I love to watch your videos. As a Brazilian I saw how you guys treated our contry and culture with respect, and I see the same in other countries. I'm going to travel to China soon, and was following your videos closely! Thanks for the tips!
Acho que o Brasil é melhor para turismo. China é mais barata e muito mais segura, mas não é muito divertido. (or maybe it's because I grew up here so everything became too familiar)
In Canada, places like Banff is getting crowded, so now you have to take a shuttle bus to get close to the attractions. Some place you must book it first to limit how many people can go at the same time. In China, everywhere is people. They travel a lot within the country, plus there are so many foreign visitors. The lineup is probably the top of the dislike items.
@@huamok7088 BeiJing is same, but I don't really like to use the appointment system because it needs to follow their accounts. I usually go travel after Chinese holidays and during Christmas holiday, less visitors, batter services and cheaper prices! :D
Yeah I think most of the foods they sample, at least in their vlogs, are street foods sold near touristy places. They should really try the courses of different Chinese cuisines shared family-style.
He is not laughing at you for using cash, but lamenting the unreal feeling of not seeing cash for a long time. I haven’t seen cash in many years. When I got cash recently, I couldn’t help but sigh that the current version of RMB is completely different from what I remembered. 5 yuan is much smaller than before. If it were me, I couldn't help but smile and sigh.
Just to add a typo, the size of the 5 yuan version is much smaller than the previous version. When I first got the latest version, I thought it was fake.
As a Chinese person, I have to say that what you said is all true. You are a very objective TH-camr, who neither follows the Western media to smear China, nor deliberately praises it. You are the kind of traveler we dream of. China is a huge developing country, which is not heaven, nor hell, but China will make progress at a fast pace. I hope that the problems you mentioned will be improved by the time you come to China again. You are also welcome to visit China again and convey the real China to the world.
the world should be the same everywhere. it is normal some people might not be used to the culture since Chinese culture is so different and unique from other cultures. we can not make everyone satisfied. if something bad to everyone even for the Chinese, of course it is something needs to be improved. but most of occasions it is just some culture difference. it is good that we can be the different one or the world might be so boring if we become like any other country.
great to see you guys traveling in China. You guys are open-minded, cute and being fair all the time. Too many people out there spreading evil news about China. The world needs more of you to share the truth.
@MAGAChanelThe hostility between the US and China is one-sided. (Hint: it’s not coming from the Chinese side). And you give non-Americans too much credit for being able to tell the difference between “Americans” and “Westerners in general”.
@MAGAChanel@MAGAChanel If you are an ordinary person, no one will notice you unless you commit some kind of crime. If you are a CIA agent, that will be a different story lol
@MAGAChanel Is it safe for Americans to come to China? Perhaps you can learn about this American girl living in a rural area in China.www.youtube.com/@kats_journey_east
Trust me, Ivana you just don't eat enough. There are eight major cuisines of Chinese food, but this only represents the broadest regional concept. The truth is that the same city can taste very different just a few blocks away. Also, having a local people introduce is also very important. I find that Vloggers who are new to China are easy to choose a restaurant without knowing the local city food culture in advance. For example, in Guangzhou to eat Sichuan food or northwest food is really not a good choice. But it's okay if you think Canadian Chinese food is the number one Chinese food in the world. It's just your personal taste. I'm not going to judge
Agree, the choice of food is very personalized, just like me, even though I have been to so many cities in China, and so many countries around the world, my favourite food is from my hometown.
"Canadian Chinese food is the number one Chinese food in the world" is not personal. A lot of good chefs immigrated to Canada, especially from Hong Kong. Ex. Susur Lee
@@solarenergy3535 There is traditional Chinese food in Canada and westernized (sweet) cantonese food that is mostly the Chinese food sold in North America.
Man, China is one of those Countries you never forget after the visit, i visit it more than 20 times because of my Chinese wife. But my Norwegian friends also been tagging along for the last 10y, everyone is suprised China from western media views and what we see and do is not the same. We are all adults and understand its politics, but if you wanna judge China, travel and see for yourself, one of the safest place and friendly people. If you have Chinese friends, than ask him if you could tag along. Dont let the media scare you from traveling to China, earth is a small place, you dont want to limit China from your life.
The reason that shops and vendors don't like credit cards is because they take a cut of the sales, usually about 0.3%-2%. And you have to pay for the POS machine, which costs from a hundred dollars up to thousands for the bigger machines. For Ali pay and Wechat, it's completely free for small one person businesses, and less than half as much as credit cards systems for larger businesses. Also, there's no need for a POS machine unless you're a large shop, you can just print out your code on a printer.
So it’s actually because the vendors use WeChat/Alipay QR code for “personal transferring” rather than “paying to a company” thus credit card is not accepted, debit card should work(even foreign ones).
@@dicky-duck6632 thats because wechat and alipay have 2 kinds of payments, 1 is bond to credit card or your app account, its the "business" kind of payment, 2 is actually "transfer" to the business owners personal account, you need some money in your app account or debt card for this, most street vendors or small shops use this.
As a Chinese, I like your honesty and optimism. No matter good or bad, the most important thing is to be true. You are welcome to travel to China again when you have the opportunity. Tibet, Yunnan, Xinjiang, Guangdong, Guangxi... there are so many places worth exploring.
I think there's nothing about good or bad in the video, just like or dislike. It's a more subjective statement. It depends more on visitor's habits and preferences than on whether the thing itself is good or not. Steven and Ivana's videos vividly show us some interesting aspects from every country.
Now that they already made enough money from "liking" China, they are switching to "hating" tones to make money from those anti-China people such as MAGA
I feel the same as Ivana, I am a hongkonger retiring in Shenzhen. I am glad that finally have someone to feel the same as me about the smell of the oil in the restaurants in Shenzhen.
Love your honest comments what you like and dislikes. I agree with one of the dislikes about oily chilly street food 😂. Trust me this is not the entire story for Chinese food. Street food is usually cheaper with this kind of species with this similar flavor, but if you go to any decent restaurant even in Sichuan, the home of spices, you'll get a bite of true amazingness in local cuisines.
There are lots of “Foreigners come to China” videos, but you guys are my favorite, you really provide us a different perspective, I never thought a trip to supermarket could be that funny. And you are such a cute couple! Thanks for your videos 🥰
Wonderful of you both to give your honest opinion about China after having visited it 4 times. All your videos on China are interesting, informative, knowledgeable and entertaining. Hats off to you both for the hard work, Steve lvana. A huge thanks !! Xie xie.
In 1966 Indonesia banned the use of the chinese language, which lasted for around 32 years and affected 2 generation of chinese indonesians. I'm pretty sure that Ivana "suffered" this from being part the new generation of indonesians that didn't have chinese speaking parents + she went to Canada.
I know why. 5% Chinese are "controlling" 95% of the economy. Why? Because Chinese work hard and succeed. The locals are lazier. Same sh1t situation in other se Asian countries. Discrimination and anti Chinese riots ensues!
You guys are always honest and kind, never lose that no matter what! As an expat that has been living in China for the past 15 years, I can understand some of the things you dislike, like payment and hotels (it’s easy for the ones living here but not for the ones visiting). But… For the food I will have to say you guys were mainly eating street food and at small restaurants near touristic attractions. Normally the food in these places is of lower quality, with too much oil and if its street food very often very generic (you find a lot of the same stuff everywhere you go). Specially near touristic attractions I will say food is normally bad. 😂 You need to actually go to proper restaurants (bigger ones) from different cuisines, to try real and decent Chinese food. I understand it might be a little hard to know where to go, so a good way of trying different stuff could be going to famous chain restaurants from different cuisines that people in big cities eat often. For example 海底捞 (hot-pot), 外婆家 or 绿茶餐厅 （zhejiang food), 很久以前 or 木屋烧烤 (Chinese BBQ), 西贝莜面村 （northeastern food) and I could keep going for hours here. These places are just few examples that are all over China as I don’t know where you will go next and that have a decent standard and good taste. Of course there are millions of good local restaurants everywhere, but also a lot of bad restaurants, so as you don’t have people if you that speak the language I would recommend trying next time to try places like this at least few times. Modern China has malls everywhere with good quality restaurants, trust me!
It's great that you can openly express what you don't like about China. Regarding food, it's normal for people from different countries to have different tastes. Many Chinese restaurants opened abroad (such as in the US, Canada) adjust their dishes according to local preferences, so they may taste different from authentic Chinese food. As for the requirement for foreigners to stay in designated hotels, many other bloggers have complained about this too, but I believe this will change in the future.
This is because hotels are required to register foreigners with the police upon arrival and not all hotels are able to do this. Foreigners are technically required to register with the police wherever they go in China.
It's hard to believe that you don't like Chinese food. But as long as it's true feeling, we are ok with that. We do not hate critics, we only hate lies.
It's easy to understand Ivana didlike sichuan pepper, personally Iam not big fun of it, no matter what kind of food once they put pepper in it, I can't eat it😅
All in all guys, with your likes and dislikes, we respect you for that.. Most of all we thank you for bringing the "unknown" China to the rest of the world... 😊 especially on Chinese New Year🎉
This is your real experience, and I also felt your sincerity and friendliness when you were in our country. In any case, you are most welcome to come again next time.🙂
Hey, love your videos. I'm Chinese, and I have to admit you are right about the internet and payment issue. That's why people would rather go to Japan than China. Hopefully, these kind of issues can be resolved soon in the future.
I have read in Chinese news that the chinese government is working on resolving the payment issues. Some reports say you can already link payment apps to foreign credit cards like Visa or Mastercard. I can't verify that.
I'm sorry, I have watched all of your Chinese series. As a Chinese, I would like to say that all the foods displayed in your videos are not Chinese cuisine and can only be considered snacks. That is to say, ordinary Chinese people will not eat these foods if they have a few friends dining together; Even ordinary Chinese families wouldn't make these to eat. I know this is due to the lack of local people accompanying me, and also because there are very few travel guides in China around the world.
Relax. It is totally ok if someone does not lilke Chinese food or even hate it. It's just preference, nothing good or bad. What's important is that they learnt the truth about China and western mainstream media lied about China.
There are street food in every country that people eat. I don't normally eat street food but snack food and street food are still food. And each country has its own kind of street food. The word "all" seems to be overreaching.
Before I started watching your China videos, the only 2 places I had in mind to visit in China were Shanghai and Beijing. Now, I've also fallen for Xi'an... to the point where I'm trying to find Xi'an street food in Singapore... and you won't believe this, but of all places, in one of my neighbourhood hawker centres, I found the chinese hamburger Rou Jia Mo and I tried it for the first time 2 days ago... I liked it so much, I bought it again the next day! And Ivana mentioned being peranakan... I'm also peranakan, in Singapore we are called baba (for the men) and nonya (for the women). My Mum's side is hokkien, her family was from Riau islands, but eventually they came to Singapore. I can speak, read and write some mandarin, because I studied it in school, but my parents are just like Ivana, and they cannot read, write or speak mandarin. Needless to say, I had a hard time studying mandarin in school, because no one at home knows it. I'm still not very strong with mandarin, but I guess I can survive on some simple mandarin. The moment it gets too deep, it gets harder for me to understand. My parents speak english and peranakan malay, but not mandarin. Sometimes, in the hawker centre, they try to speak to my parents in mandarin, and my parents just look confused, then I have to explain that my parents are peranakan, so they don't know mandarin.
