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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: Have your parents ever visited you in China? What did they think of the place?
This came to me as I've got a friend in his 40s in Beijing whose parents are about to descend on Beijing, and he's a little worried that they're gonna struggle/hate the place given various reasons.
My parents visited me back in 2009 when I was in Guangxi, and they liked the laid back, friendly pace of the city I was in (Liuzhou). My dad, having grown up in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore with Chinese ayis looking after him particluarly liked the place. They weren't too keen of having their hotel room inspected by a policeman when they were out however (A policeman checking in and out during their stay and them coming back to ruffled up luggage brought them to this conclusion).
What are your experiences? My parents are planning a second China trip, this time to Beijing this summer. Of course it's a lot different to the south I'm a little apprehensive that some aspects of this city are gonna leave with a sour taste in their mouth. I'm just praying for pollution-free days!
11 years 3 weeks ago in Family & Kids - China
I had my parents visit me in 2010 when I was living in Beijing myself and they generally liked the city. But make sure to try to have your parents come and visit you on some of the slightly less foggy (smoggy) days. It would also be good to have them take some trips outside of Beijing during the smoggier days - day trips to the further parts of the Great Wall would be great for example.
But generally speaking I wouldn't say that Beijing is too difficult to adjust to for western parts with most of the city being fairly modern.
My mother visited during Springfestival 2012.
She didn't like Shanghai because it is too crowded. She found my wifes hometown (small village) quite strange, but she seemed to like it, except the cold (no heating inside).
She doesn't understand how I can live in China, so after our move to Shenzhen I plan to invite her again and show her around outside the city also.
Had both my parents down here in Zhuhai last spring. They got to experience some weeks of "normal life" in China, spiced up with some days in the hand of "a normal Chinese woman" guiding them around.
Overall they liked it, and seeing how we live, helped them understand why we left "the safety of home" to live in a developing country.
Nope, and I'm glad. My mom would beat me for being such a slob, and probably die from starvation due to her picky-eating habits. My older sisters would go around terrorizing and beating Chinese men to a pulp, like they do to their American boyfriends. My brothers would never leave the nightclubs...
My brother might come this summer...as I'm getting married, dunno if my parents ever will.
I couldn't imagine my parents coming here. They live in a town of about 3,000 people with white folks comprising 99% of the population (Appalachia baby, cue Deliverance theme song). Culture shock wouldn't even begin to describe their experience if they came to China. Thank god they're like most Americans and don't even have a passport
Seeing that China is as far away from home as you can get, isn't that a good distance to be from family? I sometimes just put the phone down when my mother calls. She could just be playing a recording for all I know. Yeah I'm sure thats whats going on, she calls and plays a recording because she has nothing new to say for an hour , no one could yak about nothing for that long, and I pretend to listen.
Well, my parents are the reason I came to China in the first place (expatriated dad).
They loved it at first. We all did, despite having a bit if a hard time getting used to this new lifestyle. It was awesome.
But since the past 2-3 years, we all started getting a bit annoyed because of the little - and sometimes big - things. (Anyone who's been in China for more than 2-3 years knows why).
All in all, they still like it. (They're still there, I'm not )
I wouldn't have my parents waste their time or money in visiting China. They have a flawed system and it's manifested in the dump that this country is. The people, in large part are animals and the country in general is filthy.