By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: Is my Face just bigger than her FACE? TRAVEL
Wife wants to travel.. never left the country, yet.. She wants to take a Chinese tour thing to Thailand (few days), get a stamp on her passport. I support this. But I do not want to go. She can go with the daughter, they can get the stamps. I have absolutely zero interest in following a Chinese tour around for a few days.
so far Thailand is her S/E Asia desired destination. Can't go to Malaysia because their planes crash. Can't go to Philippines because they have too many guns and don't like Chinese. Indonesia has not been ruled out, but probably just because she does not know it exists.
I have 3 giant maps on the walls, the World, China and South East Asia ... 3.5 years she has been looking at them.
She can tell me which one is China, because it is shaped like a chicken and it is going to eat Japan.
kinda personal, but. oh well, ... how was your first trip with your love .... Not to HOME.
HAVE A NICE DAY!!!
8 years 41 weeks ago in Transport & Travel - China
Here is what you do.
Take your wife on a trip to Kualu Lumpur. During this trip she will learn several things
1. Not all planes to Malaysia crashes
2. It is possible to eat out without having to 'tea-off' the utensils
3. Malaysians are nicer people than Chinese
ScotsAlan:
I have been on a Chinese tour to Malaysia. Never again. Getting locked in Chinese owned shops and cheap Chinese meals in joints with polythene table cloths. Worth doing it once for the experience, but never again. The only upside was the cheap hotels tended to be in the racier parts of town.
Scandinavian:
@Scots. Of course not a Chinese tour group. Just go to airport, get on plane, land, have fun.... "There is no "fun" in Chinese tour group" isn't that the motto of the Chinese ?
Scandinavian:
@BHGAL: Not sure who is the boss in my home. But I know that planes I put my wife on will not crash because her mother always prays it will not. !
Thailand - yes! Some lovely places.
Chinese tour group - no way! Absolute nightmare. You're right to refuse mate.
BHGAL:
if I go, I am going diving and golfing...... find me a Chinese tour to do this and I will go.
boy, am I gonna be tough on her when she gets home this afternoon........ hahahahahhaha
Here is what you do.
Take your wife on a trip to Kualu Lumpur. During this trip she will learn several things
1. Not all planes to Malaysia crashes
2. It is possible to eat out without having to 'tea-off' the utensils
3. Malaysians are nicer people than Chinese
ScotsAlan:
I have been on a Chinese tour to Malaysia. Never again. Getting locked in Chinese owned shops and cheap Chinese meals in joints with polythene table cloths. Worth doing it once for the experience, but never again. The only upside was the cheap hotels tended to be in the racier parts of town.
Scandinavian:
@Scots. Of course not a Chinese tour group. Just go to airport, get on plane, land, have fun.... "There is no "fun" in Chinese tour group" isn't that the motto of the Chinese ?
Scandinavian:
@BHGAL: Not sure who is the boss in my home. But I know that planes I put my wife on will not crash because her mother always prays it will not. !
your wife hasn't gotten annoyed yet at other Chinese staring at her and audibly judging her, just because her husband is foreign? My wife would never do a tour with me, but not because she thinks it's boring.
Don't do it... I have been on domestic trips with Chinese people and my wife. The trips themselves are pretty cool but guess what ruins it?
The damn Chinese tourists... TRUST ME you do NOT want to spend time with them or be associated with them. Especially if you are going to another country...
Sorry, but the truth hurts.
Following a Chinese tour group around Thailand--based on the videos I have seen, I would die of the embarrassment alone. Thais already tend to assume that Chinese tour groups are going to be a bunch of arseholes.
Stick to your guns. Maybe plan a trip of your own while she and the daughter are traversing Thailand.
take the train to vietnam, leave her in the city to shop and go to the beach by yourself and enjoy the scenery.
I would vote for the Philippines....but then your wife won't get a stamp in her passport....they'll just stamp the paper visa that's paper-clipped into her passport. Something about that map in the Chinese passport with a 9-dashed line encircling all of the South China Sea. Did this twice with my then-gf/now-wife.
So now I vote Indonesia. If her final destination is Bali, she can get a visa-on-arrival, and that stamp in her passport she wants. Plus, you'd be in Bali, which is pretty awesome....at least during low season.
Thai people already have not so nice stereotypes about Chinese. Just because they are not concerned by the 9 dashes claim in the South China sea (unlike the Philippines) doesn't mean that they like Chinese people.
In Thailand the Chinese are commonly seen as rude, impolite, arrogant, ignorant, uneducated, unaware of Thai culture and having no respect for it. Other tourists also often complain about them being loud and smelly, a very large number of hotels won't accept Chinese tourists nowadays, also because there has been many cases of them stealing stuff from the rooms, so called rich Chinese.
Of course not every Chinese are like that but the proportion is large enough to just ban them all, not worth the risk.
Why didh't you suggest Singapore? You've been looking at those damn maps for three and a half years, and never thought of Singapore?? It's got the best of all possible combinations! Civilised, modern, beaches, entertainment... and has Chinese who will speak Putonghua... and the added benefit that they too are annoyed by Chinese tourists! (and also, the majority of them speak English!!) Also, good shopping! And... more of a variety of things (eg foods, cultures, etc) from around the rest of the world.
And, of course, there's always HongKong. And, yes, you can tell her it's a different country, cos she'll need to get a visa to go there :D So at least she'll get the stamp
I've never had a gf long enough to go on an overseas trip, but I did meet up with my ex- (a Chinese girl) in Thailand, where she was working (as a Chinese teacher, not as... you know, something else they do in Thailand...). She was a little more worldly (and educated). So not so much of a problem... She doesn't trust Thais, but actually has said a couple of times that they're worse than Chinese when it comes to business, but nicer people.
I think I'd break my own leg to get out of a Chinese tour group....
RachelDiD:
How are Thais worse than Chinese when it comes to business? I am just curious, because I have considered living there at some point. Did she give specific examples?
Shining_brow:
Looks like someone doesn't like Singapore :p (or me bad-mouthing Thai people!)
@Rachel - she has said a few things., since she's been working there for over a year now as a teacher of Chinese (but she got this pretty early on).
Firstly, like many Chinese, they will rip you off and lie to your face. her experience, and aparently that of many other foreigners who went there to work, was the visa agency (which you have to go through - government authorised) were quite lazy about actually doing the paperwork. She found the guy she was working with outright lied - including crap like "The school headmaster hasn't signed the documents yet"... 1 - when he hadn't even received them or 2 - he had earlier and sent them back. When she went to the agency office, the papers were even on the guy's desk, and he was still lying about it!
Secondly, also like Chinese - in business they will expect something for nothing. For her, it was additional teaching, or even just being around on her time off. Phonecalls during lunch asking her to come back early, trips back to China that were to be considered her holiday, even though she had to stay with the students and guide them around ("but, you're going back to China - it should be a holiday for you!")
There are very clear prices for locals and for foreigners when it comes to travel. And, due to the lack of law in Thailand, the locals feel they can get away with anything. Again, the police are pretty corrupt!
That being said - nice place, and the people can be really friendly... (at least to your face). And if there's no real power imbalance, it can be really nice. In business, like in any business, don't lose what you can't afford to lose. And like a contract here, if you don't like it, don't sign it!!! (from what she was saying, you might find it won't matter much if you do sign it.. things might change :( )
And, just like in China - some people are awesome, and make what I said look complete BS!!! Or maybe, she just got the bad apples...