@@fj5563 Yes. Biang biang is good. But biang biang chili is not good for me. I kept sneezing whenever I ate the parts with chili on them. Maybe biang biang noodles without the chili will be better for me.
Haha, as a Chinese, thank you for conveying the real and diverse complexity of China to the world. I really enjoy watching your videos. Although I have been to these places, your perspective is completely different. And I highly agree with the suggestions you made about inconvenient travel, and I believe they will gradually improve. You are welcome to travel to China again, and next time you can come to Chengdu for sightseeing. This is the city where I live, where there are a lot of delicious food, pandas, and a long culture. Welcome❤❤❤
Every country has good things and bad things, and the same goes for China. But fortunately, China has been changing and making progress. The bad aspects are slowly getting better. I am very honored to be Chinese.
Your people are an inspiration for many herer in Brazil. It is amazing how far you have come starting from a poor country like ours. Sadly there's much propaganda and prejudice that paint China as a terrible dictatorship. But your cities, transportation and technology speak for itself. Good to see jetlag warriors bringing people of the world together and spreading understanding between cultures!
In fact, the Chinese people are not that keen on politics. China has its own democracy and freedom. To some extent, except for the fact that rumors cannot be spread on the Internet, China is even freer than the West. Dictatorship and one-party rule are often seen through tinted glasses in the West. It is precisely the one-party dictatorship that has freed China from party strife, political drafts and manipulation by politicians, and turned China into the most efficient government in the world. Especially the governments of developed coastal provinces, such as Zhejiang where I am located. Remember that China is a country with a population of 1.4 billion. So-called Western-style democracy cannot be applied to China. There are also essential differences between Eastern and Western values. It is precisely because China has blazed its own path that good policies and projects can be quickly implemented once they are approved. Of course, in addition to the government's reasons, the hardworking quality of the Chinese people is also indispensable. I hope that one day you can come to China and experience it for yourself.@@b.6603
In fact, the Chinese people are not that keen on politics. China has its own democracy and freedom. To some extent, except for the fact that rumors cannot be spread on the Internet, China is even freer than the West. Dictatorship and one-party rule are often seen through tinted glasses in the West. It is precisely the one-party dictatorship that has freed China from party strife, political drafts and manipulation by politicians, and turned China into the most efficient government in the world. Especially the governments of developed coastal provinces, such as Zhejiang where I am located. Remember that China is a country with a population of 1.4 billion. So-called Western-style democracy cannot be applied to China. There are also essential differences between Eastern and Western values. It is precisely because China has blazed its own path that good policies and projects can be quickly implemented once they are approved. Of course, in addition to the government's reasons, the hardworking quality of the Chinese people is also indispensable. I hope that one day you can come to China and experience it for yourself.@@b.6603
You said Alipay is 50/50. I guess it is the fact the the biz owner has an option of choosing between debit or credit. Small biz tends to choose debit payment to avoid small fee by his bank. So if the biz accepts debit payment yet if your Alipay is linked to your credit card payment, that would have been the issue, I guess!
Wish the chinese government explained this to all foreigners upon arrival for short term visa stay. Very scary for foreigners to not know that their payment method might work only half the time.
I think so, it's the choice of these small vender. They don't want accept credit payment since they don't want pay extra commission to credit company since their margin is low.
About Ivana being a Peranakan from Indonesia, I know quite a lot about Straits Chinese and I'm one myself. Nyonya and Baba as we are called in Malaysia and Singapore, are able to converse in Chinese Mandarin and other Chinese diaclets particularly Hokkien. I suppose it is different in where you are from; mainly due a lost generation (those born during the Suharto harsh ban on Chinese culture and traditions). That may have hasten the assimilation to the local language.
Many Indonesian Chinese do not want to admit that their absence of ‘Peranakan culture and language’ cannot be substituted with speaking a national language. We need to accept that most of us experienced forced assimilation and do not need to cover it up as ‘peranakanism’. It is fair that Ivana has a maternal peranakan lineage from her grandmother side, but how much of it was passed down to her mother and to her? What makes a Peranakan culture different from Nationalist identity? I personally feel ambivalent towards the ‘born again Peranakans’ mentality. Most assimilated Chinese Indonesians (we call Kiauseng) looked down on the true Peranakans, and felt aversed towards Chinese tradition, which was preserved very well by the oldest of the Peranakan lineages. On the other side, there are many of those Kiauseng-s who have been barely two or three genrerations and arrogantly call themselves Peranakan. This is a huge problem in Indonesian where Sin Khek becomes Peranakan and Peranakan are treated like Sin Khek. What is lost is lost. No matter how many times you wave that red and white flag, you will never recover the Peranakan culture. You need to study and actually put an effort in learning your history and diaspora instead of casually adopting the consumerist identity of Peranakanism.
Thank you for your objective assessment of China. We are delighted that you like our country. China is not immune to criticism, but we can discern between well-intentioned feedback and malicious intent. Your praise and critique are both genuine and moving. You are always welcome here, and China has many diverse cities that can offer you a wide range of experiences. We believe you will also enjoy the variety of delicious food we have to offer!
China can produce almost everything of any kind of quality, if you buy anything made in China in your own country that are not branded as Chinese own companies, then mostly those are outsourced to China by foreign brands, and the reason that you find its quality not good enough is simply because the companies you are buying products from simply squeeze too much and doesn't care their customers.
exactly. foreign companies buy extremely cheap goods (which obviously aren't gonna be good quality) and resell them to maximize profit. the simple truth is that good quality items and low quality items all come from china, its just that in the west people only associate the low quality products as chinese, when in reality their phones, laptops, tvs, and even cars are all either made in china or have significant components sourced from china
英译:I'm from Chongqing, but I can't eat anything too spicy, but there are a lot of good non-spicy things to eat in Chongqing, like crispy pork which is so good that we used to steal it when we were kids. I think everyone grows up adapting to the food of their hometown, and it's understandable that they can't get used to eating something from somewhere else!
Thank you for mentioning the ethnicity part as lots of foreigners think the main ethnicity(Han) in China doesn't like many other ethnicities, which is totally wrong. They think they have long been oppressed by the government. Totally untrue. Instead, minority ethnicities also live a free and simple life just like the majority, and even more benefits for them. For example, in the college entrance examinations, students from minority ethnicities can have some extra scores. So, thank you so much for sharing your experience and views from your side and letting the world know. And government also take many great measures to encourage tourism to boost the economy in this area. In a nutshell, BIG HUG, BIG LOVE and BIG THANKS! 👍 ❤
7:08 There's eight main culinary cuisines styles, which are Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Szechuan and Zhejiang. From those, the spicy stuff mainly comes from only two, Hunan and Szechuan style, so most of them are not spicy at all. There's other regional and ethnic minority cuisines, so you maybe you would change your mind about chinese food next time you come around and try the other styles that I mentioned; there's so much variety. People always say that a lifetime is not enough to try every chinese dish in existence.
I am Chinese and I do not like spicy food as well. So I agree with you that I hate that chili oil flavor. I guess you just don't know whether the food is spicy or not. There are lots of nice food here, you just eat a small piece of the whole Chinese food. The most famous Chinese dish here is Lu Cai, in Shan Dong Province. Maybe you didn't hear about it but you should have a try next time. Love your video.
Dear Steve and Yvonne, these are all honest feedbacks, thanks a lot. I believe Chinese government and companies will soon make changes to help international travellers to resolve the problems of internet and payment
@@redneckscumbags4422If we don't care ,why now 144h visa exists?For business, china not only have beijing ,shanghai,but also have some citys which is not available during 144h visa.like hangzhou, during Ansian Games，hangzhou gov make efforts to help foreigners adapt into hangzhou. if you come to west lake, you may find universty student volunteers in red jackets,they are not for foriengers ,but you can ask them for help .they can speak with you in english to some extents.
The quality of goods has been improving constantly over the years in China. I haven't had any unexpected quality problems for quite a long time. I hope that the period of transit visa-free time will be extended to 15 or 30 days.
Hahaha, actually I kind of agree with Ivana about the food. After all, Chinese local food is known for its strong flavors. Even though I find it delicious, sometimes it's just too oily and salty, which isn't very good for health. There are too few refreshing foods like salads in traditional Chinese local cuisine. Every country's food and culture are different, and what I really appreciate about both of you is that you respect every culture. You don't necessarily have to like them, just respecting their differences is enough. Thank you for your visit.Take care!
Two feedbacks on the dislike, I wateched few of your video and it seems for the food you went to a lot of "cheap places", like touristy street and food court in mall which probably abuse on the oil, industrial product etc...But if none of you speak Chinese, I think it can be hard to find the "good spots", especially since the good ones are rarely targeting the non Chinese. And probably must be challenging to even know what to order to begin with! For the kitchen thing, you should look at "short stay apartment", or specifically look for that. There are several platform proposing stuff with kitchen
As a Chinese, I must say that your evaluation is objective. In fact, your channel's videos have been moved to Chinese social media on a platform called Bilibili. (This is a TH-cam like platform) The video that you summarized your likes and dislikes in Shanghai has also been moved over, but I saw that many people in the comments recognized you and believed that you were honest, objective, and unbiased. On Chinese social media, many people like you because you are warm, friendly, and honest. So welcome to continue visiting my country in the future, because this country is too big and 144 hours is too short. Chinese people will not dislike or attack you because of your evaluation, at least most people will not. Because we can understand that it is normal to have negative experiences due to cultural habits, personal preferences, and language barriers. If only say how good China is, Chinese people will not accept it. But if criticize with extreme examples, deliberate exaggeration, or even fabricated reasons, we cannot accept it either. So your evaluation is very objective, and I'm glad you didn't have any bias due to the influence of Western media. You just honestly expressed your personal experience.
I can always tell foreigner from China local. But to be honest, Ivana looks sooo Chinese! Ivana has the typical look of chinese southen citizien, in the area GuangZhou and Hong Kong. I actually thought Ivana's parents were from Hong Kong and just didn't teach her madarian and catonese))) Great to hear you guys had fun in China!
Her DNA can't change. Her family were from Fujian, and so she got the typical southern Chinese look. Many people from Fujian and Guangdong "escaped" China in the late Qing dynasty and before the WWII to south east Asia and the US west coast. And Indonesia had a history of violence against ethnic Chinese, so her family might have chosen not to identified themselves as Chinese by not speaking the language.
