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Q: What's the best past time to get into while in China?
I've been thinking recently that while I'm here I should do something that I couldn't do back home. Like learn mahjong or take up taichi or badminton or something. Anyone do anything interesting worth suggesting?
I think just walking around town is a great way to pass time. Most of us probably always go to the same shop, down the same street, buys the same imported pasta sauce. Get off track. Take a bus to somewhere you haven't been. Do some urban exploration. I am aware you will see a million China Mobile shops, but in between there may be some interesting things.
On rainy days. Mahjong could work, requires some friends though, or can it be played online? A couple of months ago I spent 30RMB on a 1000pcs puzzle, just something to sit and do on a quiet evening. Top tip. If you want a puzzle to give better value for money, get the ones with lots of grey Beijing sky.
Scandinavian:
I also considered building my own kite. What is this, am I a kid? Nope, but grown up stuff (sex and alcohol not included) often sucks. And I don't think my wife has ever flown a kick ass kite. (mental note. <Wife weight> - <kite carrying capacity> must be higher than Zero)
DrMonkey:
Hey, actually a great idea. If you can code, attach a small phone on the kite, to take pics from up there ^^
brother1818:
I am completely happy doing kids stuff. It's funny that when you're a kid you love that stuff and then you reach a certain age and you think you're too old for it, but later when you realise not to give a sh*t what people think then you're free to do it again.
The kite idea sounds awesome. as does the exporing. You're right, I do tend to go to the same palces/areas all the time and Beijing is massive so there is more to see.
Scandinavian:
@DrMonkey. A GoPro camera would also do nicely for the kite. It needs to be something that can still take decent photos in shaky conditions. 500 meters of line, and the start of a home grown Google Earth is made :)
With short time (hours):
* Since noise pollution is not really a working concept in China, maybe learning a music instrument ? As far as you don't push it beyond reason, I think nobody will bother you. Just do it where you have some personal space ie. not a public parc.
* Martial arts. I suspect it assumes a solid knowledge of Mandarin. You can find a shifu in public parcs, and early in the morning, you might be spared the "LOL LAOWAI" attitude.
* Obviously, learning Mandarin ^^
With lots of time (weeks):
Roaming the countryside. For what I saw (Yunnan, Sichuan, a bit of Ganxu & Xinjiang), it's pretty damn gorgeous, if you are ok with rough life conditions.
I enjoy fishing.
I know you can do that at home, but it's done slightly differently here. And different fish too of course.
I find it's a good way to get out into the country. I had a weeks fishing in Hunan this past autumn with a Chinese friend. Fantastic trip.
I love music so I found some kindred spirits on the local music scene here and jam or gig periodically. If I had the time, I'd try to learn a traditional Chinese musical instrument.
And I love ping-pong. I love to "intrude" on an outdoor ping-pong game played on one of those concrete tables with a metallic net, and play a few points with a complete stranger. After I'm shamed by an 11-0 thrashing, I move on.
So yeah. Music and ping-pong are my favorite pastimes in China. Must try badminton next.
the small train sets that you put together on a table and make the trees and mountains, its an expensive hobby in america, but pretty cheap here, have a train going around the entire living room along the wall about half a meter from the ceiling, damn kids will tear it up if i lower down to far. going to try model planes with small engines like i used to fly in africa, maybe i can design a new drone to shoot down chinese kites, got to have a hobby.
Get a bicycle/motorcycle. Go for a ride. It's really fun... go outside the cities, and down to the countryside... just explore. Get to know people, talk to them, just be friendly and you'll find a different world out there, full of people like you and I. Genuine people, too.
