in a hostile way.
“One of the things that impressed me most was the natural interaction between the children.
“Unlike the birthday parties I know, where children often sit with their noses buried in tablets, playing computer games, or watching something on their phones, here they played together.
“The kids played chess, hide and seek, ran around, laughed.
“They were in the ‘here and now’ without screens.
“And they were immensely curious, they asked questions, wanted to know where I came from, what my family was like, what I ate at home.”
She added: “This wasn’t just a children’s event, it was a meeting of cultures, an exchange of experiences, and a reminder of how different childhood and upbringing can be.
“Chinese kids study 24/7 and behave so well, and they always want to practice their English.”
Karolina was also impressed with how clean the cities are in China, but said it comes with a cost.
“Chinese cities are enchantingly orderly and sterile,” she said, “this was one of the aspects that truly surprised me upon arrival.
“The streets are regularly washed, the subways gleam, and trash disappears from public spaces within minutes.
“There’s also a surprising sense of security: women walk alone at night without fear, and theft is rare.
“You won’t see any homeless people on the streets either.
“However, this perfect order comes at a price – behind it is a system of ruthless discipline and control.
“In China, you are never anonymous, there are cameras everywhere.
“I’ve heard there are special people who spy on citizens so you have to be super careful about what you say, especially about the government.
“I was very careful, as my friends advised.”
Karolina said she was also surprised by how different the cuisine is in China compared to the adapted dishes commonly found in Europe.
She said she was “pleasantly surprised” by how “delicate” bull testicles were.
“The most surprising experience for me was trying bull penis and testicles,” she stated.
“The penis was hard, rubbery, and truly difficult to chew, with almost no distinctive meat flavour, making it a culinary test of palate and jaw strength.
“The testicles, on the other hand, were pleasantly surprising.
“They had a delicate, creamy consistency and a subtle aroma that encouraged further bites.”
She also sampled six-month fermented tofu that “smelled like old socks”.
But she shied away from “chicks in their shells or on toothpicks”.
Karolina, who has lived in Taiwan for the last year, said: “This is one of the most controversial dishes I’ve encountered at a Chinese stall, chicks that haven’t hatched yet are served whole, skin, bones, and innards.
“Fried or grilled, they’re skewered on toothpicks and served as an appetiser.
“I didn’t dare try it, you can probably understand.”
Karolina called her visit to China “one of the best adventures of my life”.
“China is undoubtedly fascinating,” she said, “it’s a different world, governed by laws that are difficult for westerners to comprehend.
“However, I believe it’s worth visiting this mystical microcosm to experience firsthand, as I did, how people can differ from one another.”
She added: “And I finally know what duck blood jelly tastes like.”
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