@@VampireA-Onithe Suharto force assimilation, making them hate themselves as Chinese. So I'm not surprise Ivana, know nothing about Chinese despite have root relation to southern China. It is not too late to embrace her ancestry and learn Chinese but Canada ranked no.3 worldwide for sinophobia and racist, I don't think she will consider on it.
I agree with you, Ivana looks sooo Chinese, even more like Chinese than many Chinese people, and unlike Koreans and Japanese, It's weird because sometimes people of Chinese descent who grew up in other countries don't look like Chinese. Therefore, it can easily cause misunderstandings among Chinese people.
@@VampireA-Oni but foreign born Chinese especially American ones, look different from we Chinese people. its mostly because of culture differences, American use very different facial expressions, make facial muscles develop differently. and also the "western" makeup usually is very different from asian makeup.
I have to agree with ivana regarding the Chinese cuisine / food, I'm a Kiwi living in China and have been here for a decade, the food I eat is Cantonese food, some say it's the best food in China, not sure where that come from, I try not to eat out because to be honest my wife cooks much better food than any restaurant I have been to, I guess that's why our friends like to invite themselves over to eat a fusion of Cantonese and New Zealand food, but at the end of the day I think food is cheap here in China, if I can't find what I want in the supermarket I go online and you can get anything you want 😊😊
I am Chinese I love the foods in Guangzhou, Dim Sum, steamed fish, steamed chicken, Crispy Salted shrimp, roasted duck, roasted goose, roasted pork, Beef Chow Fun, Fried noodles with shredded pork or chicken, and so on so yummy, but when I went to the US and Australia and ate the Chinese food there I felt they were not for humans LOL
Its normal As a Chineze, I have been living in Guang dong for 20 years, but its hard for me to love guangdong food. Don't get me wrong, they are delicious, i don't hate them, but i never loved them, i won't miss them when i travel to other places.
Ah，I understand exactly what you mean by the spice oil. I guess it would be helpful if someone local could help you to find better food next time if you plan to visit. Many small restaurants and stalls do have this problem. I'm from Sichuan, trust me I know my spicy oil:D
Really like your feelings about China, especially the thought that people are more similar than different, I have the same feeling after living in canada for 6 months. I Sincerely hope that people all around the wolrd could have more oppotunities to communicate regardless of their nations, or different political systems of their countires, working together to build a real community with a shared future for mankind. By the way, it is definitely understandable that Ivana doesn't enjoy chinese food. Each person has his or her specific taste for food. We are different, but it is this fact that makes our world more colorful! Thank you so much for sharing your experiences travelling in china!!!
You sound still a little bit skeptical of the political system in the West vs China. Let me put it this way, you grew up in Canada, and you know the growth from where you were a child vs now. China 30-40 years ago was one the top 10 poorest nations on earth, and now you know China today. Tell me, which government works for the people better? the West or China? One is regressing, and one is progressing? Let's just start with the infrastructure 😁
Regarding the political system, most Chinese people are not very willing to talk about it on the Internet. Even in reality, there are very few people who are willing to talk about it. After all, it is a risky matter. The Chinese people's historical discussion life is better than it was a few decades ago. It has essentially opened up instead of being closed to the country in the past, which has been a retrograde trend in recent years...
@@SuhandiWijaya because of your compliment,he thought you are a chinese.Internet bettwen western and China is like a wall.And Chinese using VPN to use ins ,google,youtube .this behavoir is called climb over the wall.
lol I’m sorry Evana, every time I watch you guys ordering Chinese food randomly without knowing what u ordered was painful. Chilli oil is not a must in Chinese dishes. Not all Chinese like spicy food. Somehow in recent years, spicy food has become the most popular in Chinese cuisine. Actually, when a regular Chinese order food, we also tell them our preference of spice, sourness, saltiness, garnish more or less, preference of portion ratio etc. the language barrier is definitely an issue for non Chinese speakers unfortunately. Hopefully there will be English menu soon as international tourism is growing quite rapidly in mainland China after COVID. I haven’t followed all your TH-cam videos, but may I suggest Guangzhou and surrounding Cantonese regions, Guangxi province and Yunnan province for your next travel? Way better food in my opinion. Yunnan and Guangxi have some of the best sceneries and Chinese minority groups’ cultures in China. Good luck with the rest of your travels :)
I come from Xiamen, China, and I haven't used cash payment for 11 years The only chance to see cash is on Chinese New Year's Day, when elders will prepare many cash red envelopes for children
When did you last go to a fruit and veg store or market? Almost every time I go, I see older people paying with cash. I live in Jiangsu Lianyungang and previously in Liaoning Dalian, where I saw the same.
You'd better try some restaurants instead of just street food. In street food, it's common to use spicy flavors, and Sichuan pepper oil is often used to enhance the aroma.
I think the visa policy has been changed for better in general for many countries； my wife is from Singapore and the 15-day landing visa was a drag but it has been changed to 30-days from Feb 09。
@@tkh2944 Not really that many, if you don't count the transit countries, there are only 30 countries that can enter mainland China visa-free. If you include the transit visa, it adds another 20 or so (mainly the Schengen area, North America, and AU NZ.
I have greatly enjoyed your China series videos and I think your likes/dislikes are fair and I kind of resonate with some of your points. However, I would like to give a few suggestions which may improve your future experience in China: 1. Do some homework on the local food specialties before going to a different city. China is a vast country, and each province/city has its unique food culture. I personally wouldn't order beef noodle soup in every city I travel. Sichuan pepper is prevalently used in Sichuan/Chongqing but if you order an authentic Cantonese food in Guangdong or Northwest food in Xi'an or Benbangcai (本帮菜) in Shanghai/Jiangsu, you will 100% not see that pepper in any of the dishes. You wouldn't go to an Italian restaurant ordering sushi or a French restaurant ordering curry, same logic here. 2. Try booking the serviced apartments if you like to cook some food yourself as they normally have the kitchen. Something like Ascott/Citadines/Somerset/Quest is a great choice, the rooms there not only have kitchens but also washing machines which could be even more helpful, and they all accept foreigners. 3. Try to find a Chinese friend in where you live (if available) and ask them for an exchange - you give them the cash, and they send you the funds in Alipay, so that you can use the balance in Alipay to pay instead of the linked credit card which could be game changing
regarding the food, i can agree to certain extent with Ivana. I am also indonesian chinese and always joke with my chinese friends that once they get a proper peranakan chinese food, you wouldnt like original chinese food. I think peranakan chinese have blended southeast asian ingredienta well thats typically so strong in flavours. but my tongue also suits well with Hunan, Sichuan foods, and Xinjiang foods. Guangzhou's roast duck and pork can never go wrong. Food in Fujian and certain places can be bland but its just the preferences again and even that, if you go to right restaurant, you would get a better taste. So, restaurant really matters too
U cant fault a country for being more advance than your own country...I am sorry to say if u don't adjust u will be left behind...even in Singapore, we are on the way to do away with cash...just happens that China is using 6g and cashless society...give it a year or two we are also going 6g with 10gbs for WiFi and internet...this will slowly be adopted all over SE Asia...
Chinese food is subjective...not all Chinese food in China we can handle....I love HK food but majority of food in China I find too oily...not used to it lol..
@@dustbean She simply missed out on some delicious restaurants, often opting for street vendors and chain fast food joints around tourist spots that locals wouldn't typically try. But let's not forget that the tropical climate in Southeast Asia does indeed result in significant differences in dietary habits compared to temperate regions. Relatively speaking, food in temperate regions of China is undoubtedly heavier on oil and salt compared to that in Indonesia. However, the food in tropical regions of China should suit her taste, such as in Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan, and similar places. Yet, heavy oil and salt don't equate to being not tasty; she just missed out on some great dining spots.
Really enjoyed your videos in China. I love you guys showing how caring, understanding and humble you are. Hope you guys will come back to China one day after you get that multi-entry visa. If you do, I will recommend you to go to Guizhou Province which is featuring Miao minority groups and some other ethnic groups as well with great sceneries and rich cultures
Great video! There is actually Airbnb-ish services in China, quite some of my friends in China prefer them compared to hotels. But I am not sure if they have English support.
Even myself as a native Chinese, sometimes don't enjoy the food when being other cities in China. It actually suprised me that almost all foreingers I know traveled to China say they like the food. It is more realistic that someone just doesn't like. I love your videos and your fair comments, and glad to know that you have enjoyed your journey in different Chinese cities. Many thanks for your effort to show the real China.
It’s totally unfair to use Sichuan style to represent the whole Chinese cuisines. I am Chinese-American originally from Hong Kong. I do not like Sichuan dishes with those spiciness too. But I would not use it as an example to hate Chinese foods in China. I would challenge you to try more Cantonese foods in Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
she did try cantonese food in hong kong, but claim it's bland. Cantonese food is probaby less salty and less spices than food from the rest of asia/china.
@@redneckscumbags4422 Cantonese foods in Hong Kong are tuned to be lighter in taste because the healthy culture there. Hong Kong people have the longest average life span of the world. That’s why I also mentioned Guangzhou where they offer the more traditional Cantonese tastes.
Good morning, I am from US and often visit China. There are so many delicious foods in Shanghai and other places in China. Need someone to guide you to those delicious restaurants. But you must have time to enjoy it. Don't forget to try the "Sukiyaki Buffet" if you have a chance to visit Shanghai Pudong again. That buffet restaurant is best of the best 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Next time you come to China, I recommend you a few places to visit. These places are the most distinctive landscapes with Chinese characteristics and are also recognized as the best tourist attractions. The first one is Huangshan, which is considered by many people to be the most beautiful mountain in China. The second one is Yangshuo. In Yangshuo you can see the fairyland-like scenery in Chinese Kung Fu movies. The third one is Suzhou City, where there are hundreds of beautiful gardens in ancient China. The fourth one is Beijing. I remember you haven’t been to Beijing. For Chinese people, Beijing may not be a particularly interesting place, but it would still be a pity not to see the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. The fifth is Xinjiang, where the landforms are varied and every scenery is extremely beautiful. The sixth is Jiuzhaigou, which is also a beautiful place with Chinese characteristics. The eighth is the Yungang Grottoes in Datong City. I think there are Buddha statues with the highest artistic value. There are also countless beautiful places, I won’t list them all, such as Dali, Lijiang, Linzhi, Luoyang, Chaoshan, Xiamen, etc...
I believe that these shortcomings can be gradually adjusted in the future, such as a longer visa-free period, you also have the opportunity to try more delicious food, and the payment method and accommodation can become more convenient for international tourists.😊Welcome to visit China again!
