This is Legit China.

Pulling into Haimen, China, was a little overwhelming. Shanghai is full of westerners (with over 1 million expats), English menus, and huge skyscrapers.

Haimen is nothing like Shanghai. Although this is a city of 1 million, it feels quite a bit smaller and much more isolated. There is an obvious disparity between rich and poor. The streets are lined with a mixture of new high rises, older mid rise buildings, and small brick 'houses'. And there are no westerners.

As I was wandering around town, people were staring at me like I was a freaking celebrity. At least 100 Chinese people have a picture of me on their phones, and I've only been here 2 days. Seriously.

I did some shopping for necessities in Auchon, basically a Chinese version of Target, and people would come up to me and look into my shopping cart to see what I was buying. Then they'd walk away and whisper to their shopping partners.

I can imagine the fascinating conversation:

"Look! A white person!"

"What's she doing here?"

"No idea, but she's buying toilet paper, a hairdryer, and a pink blanket."

"Cool. Get a picture."

 

I admit I was wondering what I got myself into when I was wandering around. I'm definitely experiencing culture shock to a degree that I've never experienced. I'm basically alone in a small town in China, I don't speak Chinese, and it's freaking freezing here.

I was almost about to panic, but then I found the Starbucks, and I knew I'd be fine.