Yeah, generally Indonesian Chinese do not enjoy their trip in China due to language barrier and that many Indonesian Chinese gets very nervy when being called Chinese . Even in Penang, some Chinese Indonesians got grumpy when locals did not understand their jakartan and surabayan lingo. We offered help but they rudely ignored us. But truth to be told, China is probably one of those places you’ve been where english is least accessible, so culture shock is to be expected. I went to China in an Australian performance tour, and even though Mandarin is my fourth language, I was being treated more badly by my white Australian mates for not able to translate for them ‘properly’. Food wise, to me, China has various different food. You will need have greater language skill though, and avoid the tourist traps area. Some of the best food in my opinion are north of Fujian and South of Shanghai. FYI Hongkong is not Guangzhou therefore cha chan teng-s do not represent Cantonese cuisine. If you have been to Zhuhai or Shenzhen you would know what exceptional dimsum is like, despite of its Hongkong originZ South East Asian Chinese cuisine itself is also interesting because it was a mixture of different ethnic cuisines mixed with international flavours. There’s the Hokkien with the dark braising. The Cantonese introduced wok cooking and frying. In between is the Teochew and Hakka cuisines. Then there’s the influence by the Malays, sea farers, Tamil and Hadrami traders, and indigenous islanders. I myself for example found Chinese food in Jakarta and Java island as a whole as rather bland. Hokkien food was fundamentally poor people’s food. Famine was rampant during the sea ban along the coasts. What made Chinese food in South East Asia amazing, particularly along the strait of Melaka, was the trade and exchange of culture for hundreds of years.
You know quite a lot about China and southeast Asia!! I was born in north of Fujian, study in Shanghai for 3 years and now exchange in Germany. Our traditional food is not spicy and not so salty, and we'd like to show fresh flavor of seafood, that's maybe why you like the food here. And also personally thank you so much for your sharing, cuz I have an Indonesian friend, everytime we go to Chinese restaurants in berlin, people will speak Chinese with her🤣It's amazing cuz she actually has Chinese ancestors and we like similar flavors! The exchange of culture in Southeast Asia is so special and precious, we gotta know more and share more with each other. I'm inspired by your comment here. Hope you enjoy every trip and if you're interested, welcome to more places in China🥰
Fair enough, Ivana. We are just human. But your conclusion on not liking CHINESE FOOD in China is akin to generalising the food of the whole China. You were only exposing to just a drop in the ocean. There are diversed varieties in relation to areas, regions, provinces. Unless one truly lived and explored there for a number of years, one should not to be specific. There's no doubt Chongqing and Sichuan are known for its hot, oily and spicy food. I'm not a big fan of extremely oily food myself. I still don't get it, why need such amount of cooking oil. I think authentic Shanghainese cuisine is subtle, light and slightly sweet, definitely not oily and spicy. Likewise, so are Fujianese, Hakka and Cantonese. Other than that, I enjoyed your take on this vast and diversed country called China. 👍
On the subject of food, as a Chinese person, I deeply empathize with this sentiment. Having traveled to many different provinces and cities, I often find myself not quite accustomed to the local delicacies. There's a Chinese saying, "Different waters and soils nourish different people," which, in my understanding, means that I have become so accustomed to the taste of food from my hometown that some of the renowned cuisines from other regions might not seem as palatable to me.
but... but... but... malaysian chinese and singaporean should be excluded from ppl who always assuming ivana MUST speaks chinese because she looks chinese. some of us tends to speak chinese to ivana at 1st sight, but we will not feel that it is STRANGE that she doesn't speak chinese. we kinda have lots of chinese who do not speak the language although they are malaysian chinese or singaporean. as for China's chinese food, china is HUGE.. keep trying the food, ivana, because north and south's cuisines is very different. take malaysia as an example, our ancestor are from southern regions of china, fujian, guangdong etc.. so our dishes kinda "inherits" the cooking styles of those regions. that's why we find Hong Kong dishes are more to our liking. (i, also, dont like some of the china's cuisines that are too spicy, too oily and too salty. but i like cantonese, hakka, hokkien dishes.)
The big plus for Malaysia/Singapore is that English is spoken fluently. So even if at first they speak in Chinese to Ivana, as soon as Ivana speaks English, they can reply in English. We weren’t a fan of the food in HK as well. Went to a Michelin star restaurant for wonton soup. But found the hawker wonton soup in Malaysia way better. Also is the food in Fujian/Guangdong use the same sambal, and sprinkles like friend onions we like to add on our SE Chinese food? Coz the Indo/Malaysian Chinese food sambal is soooo good!!
@@JetLagWarriors hahaha.. for food, you need to explore more. it's the same everywhere > different stall/shop/restaurant, different taste. some tastes good, some tastes...er... not so good. and, don't always trust michelin~ hahahahaha!!! as for food in fujian/guangdong, i'll wait for you to discover and tell us all about it. 😁
Haha, you are always so honest and right-on-spot, we recently traveled back to China after living in Canada for a long time. Except I don't really mind the youtube connection since I don't really need it all the time, and probably it is hard for you to find good real Chinese food without information from local people, the commercial area food venders are not so good, and I don't know why. The other likes and dislikes are so true. 3 applause for you guys!
In China, credit cards are very common, with almost all young people under 40 having one or more credit cards. However, due to the widespread use of mobile payments in China, credit cards are mostly linked to mobile payment platforms. We rarely swipe credit cards, and the last time I used a credit card for payment might date back to more than ten years ago, probably around 2010.
We also hate VPNs, so we also use about 3 VPN APPs. But after you come to China, you should also understand that China has built a firewall on the one hand, but on the other hand, it allows you to use VPNs. Isn’t it fun? We also think that sometimes electronic payments can have more warmth, but is it also a risky experience for China to have such an application for five thousand years? Welcome to China again, Tibet, Yunnan, Xinjiang... there are many more places to walk. I like riding in the countryside the most.
Thank you for your honesty and objectivity. I'm so happy that you enjoyed your time during the trip in China.😊 About the food, I suggest you travel to Fujian province next time, and try the foods there. You won't find the sichuan pepper or chili there for most of the time, for the people there couldn't bear spicy flavour as well.😂 Actually, there're also spicy foods without sichuan pepper in China, of course other flavours too. But the street foods might taste quite similar sometimes. So it would be better to go to restaurants instead of having street foods in China, if you want to have better experience in the flavour of food. However, wish you a safe and happy journey all the time. And you're always welcomed to travel back to China.❤
Even when I was traveling in Singapore, which is much more tourist friendly, if you go off main streets, most places (even well established restaurants) do not accept international credit cards. We had to circled back to the "tourist quarter" to find a place to eat. I realized this is a common problem in many countries, if you wander off to non-tourist oriented places, those shops simply won't go through the trouble to setup payment method accommodating to foreign credit cards.
Sorry for the language thing LOL，they don't mean to it, they are truely confused, and most of these people don't understand English, they just thought Ivana is one of us.
To be fair, if a couple like yours are in the USA or UK, most people would think that the white guy would speak English too. Its just normal presumptions of local ppl which may not be correct, but certainly not supposed to be offensive.
I watched almost all your China videos. I think your "dislikes" about your visit to China are not only reasonable but also valuable to the Chinese your comments related to. For those who plan to go there your dislikes may give them important "heads-ups" that could help make their trips more enjoyable. Good work, pals!
Steve - hope you bought a brush and ink - how is your calligraphy art coming on ? I love this because it is pure art - just black and white, line and space. And the beauty is far beyond the actual meaning, which might actually be "a little less SiChuan peppercorns, please" ;) 请少放一点四川花椒 (Ivana should print this out on a business card and in top pocket at all times ; )
Maybe it's because of you or other foreigners. Recently, China has issued regulations on the pass rate of WeChat and Alipay foreign credit cards. Foreigners will be more convenient to use WeChat and Alipay in the future. Welcome to China Again
Hi Ivana, I’m glad you said it out loud. It’s okay you don’t like Chinese food in China, you are just being honest, nothing wrong with that. I kind of get what you mean by that strong taste/smell of oil, sometimes I also notice that, it happens more in street food, and would be much better in decent restaurants. And yes, Chinese food in Canada is very good, especially those authentic hongkong/canton cuisine.
I’m Chinese. Love your video and love your honesty. I started follow you guys since your first China videos and now I’m a huge fan of you guys. Your comments are so true and hopefully next time you guys come to China, the situation can be more helpful for international travellers! Also, finding a local guide for your food tour is gonna improve your food experience a lot! 😄I usually do a lot of restaurant research before going to a new Chinese city.
I miss Shanghai. There are different areas to explore, obviously The Bund is most famous. There’s the French Concession, Pudong, etc. Hopefully u guys managed to grab the Siao Long Bao, at the street (sorry, can’t remember where is it exactly) whereby there are 2 shops opposite each other. They sell diff version of the dumpling, so the ‘trick’ is you buy from the shop that sells the pan fried version as takeaway, and u eat that as u queue at the other restaurant.
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I love to watch your videos. As a Brazilian I saw how you guys treated our contry and culture with respect, and I see the same in other countries.
I'm going to travel to China soon, and was following your videos closely! Thanks for the tips!
Turn off English speaking fake news
@@Deanissun get Hong Kong Sim card. Surf the internet without needing a vpn 😂.get Sim at airport 711 or circle k convenience stores
bienvenito😂
Acho que o Brasil é melhor para turismo. China é mais barata e muito mais segura, mas não é muito divertido. (or maybe it's because I grew up here so everything became too familiar)
Welcome to China！
我的旅游经验是：1.不要在中国节假日出去走动 排队和塞车的情况经常出现 2.不要在著名景区或地标建筑附近吃东西 他们的店铺租金很贵 这意味着他们不会请手艺好的大厨 当你支付更高的价格时 你无法享用美味的食物😢
我很开心看见诚实的Ivana对饮食表示不满意。说实话，你们选择的其他食物基本都是“希望快速吃饱的上班族”和“什么都想试试的年轻人”在进行消费，真正的居民很少购买这类食物。偶尔吃一下还行，天天吃真的受不了。
可怜的Ivana
In Canada, places like Banff is getting crowded, so now you have to take a shuttle bus to get close to the attractions. Some place you must book it first to limit how many people can go at the same time. In China, everywhere is people. They travel a lot within the country, plus there are so many foreign visitors. The lineup is probably the top of the dislike items.
well said.
@@huamok7088 BeiJing is same, but I don't really like to use the appointment system because it needs to follow their accounts. I usually go travel after Chinese holidays and during Christmas holiday, less visitors, batter services and cheaper prices! :D
wow I translated this to my language and was flabbergasted
Yeah I think most of the foods they sample, at least in their vlogs, are street foods sold near touristy places. They should really try the courses of different Chinese cuisines shared family-style.
He is not laughing at you for using cash, but lamenting the unreal feeling of not seeing cash for a long time. I haven’t seen cash in many years. When I got cash recently, I couldn’t help but sigh that the current version of RMB is completely different from what I remembered. 5 yuan is much smaller than before. If it were me, I couldn't help but smile and sigh.
Just to add a typo, the size of the 5 yuan version is much smaller than the previous version. When I first got the latest version, I thought it was fake.
@@happysmith1781 I think the counterfeiting problem is one of the main reason why everyone is so happy to switch to electronic payment.
Are you sure? I saw many old ladies using cash and coins in Shenzhen super markets and the cashier never frowns on them
@tvguy4600 Now beggars in Shenzhen are hanging QR codes on their chests
@@tvguy4600哈哈哈哈哈哈 现在用现金真的是件很稀奇的事情😂
As a Chinese person, I have to say that what you said is all true. You are a very objective TH-camr, who neither follows the Western media to smear China, nor deliberately praises it. You are the kind of traveler we dream of. China is a huge developing country, which is not heaven, nor hell, but China will make progress at a fast pace. I hope that the problems you mentioned will be improved by the time you come to China again. You are also welcome to visit China again and convey the real China to the world.
the world should be the same everywhere. it is normal some people might not be used to the culture since Chinese culture is so different and unique from other cultures. we can not make everyone satisfied. if something bad to everyone even for the Chinese, of course it is something needs to be improved. but most of occasions it is just some culture difference. it is good that we can be the different one or the world might be so boring if we become like any other country.
@@user-vd3ck4zp2b 求同存異，兼收並蓄才是文化多元的正理
他们并没有做好攻略😂
关于必须使用VPN，责任是中国吗？不是，是谷歌脸书等不愿意遵守中国法律监督、不愿意在中国大陆修建数据服务器。为什么甲骨文公司、苹果公司有中国大陆用户？为什么tiktok有美国等西方用户？因为它们都遵守所在地法律监管，数据信息也被安全的存储在当地。 难道棱镜计划、斯诺登事件他们一点不知道？中国大陆政府拒绝被美国政府通过谷歌等产品进行监视和信息盗窃，难道是中国错啦？😂
也基于对中国的“完全不了解”就“闯入”中国，来之前谷歌多搜索也能了解些基础信息吧？
上海本地美食有哪些？中国食品的地域差别…在中国如何使用电子支付？（例如办一个香港本地银行发行的银联卡，微信支付就能轻松绑定，而西方人在香港是很容易远程开户的）
@@KING-XINJIANGRight
True Dude
@@KING-XINJIANG
great to see you guys traveling in China. You guys are open-minded, cute and being fair all the time. Too many people out there spreading evil news about China. The world needs more of you to share the truth.
@MAGAChanelThe hostility between the US and China is one-sided. (Hint: it’s not coming from the Chinese side). And you give non-Americans too much credit for being able to tell the difference between “Americans” and “Westerners in general”.
@MAGAChanel@MAGAChanel If you are an ordinary person, no one will notice you unless you commit some kind of crime. If you are a CIA agent, that will be a different story lol
@MAGAChanel Is it safe for Americans to come to China? Perhaps you can learn about this American girl living in a rural area in China.www.youtube.com/@kats_journey_east
@MAGAChanel nah China is very friendly to foreigners. They wil probably just be curious abt you
@MAGAChanelChina is safe for visitors from all the regions! Welcome~
Trust me, Ivana you just don't eat enough. There are eight major cuisines of Chinese food, but this only represents the broadest regional concept. The truth is that the same city can taste very different just a few blocks away. Also, having a local people introduce is also very important. I find that Vloggers who are new to China are easy to choose a restaurant without knowing the local city food culture in advance. For example, in Guangzhou to eat Sichuan food or northwest food is really not a good choice.
But it's okay if you think Canadian Chinese food is the number one Chinese food in the world. It's just your personal taste. I'm not going to judge
Agree, the choice of food is very personalized, just like me, even though I have been to so many cities in China, and so many countries around the world, my favourite food is from my hometown.
作为广东人，我认可您的观点。😂
"Canadian Chinese food is the number one Chinese food in the world" is not personal. A lot of good chefs immigrated to Canada, especially from Hong Kong. Ex. Susur Lee
no I think Canadian Chinese food is too Cantonese oriented. There are way too much more good food than Cantonese food.
@@solarenergy3535 There is traditional Chinese food in Canada and westernized (sweet) cantonese food that is mostly the Chinese food sold in North America.
I am 68 and was born in Hong Kong, I only speak Cantonese and English. It is never too late to learn Mandarin.
冇必要，用翻譯app
@foodparadise5792 You tell your children that?
懂粤语学普通话很简单，只要别在意口音和语法，一切都很简单，加油❤
@@myhugeairpot 渣渣辉
学唱国语歌，例如邓丽君的，大陆都好多歌手有靓歌啊!
Man, China is one of those Countries you never forget after the visit, i visit it more than 20 times because of my Chinese wife. But my Norwegian friends also been tagging along for the last 10y, everyone is suprised China from western media views and what we see and do is not the same. We are all adults and understand its politics, but if you wanna judge China, travel and see for yourself, one of the safest place and friendly people. If you have Chinese friends, than ask him if you could tag along. Dont let the media scare you from traveling to China, earth is a small place, you dont want to limit China from your life.
谢谢
China is beautiful!There’s so much to learn about ancient history!Greetings from Serbia❤️🇷🇸🇨🇳
Thanks. By the way, I love your profile picture.😂
你说的对，想要了解一个地方必须通过自己的眼睛，而不是媒体，某些西方媒体只是政治的工具，他们不会客观报道。
❤thanks
The reason that shops and vendors don't like credit cards is because they take a cut of the sales, usually about 0.3%-2%.
And you have to pay for the POS machine, which costs from a hundred dollars up to thousands for the bigger machines.
For Ali pay and Wechat, it's completely free for small one person businesses, and less than half as much as credit cards systems for larger businesses.
Also, there's no need for a POS machine unless you're a large shop, you can just print out your code on a printer.
是的，我父亲办理使用过一次pos机，第一次使用收款1000元最后到账只有881元（被收取了99元“网络服务费”以及2%支付手续费）根据这个pos机制造商的解释，“网络服务费”每年需要付一次😢从此以后我父亲就只接受微信/支付宝/现金付款
很真实。
yes pos machine is the last decade thing in china,we did have it but not for these day.
So it’s actually because the vendors use WeChat/Alipay QR code for “personal transferring” rather than “paying to a company” thus credit card is not accepted, debit card should work(even foreign ones).
@@dicky-duck6632 thats because wechat and alipay have 2 kinds of payments, 1 is bond to credit card or your app account, its the "business" kind of payment, 2 is actually "transfer" to the business owners personal account, you need some money in your app account or debt card for this, most street vendors or small shops use this.
As a Chinese, I like your honesty and optimism. No matter good or bad, the most important thing is to be true. You are welcome to travel to China again when you have the opportunity. Tibet, Yunnan, Xinjiang, Guangdong, Guangxi... there are so many places worth exploring.
我认为没有什么坏的好的之说，只能说是人民的习惯，有的东西人们追求趋同，有的就是要保留自己的文化。
As an overseas Chinese, I agreed with you totally 👍
I think there's nothing about good or bad in the video, just like or dislike. It's a more subjective statement. It depends more on visitor's habits and preferences than on whether the thing itself is good or not. Steven and Ivana's videos vividly show us some interesting aspects from every country.
你們願意說出所有真實感受，不管好壞，為你們的勇氣點讚！
I think Ivana needs a local tour guide to change her perception of Chinese food in China 🤣
Yes, they can come to Suzhou, and I'll show them how to get good food.
So many local cuisine, needs good helpful local guides since both don't know the language and the diverse cultures.
@@solarenergy3535其实各地的全聚德除了烤鸭以外其他菜都不一样，我在石家庄的全聚德就和上海的全聚德菜品完全不同😂的确的有的好吃一些有的难吃一些
Now that they already made enough money from "liking" China, they are switching to "hating" tones to make money from those anti-China people such as MAGA
I feel the same as Ivana, I am a hongkonger retiring in Shenzhen. I am glad that finally have someone to feel the same as me about the smell of the oil in the restaurants in Shenzhen.
Love your honest comments what you like and dislikes. I agree with one of the dislikes about oily chilly street food 😂. Trust me this is not the entire story for Chinese food. Street food is usually cheaper with this kind of species with this similar flavor, but if you go to any decent restaurant even in Sichuan, the home of spices, you'll get a bite of true amazingness in local cuisines.
It’s true
已经开大会了，要解决外国人和老年人的支付难题
There are lots of “Foreigners come to China” videos, but you guys are my favorite, you really provide us a different perspective, I never thought a trip to supermarket could be that funny. And you are such a cute couple! Thanks for your videos 🥰
btw，我很喜欢看你们两个的视频，因为你俩感情非常好，而且待人接物非常有礼貌，对事物都很有好奇和热情，不会让偏见先行，同时很享受旅行。
Wonderful of you both to give your honest opinion about China after having visited it 4 times. All your videos on China are interesting, informative, knowledgeable and entertaining. Hats off to you both for the hard work, Steve lvana. A huge thanks !! Xie xie.
In 1966 Indonesia banned the use of the chinese language, which lasted for around 32 years and affected 2 generation of chinese indonesians.
I'm pretty sure that Ivana "suffered" this from being part the new generation of indonesians that didn't have chinese speaking parents + she went to Canada.
Discrimination
I know why. 5% Chinese are "controlling" 95% of the economy. Why? Because Chinese work hard and succeed. The locals are lazier. Same sh1t situation in other se Asian countries. Discrimination and anti Chinese riots ensues!
@@gsim3480 cultural genocide
1988😢
但伊凡娜還知道自己的祖先來自福建省！挺好的！❤
You guys are always honest and kind, never lose that no matter what!
As an expat that has been living in China for the past 15 years, I can understand some of the things you dislike, like payment and hotels (it’s easy for the ones living here but not for the ones visiting).
But… For the food I will have to say you guys were mainly eating street food and at small restaurants near touristic attractions. Normally the food in these places is of lower quality, with too much oil and if its street food very often very generic (you find a lot of the same stuff everywhere you go). Specially near touristic attractions I will say food is normally bad. 😂
You need to actually go to proper restaurants (bigger ones) from different cuisines, to try real and decent Chinese food. I understand it might be a little hard to know where to go, so a good way of trying different stuff could be going to famous chain restaurants from different cuisines that people in big cities eat often. For example 海底捞 (hot-pot), 外婆家 or 绿茶餐厅 （zhejiang food), 很久以前 or 木屋烧烤 (Chinese BBQ), 西贝莜面村 （northeastern food) and I could keep going for hours here.
These places are just few examples that are all over China as I don’t know where you will go next and that have a decent standard and good taste. Of course there are millions of good local restaurants everywhere, but also a lot of bad restaurants, so as you don’t have people if you that speak the language I would recommend trying next time to try places like this at least few times. Modern China has malls everywhere with good quality restaurants, trust me!
It's great that you can openly express what you don't like about China. Regarding food, it's normal for people from different countries to have different tastes. Many Chinese restaurants opened abroad (such as in the US, Canada) adjust their dishes according to local preferences, so they may taste different from authentic Chinese food. As for the requirement for foreigners to stay in designated hotels, many other bloggers have complained about this too, but I believe this will change in the future.
I think this policy is to better protect foreigners and they will not be harmed by some local criminals.
The approved hotels meet certain minimum standards so foreigners don't end up staying at some shitty places
This is because hotels are required to register foreigners with the police upon arrival and not all hotels are able to do this. Foreigners are technically required to register with the police wherever they go in China.
It's hard to believe that you don't like Chinese food. But as long as it's true feeling, we are ok with that. We do not hate critics, we only hate lies.
I also don't like the low quality low price street food. it can not represent Chinese food.
Their video only shows street snacks. It cannot be considered Chinese cuisine. They should go to restaurants with Chinese practicing chefs for meals.
@@joeblack888对的，中国有八大菜系，每个菜系都有无数菜品可以满足。还有很多省的菜系没进入八大菜系的，也都不错，他们应该去比较有名的餐饮店去品尝
It's easy to understand Ivana didlike sichuan pepper, personally Iam not big fun of it, no matter what kind of food once they put pepper in it, I can't eat it😅
@@housezhiqiangqi840 I don't think they have enough budget to try all of them.
All in all guys, with your likes and dislikes, we respect you for that.. Most of all we thank you for bringing the "unknown" China to the rest of the world... 😊 especially on Chinese New Year🎉
This is your real experience, and I also felt your sincerity and friendliness when you were in our country. In any case, you are most welcome to come again next time.🙂
Hey, love your videos. I'm Chinese, and I have to admit you are right about the internet and payment issue. That's why people would rather go to Japan than China. Hopefully, these kind of issues can be resolved soon in the future.
I have read in Chinese news that the chinese government is working on resolving the payment issues. Some reports say you can already link payment apps to foreign credit cards like Visa or Mastercard. I can't verify that.
I'm sorry, I have watched all of your Chinese series. As a Chinese, I would like to say that all the foods displayed in your videos are not Chinese cuisine and can only be considered snacks.
That is to say, ordinary Chinese people will not eat these foods if they have a few friends dining together; Even ordinary Chinese families wouldn't make these to eat.
I know this is due to the lack of local people accompanying me, and also because there are very few travel guides in China around the world.
Relax. It is totally ok if someone does not lilke Chinese food or even hate it. It's just preference, nothing good or bad. What's important is that they learnt the truth about China and western mainstream media lied about China.
There are street food in every country that people eat. I don't normally eat street food but snack food and street food are still food. And each country has its own kind of street food. The word "all" seems to be overreaching.
@@Wing-ix6wj关键他们没吃过中国的八大菜系啊……路边的小吃根本不能算什么好的餐饮…
@@housezhiqiangqi840什么八不八大菜系，人家呆的时间短，看到什么就吃什么了，每个人口味不一样，人家外国人更喜欢西式的中餐不行吗，没必要一直找补，别人家一说不喜欢中餐你们就接受不了，放轻松😢
@@Wing-ix6wjso we are not allow to correct these Western people!
Same here in China, we've got lots of people don't like Sichuan pepper that makes tongue numbing and lose sensitivity to all other tastes.
Before I started watching your China videos, the only 2 places I had in mind to visit in China were Shanghai and Beijing. Now, I've also fallen for Xi'an... to the point where I'm trying to find Xi'an street food in Singapore... and you won't believe this, but of all places, in one of my neighbourhood hawker centres, I found the chinese hamburger Rou Jia Mo and I tried it for the first time 2 days ago... I liked it so much, I bought it again the next day! And Ivana mentioned being peranakan... I'm also peranakan, in Singapore we are called baba (for the men) and nonya (for the women). My Mum's side is hokkien, her family was from Riau islands, but eventually they came to Singapore. I can speak, read and write some mandarin, because I studied it in school, but my parents are just like Ivana, and they cannot read, write or speak mandarin. Needless to say, I had a hard time studying mandarin in school, because no one at home knows it. I'm still not very strong with mandarin, but I guess I can survive on some simple mandarin. The moment it gets too deep, it gets harder for me to understand. My parents speak english and peranakan malay, but not mandarin. Sometimes, in the hawker centre, they try to speak to my parents in mandarin, and my parents just look confused, then I have to explain that my parents are peranakan, so they don't know mandarin.
biang biang is good
@@fj5563 Yes. Biang biang is good. But biang biang chili is not good for me. I kept sneezing whenever I ate the parts with chili on them. Maybe biang biang noodles without the chili will be better for me.
Haha, as a Chinese, thank you for conveying the real and diverse complexity of China to the world. I really enjoy watching your videos. Although I have been to these places, your perspective is completely different. And I highly agree with the suggestions you made about inconvenient travel, and I believe they will gradually improve. You are welcome to travel to China again, and next time you can come to Chengdu for sightseeing. This is the city where I live, where there are a lot of delicious food, pandas, and a long culture. Welcome❤❤❤
I think regarding Chinese food, knowing where to go and what to order is very important. Otherwise it can be hit and miss.
Every country has good things and bad things, and the same goes for China. But fortunately, China has been changing and making progress. The bad aspects are slowly getting better. I am very honored to be Chinese.
Your people are an inspiration for many herer in Brazil. It is amazing how far you have come starting from a poor country like ours.
Sadly there's much propaganda and prejudice that paint China as a terrible dictatorship. But your cities, transportation and technology speak for itself.
Good to see jetlag warriors bringing people of the world together and spreading understanding between cultures!
@@b.6603I hope they don't paint the Chinese government together with the Chinese people because that would have been bad and racist.
In fact, the Chinese people are not that keen on politics. China has its own democracy and freedom. To some extent, except for the fact that rumors cannot be spread on the Internet, China is even freer than the West. Dictatorship and one-party rule are often seen through tinted glasses in the West. It is precisely the one-party dictatorship that has freed China from party strife, political drafts and manipulation by politicians, and turned China into the most efficient government in the world. Especially the governments of developed coastal provinces, such as Zhejiang where I am located. Remember that China is a country with a population of 1.4 billion. So-called Western-style democracy cannot be applied to China. There are also essential differences between Eastern and Western values. It is precisely because China has blazed its own path that good policies and projects can be quickly implemented once they are approved. Of course, in addition to the government's reasons, the hardworking quality of the Chinese people is also indispensable. I hope that one day you can come to China and experience it for yourself.@@b.6603
In fact, the Chinese people are not that keen on politics. China has its own democracy and freedom. To some extent, except for the fact that rumors cannot be spread on the Internet, China is even freer than the West. Dictatorship and one-party rule are often seen through tinted glasses in the West. It is precisely the one-party dictatorship that has freed China from party strife, political drafts and manipulation by politicians, and turned China into the most efficient government in the world. Especially the governments of developed coastal provinces, such as Zhejiang where I am located. Remember that China is a country with a population of 1.4 billion. So-called Western-style democracy cannot be applied to China. There are also essential differences between Eastern and Western values. It is precisely because China has blazed its own path that good policies and projects can be quickly implemented once they are approved. Of course, in addition to the government's reasons, the hardworking quality of the Chinese people is also indispensable. I hope that one day you can come to China and experience it for yourself.@@b.6603
Can you see my reply? I replied with the reason, but it seems to have been blocked.@@b.6603
You said Alipay is 50/50. I guess it is the fact the the biz owner has an option of choosing between debit or credit. Small biz tends to choose debit payment to avoid small fee by his bank. So if the biz accepts debit payment yet if your Alipay is linked to your credit card payment, that would have been the issue, I guess!
Wish the chinese government explained this to all foreigners upon arrival for short term visa stay. Very scary for foreigners to not know that their payment method might work only half the time.
I think so, it's the choice of these small vender. They don't want accept credit payment since they don't want pay extra commission to credit company since their margin is low.
Prime minister might have heard from you Jetlags and said today reported by CGTN the issue would be solved.
About Ivana being a Peranakan from Indonesia, I know quite a lot about Straits Chinese and I'm one myself. Nyonya and Baba as we are called in Malaysia and Singapore, are able to converse in Chinese Mandarin and other Chinese diaclets particularly Hokkien. I suppose it is different in where you are from; mainly due a lost generation (those born during the Suharto harsh ban on Chinese culture and traditions). That may have hasten the assimilation to the local language.
Many Indonesian Chinese do not want to admit that their absence of ‘Peranakan culture and language’ cannot be substituted with speaking a national language. We need to accept that most of us experienced forced assimilation and do not need to cover it up as ‘peranakanism’. It is fair that Ivana has a maternal peranakan lineage from her grandmother side, but how much of it was passed down to her mother and to her? What makes a Peranakan culture different from Nationalist identity? I personally feel ambivalent towards the ‘born again Peranakans’ mentality. Most assimilated Chinese Indonesians (we call Kiauseng) looked down on the true Peranakans, and felt aversed towards Chinese tradition, which was preserved very well by the oldest of the Peranakan lineages. On the other side, there are many of those Kiauseng-s who have been barely two or three genrerations and arrogantly call themselves Peranakan. This is a huge problem in Indonesian where Sin Khek becomes Peranakan and Peranakan are treated like Sin Khek. What is lost is lost. No matter how many times you wave that red and white flag, you will never recover the Peranakan culture. You need to study and actually put an effort in learning your history and diaspora instead of casually adopting the consumerist identity of Peranakanism.
Thank you for your objective assessment of China. We are delighted that you like our country. China is not immune to criticism, but we can discern between well-intentioned feedback and malicious intent. Your praise and critique are both genuine and moving. You are always welcome here, and China has many diverse cities that can offer you a wide range of experiences. We believe you will also enjoy the variety of delicious food we have to offer!
China can produce almost everything of any kind of quality, if you buy anything made in China in your own country that are not branded as Chinese own companies, then mostly those are outsourced to China by foreign brands, and the reason that you find its quality not good enough is simply because the companies you are buying products from simply squeeze too much and doesn't care their customers.
exactly. foreign companies buy extremely cheap goods (which obviously aren't gonna be good quality) and resell them to maximize profit. the simple truth is that good quality items and low quality items all come from china, its just that in the west people only associate the low quality products as chinese, when in reality their phones, laptops, tvs, and even cars are all either made in china or have significant components sourced from china
我是重庆人，但我也吃不了太辣的东西，但是重庆也有很多不辣的好吃的，像是酥肉很好吃，小时候我们经常偷吃😂。我想每个人从小就适应了自己家乡的食物，吃不习惯别的地方的东西也可以理解
英译:I'm from Chongqing, but I can't eat anything too spicy, but there are a lot of good non-spicy things to eat in Chongqing, like crispy pork which is so good that we used to steal it when we were kids. I think everyone grows up adapting to the food of their hometown, and it's understandable that they can't get used to eating something from somewhere else!
她应该是不喜欢花椒的麻，她不喜欢麻油，那种让嘴巴麻麻的感觉
是的，麻辣这种味道只是川系菜肴的一个分支，里面还有很多不辣的菜，起码回锅肉就不辣吧😂
Thank you for mentioning the ethnicity part as lots of foreigners think the main ethnicity(Han) in China doesn't like many other ethnicities, which is totally wrong. They think they have long been oppressed by the government. Totally untrue. Instead, minority ethnicities also live a free and simple life just like the majority, and even more benefits for them. For example, in the college entrance examinations, students from minority ethnicities can have some extra scores. So, thank you so much for sharing your experience and views from your side and letting the world know. And government also take many great measures to encourage tourism to boost the economy in this area. In a nutshell, BIG HUG, BIG LOVE and BIG THANKS! 👍 ❤
I am so happy with how Chinese people welcomed you! ❤❤ Heart and honesty!
pretty ture opinions. glad to see u guys are enjoying china trip, hopfully explore further in china through your videos.
7:08 There's eight main culinary cuisines styles, which are Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Szechuan and Zhejiang.
From those, the spicy stuff mainly comes from only two, Hunan and Szechuan style, so most of them are not spicy at all.
There's other regional and ethnic minority cuisines, so you maybe you would change your mind about chinese food next time you come around and try the other styles that I mentioned; there's so much variety.
People always say that a lifetime is not enough to try every chinese dish in existence.
浙江菜是人吃的啊？
@@Mercurial_S 哈哈哈，赞同。
@@Mercurial_S 浙江小海鲜味道还不错
@@Mercurial_S 你懂吃什么？
那不叫做菜，那是海鲜新鲜吃个原汁原味@@magicer911
I am Chinese and I do not like spicy food as well. So I agree with you that I hate that chili oil flavor. I guess you just don't know whether the food is spicy or not. There are lots of nice food here, you just eat a small piece of the whole Chinese food. The most famous Chinese dish here is Lu Cai, in Shan Dong Province. Maybe you didn't hear about it but you should have a try next time. Love your video.
I think you guys are very genuine and honest. Thank you for showing the real China and look forward to seeing you in China soon
Dear Steve and Yvonne, these are all honest feedbacks, thanks a lot. I believe Chinese government and companies will soon make changes to help international travellers to resolve the problems of internet and payment
backward to the credit card system ?
easier to reach those apps i think
@@jsb8888 or maybe to make alipay 100% available for foreigners
but does the chinese gov really care to have so many tourist go to china? I don't think so
@@redneckscumbags4422If we don't care ,why now 144h visa exists?For business, china not only have beijing ,shanghai,but also have some citys which is not available during 144h visa.like hangzhou, during Ansian Games，hangzhou gov make efforts to help foreigners adapt into hangzhou. if you come to west lake, you may find universty student volunteers in red jackets,they are not for foriengers ,but you can ask them for help .they can speak with you in english to some extents.
The quality of goods has been improving constantly over the years in China. I haven't had any unexpected quality problems for quite a long time. I hope that the period of transit visa-free time will be extended to 15 or 30 days.
Hahaha, actually I kind of agree with Ivana about the food. After all, Chinese local food is known for its strong flavors. Even though I find it delicious, sometimes it's just too oily and salty, which isn't very good for health. There are too few refreshing foods like salads in traditional Chinese local cuisine. Every country's food and culture are different, and what I really appreciate about both of you is that you respect every culture. You don't necessarily have to like them, just respecting their differences is enough. Thank you for your visit.Take care!
中国也有很多口味不重的地方菜，比如浙江，广州
@@nicolelou5636 是，有很多清淡菜系，主要是少盐。但我想伊万娜说的那种“油感”是指中餐很难不用到油，他们的饮食习惯可能没这么多油，更多的是酱汁之类的
Two feedbacks on the dislike, I wateched few of your video and it seems for the food you went to a lot of "cheap places", like touristy street and food court in mall which probably abuse on the oil, industrial product etc...But if none of you speak Chinese, I think it can be hard to find the "good spots", especially since the good ones are rarely targeting the non Chinese. And probably must be challenging to even know what to order to begin with!
For the kitchen thing, you should look at "short stay apartment", or specifically look for that. There are several platform proposing stuff with kitchen
One of the condition for entering China with "144 hours visa free" is that you can only stay in a designated hotel.
你们喜欢或者不喜欢中国我们都在这里。只要你们用你们的镜头把中国客观呈现在世界人民面前，让观众们自己做出判断就好。你们喜欢的我们感谢夸奖，你们不喜欢的该改进的我们改进。最后谢谢你们光临中国，如果有可能也欢迎你们再次光临。
Are you using TH-cam from China?
I using TH-cam from shanghai :)@@nickbabes1678
@@nickbabes1678yeah me too
欢迎来中国玩啊
是啊，有什么问题么？
@nickbabes1678 要不然呢？TH-cam上活跃着多少来自世界各地的频道主在报道中国？他们是怎么把在中国拍摄的视频上传到TH-cam的？
Welcome you to visit China again in the future, shoot more wonderful videos, sincere greetings from Chinese fans.❤
As a Chinese, I must say that your evaluation is objective.
In fact, your channel's videos have been moved to Chinese social media on a platform called Bilibili. (This is a TH-cam like platform)
The video that you summarized your likes and dislikes in Shanghai has also been moved over, but I saw that many people in the comments recognized you and believed that you were honest, objective, and unbiased. On Chinese social media, many people like you because you are warm, friendly, and honest.
So welcome to continue visiting my country in the future, because this country is too big and 144 hours is too short.
Chinese people will not dislike or attack you because of your evaluation, at least most people will not.
Because we can understand that it is normal to have negative experiences due to cultural habits, personal preferences, and language barriers. If only say how good China is, Chinese people will not accept it. But if criticize with extreme examples, deliberate exaggeration, or even fabricated reasons, we cannot accept it either.
So your evaluation is very objective, and I'm glad you didn't have any bias due to the influence of Western media. You just honestly expressed your personal experience.
I can always tell foreigner from China local. But to be honest, Ivana looks sooo Chinese! Ivana has the typical look of chinese southen citizien, in the area GuangZhou and Hong Kong. I actually thought Ivana's parents were from Hong Kong and just didn't teach her madarian and catonese))) Great to hear you guys had fun in China!
Her DNA can't change. Her family were from Fujian, and so she got the typical southern Chinese look. Many people from Fujian and Guangdong "escaped" China in the late Qing dynasty and before the WWII to south east Asia and the US west coast. And Indonesia had a history of violence against ethnic Chinese, so her family might have chosen not to identified themselves as Chinese by not speaking the language.
Yes, she looks so like the hongkonger, the place where I came from
@@VampireA-Onithe Suharto force assimilation, making them hate themselves as Chinese. So I'm not surprise Ivana, know nothing about Chinese despite have root relation to southern China. It is not too late to embrace her ancestry and learn Chinese but Canada ranked no.3 worldwide for sinophobia and racist, I don't think she will consider on it.
I agree with you, Ivana looks sooo Chinese, even more like Chinese than many Chinese people, and unlike Koreans and Japanese, It's weird because sometimes people of Chinese descent who grew up in other countries don't look like Chinese. Therefore, it can easily cause misunderstandings among Chinese people.
@@VampireA-Oni but foreign born Chinese especially American ones, look different from we Chinese people. its mostly because of culture differences, American use very different facial expressions, make facial muscles develop differently. and also the "western" makeup usually is very different from asian makeup.
I have to agree with ivana regarding the Chinese cuisine / food, I'm a Kiwi living in China and have been here for a decade, the food I eat is Cantonese food, some say it's the best food in China, not sure where that come from, I try not to eat out because to be honest my wife cooks much better food than any restaurant I have been to, I guess that's why our friends like to invite themselves over to eat a fusion of Cantonese and New Zealand food, but at the end of the day I think food is cheap here in China, if I can't find what I want in the supermarket I go online and you can get anything you want 😊😊
I am Chinese I love the foods in Guangzhou, Dim Sum, steamed fish, steamed chicken, Crispy Salted shrimp, roasted duck, roasted goose, roasted pork, Beef Chow Fun, Fried noodles with shredded pork or chicken, and so on so yummy, but when I went to the US and Australia and ate the Chinese food there I felt they were not for humans LOL
@@LH1xx😂😂那是迎合本地的中餐 想吃正宗中餐必须回国 越是喜欢有烟火气的有人情味的人喜欢中餐 喜欢中餐老外多的是 我白人朋友😮去哪里都带筷子😂 有一次大家聚餐 全部人都拿勺子 就他一人拿筷子吃 😂😂😂 把我们乐翻天 他非常喜欢中餐 各种中国青菜只要你炒出来他都爱吃 没有认识之前他喜欢吃肉 直到得了肠癌动手术 他就改变了饮食 他喜欢中国饮食荤素搭配 只要仔细观察美国超市里面的蔬果一年四季不变🤓 没有去过中国根本无法了解原来水果蔬菜有如此多的种类
Its normal
As a Chineze, I have been living in Guang dong for 20 years, but its hard for me to love guangdong food.
Don't get me wrong, they are delicious, i don't hate them, but i never loved them, i won't miss them when i travel to other places.
@@Dordord 你不爱广东菜 但是广东有无数的餐厅让你选择， 其他国家有如像中国一样的饮食选择吗?
@@Dordord 提醒一下你去了解张纯如先生. .
Great to see some honest unfiltered opinions about China. Keep up the good work guys.
Ah，I understand exactly what you mean by the spice oil.
I guess it would be helpful if someone local could help you to find better food next time if you plan to visit.
Many small restaurants and stalls do have this problem.
I'm from Sichuan, trust me I know my spicy oil:D
wish u guys going to xinjiang for next travel
Really like your feelings about China, especially the thought that people are more similar than different, I have the same feeling after living in canada for 6 months. I Sincerely hope that people all around the wolrd could have more oppotunities to communicate regardless of their nations, or different political systems of their countires, working together to build a real community with a shared future for mankind. By the way, it is definitely understandable that Ivana doesn't enjoy chinese food. Each person has his or her specific taste for food. We are different, but it is this fact that makes our world more colorful! Thank you so much for sharing your experiences travelling in china!!!
You sound still a little bit skeptical of the political system in the West vs China. Let me put it this way, you grew up in Canada, and you know the growth from where you were a child vs now. China 30-40 years ago was one the top 10 poorest nations on earth, and now you know China today. Tell me, which government works for the people better? the West or China? One is regressing, and one is progressing? Let's just start with the infrastructure 😁
那你为什么要翻墙呢？
@@MetaSpider what do you mean by climb over the wall?
Regarding the political system, most Chinese people are not very willing to talk about it on the Internet. Even in reality, there are very few people who are willing to talk about it. After all, it is a risky matter. The Chinese people's historical discussion life is better than it was a few decades ago. It has essentially opened up instead of being closed to the country in the past, which has been a retrograde trend in recent years...
@@SuhandiWijaya because of your compliment,he thought you are a chinese.Internet bettwen western and China is like a wall.And Chinese using VPN to use ins ,google,youtube .this behavoir is called climb over the wall.
其实我们本国人出去吃饭也是要做攻略的，你们去吃饭的地方多数在商业街，他们多数都是只做一人一次的生意，很少回头客。我们住的一个区域如果有新开的饭店有时间会过去试吃，好吃的才会一直去，一般一个城市有十间以上好吃的饭店算不错了😂😂
十间是不是有点太夸张了 朋友你是杭州人吗😂绝大多数不会出现在商业区和景区倒是真的 我宁愿饿着都不想在这些地方消费
国人正经吃饭一般还是去商场的餐厅或者外面大的酒楼😂确实商业街的想都不想吃
@@wonglilyy-gc9qu 哈哈哈在广东中山，或许是我太挑了
@@jinxialan282 啊哈哈哈哈哈那就理解了 我们广东人确实是挑剔一些
lol I’m sorry Evana, every time I watch you guys ordering Chinese food randomly without knowing what u ordered was painful. Chilli oil is not a must in Chinese dishes. Not all Chinese like spicy food. Somehow in recent years, spicy food has become the most popular in Chinese cuisine. Actually, when a regular Chinese order food, we also tell them our preference of spice, sourness, saltiness, garnish more or less, preference of portion ratio etc. the language barrier is definitely an issue for non Chinese speakers unfortunately. Hopefully there will be English menu soon as international tourism is growing quite rapidly in mainland China after COVID.
I haven’t followed all your TH-cam videos, but may I suggest Guangzhou and surrounding Cantonese regions, Guangxi province and Yunnan province for your next travel? Way better food in my opinion. Yunnan and Guangxi have some of the best sceneries and Chinese minority groups’ cultures in China. Good luck with the rest of your travels :)
I come from Xiamen, China, and I haven't used cash payment for 11 years
The only chance to see cash is on Chinese New Year's Day, when elders will prepare many cash red envelopes for children
When did you last go to a fruit and veg store or market? Almost every time I go, I see older people paying with cash. I live in Jiangsu Lianyungang and previously in Liaoning Dalian, where I saw the same.
@@walkslow7509 至少在北京和杭州，我在菜市场见到的所有人都用手机支付，包括老年人
@@walkslow7509 但是你不会凑近去看现在的现金和以前的有什么区别
The MC cap is your symbol of a serial China tour.Very interesting 😂😂
You'd better try some restaurants instead of just street food. In street food, it's common to use spicy flavors, and Sichuan pepper oil is often used to enhance the aroma.
Great video....people will appreciate the honesty for their travel planning. Cheers!!
I think the visa policy has been changed for better in general for many countries； my wife is from Singapore and the 15-day landing visa was a drag but it has been changed to 30-days from Feb 09。
Unfortunately nothing has changed for Canadian citizens
@@vikchzhou9073Guess that government is amongst the wanna decouple from C N ones. Most of the normal & sane nations have 30 days visa free.😊
@@tkh2944 Not really that many, if you don't count the transit countries, there are only 30 countries that can enter mainland China visa-free. If you include the transit visa, it adds another 20 or so (mainly the Schengen area, North America, and AU NZ.
I have greatly enjoyed your China series videos and I think your likes/dislikes are fair and I kind of resonate with some of your points. However, I would like to give a few suggestions which may improve your future experience in China:
1. Do some homework on the local food specialties before going to a different city. China is a vast country, and each province/city has its unique food culture. I personally wouldn't order beef noodle soup in every city I travel. Sichuan pepper is prevalently used in Sichuan/Chongqing but if you order an authentic Cantonese food in Guangdong or Northwest food in Xi'an or Benbangcai (本帮菜) in Shanghai/Jiangsu, you will 100% not see that pepper in any of the dishes. You wouldn't go to an Italian restaurant ordering sushi or a French restaurant ordering curry, same logic here.
2. Try booking the serviced apartments if you like to cook some food yourself as they normally have the kitchen. Something like Ascott/Citadines/Somerset/Quest is a great choice, the rooms there not only have kitchens but also washing machines which could be even more helpful, and they all accept foreigners.
3. Try to find a Chinese friend in where you live (if available) and ask them for an exchange - you give them the cash, and they send you the funds in Alipay, so that you can use the balance in Alipay to pay instead of the linked credit card which could be game changing
regarding the food, i can agree to certain extent with Ivana. I am also indonesian chinese and always joke with my chinese friends that once they get a proper peranakan chinese food, you wouldnt like original chinese food. I think peranakan chinese have blended southeast asian ingredienta well thats typically so strong in flavours.
but my tongue also suits well with Hunan, Sichuan foods, and Xinjiang foods. Guangzhou's roast duck and pork can never go wrong. Food in Fujian and certain places can be bland but its just the preferences again and even that, if you go to right restaurant, you would get a better taste. So, restaurant really matters too
U cant fault a country for being more advance than your own country...I am sorry to say if u don't adjust u will be left behind...even in Singapore, we are on the way to do away with cash...just happens that China is using 6g and cashless society...give it a year or two we are also going 6g with 10gbs for WiFi and internet...this will slowly be adopted all over SE Asia...
Chinese food is subjective...not all Chinese food in China we can handle....I love HK food but majority of food in China I find too oily...not used to it lol..
@@dustbean 实际上就他们所有的视频中，好像根本没吃正常的中餐，连家庭食物都达不到，他们吃的更多是小吃，或者当地单一食品店。主要问题来自于他们不懂中文，而且国际上对中国旅行攻略的缺乏。
@@dustbean She simply missed out on some delicious restaurants, often opting for street vendors and chain fast food joints around tourist spots that locals wouldn't typically try. But let's not forget that the tropical climate in Southeast Asia does indeed result in significant differences in dietary habits compared to temperate regions. Relatively speaking, food in temperate regions of China is undoubtedly heavier on oil and salt compared to that in Indonesia. However, the food in tropical regions of China should suit her taste, such as in Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan, and similar places. Yet, heavy oil and salt don't equate to being not tasty; she just missed out on some great dining spots.
@@jrwkd6114 yes you are right....even for me i love food from Beijing and Shanghai but cannot take Chongqing food
Ty for your videos, ty for honesty comment ❤ty for your journey
Really enjoyed your videos in China. I love you guys showing how caring, understanding and humble you are. Hope you guys will come back to China one day after you get that multi-entry visa. If you do, I will recommend you to go to Guizhou Province which is featuring Miao minority groups and some other ethnic groups as well with great sceneries and rich cultures
Great video!
There is actually Airbnb-ish services in China, quite some of my friends in China prefer them compared to hotels. But I am not sure if they have English support.
People just thought Ivana is Chinese so they could communicate with you. They were a little disappointed that both of you couldn’t speak Chinese.
Even myself as a native Chinese, sometimes don't enjoy the food when being other cities in China. It actually suprised me that almost all foreingers I know traveled to China say they like the food. It is more realistic that someone just doesn't like.
I love your videos and your fair comments, and glad to know that you have enjoyed your journey in different Chinese cities. Many thanks for your effort to show the real China.
You both are so honest,I agree everything you said. welcome to China, I am in Hangzhou city, welcome to Hangzhou next time.
It’s totally unfair to use Sichuan style to represent the whole Chinese cuisines. I am Chinese-American originally from Hong Kong. I do not like Sichuan dishes with those spiciness too. But I would not use it as an example to hate Chinese foods in China. I would challenge you to try more Cantonese foods in Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
she did try cantonese food in hong kong, but claim it's bland. Cantonese food is probaby less salty and less spices than food from the rest of asia/china.
That's not Sichuan cuisine. It's just a street snack.
@@SpruceWood-NEG
Not talking about specific dishes, but the overall oily and 四川麻辣 that they may not like.
@@redneckscumbags4422
Cantonese foods in Hong Kong are tuned to be lighter in taste because the healthy culture there. Hong Kong people have the longest average life span of the world.
That’s why I also mentioned Guangzhou where they offer the more traditional Cantonese tastes.
Very honest and balanced view - same experience I had every time I went to China. Bravo!
you guys are awesome and great job. I have been in Canada for 20 years and missing my home country after watching you guys's channel
Good morning, I am from US and often visit China. There are so many delicious foods in Shanghai and other places in China. Need someone to guide you to those delicious restaurants. But you must have time to enjoy it. Don't forget to try the "Sukiyaki Buffet" if you have a chance to visit Shanghai Pudong again. That buffet restaurant is best of the best 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Next time you come to China, I recommend you a few places to visit. These places are the most distinctive landscapes with Chinese characteristics and are also recognized as the best tourist attractions. The first one is Huangshan, which is considered by many people to be the most beautiful mountain in China. The second one is Yangshuo. In Yangshuo you can see the fairyland-like scenery in Chinese Kung Fu movies. The third one is Suzhou City, where there are hundreds of beautiful gardens in ancient China. The fourth one is Beijing. I remember you haven’t been to Beijing. For Chinese people, Beijing may not be a particularly interesting place, but it would still be a pity not to see the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. The fifth is Xinjiang, where the landforms are varied and every scenery is extremely beautiful. The sixth is Jiuzhaigou, which is also a beautiful place with Chinese characteristics. The eighth is the Yungang Grottoes in Datong City. I think there are Buddha statues with the highest artistic value. There are also countless beautiful places, I won’t list them all, such as Dali, Lijiang, Linzhi, Luoyang, Chaoshan, Xiamen, etc...
Thanks for your advice.
I believe that these shortcomings can be gradually adjusted in the future, such as a longer visa-free period, you also have the opportunity to try more delicious food, and the payment method and accommodation can become more convenient for international tourists.😊Welcome to visit China again!
childhood food flavour is always the gold standard for good food. It is normal you think strange flavour as bad.
Ivana下次一定要回福建看看🤗 那里的食物应该符合你的口味
As Canadians for sure when you get back to Canada apply for the 10 year visa at the embassy in Ottawa or consulate in Toronto
Best solution
Yeah, generally Indonesian Chinese do not enjoy their trip in China due to language barrier and that many Indonesian Chinese gets very nervy when being called Chinese . Even in Penang, some Chinese Indonesians got grumpy when locals did not understand their jakartan and surabayan lingo. We offered help but they rudely ignored us. But truth to be told, China is probably one of those places you’ve been where english is least accessible, so culture shock is to be expected. I went to China in an Australian performance tour, and even though Mandarin is my fourth language, I was being treated more badly by my white Australian mates for not able to translate for them ‘properly’. Food wise, to me, China has various different food. You will need have greater language skill though, and avoid the tourist traps area. Some of the best food in my opinion are north of Fujian and South of Shanghai. FYI Hongkong is not Guangzhou therefore cha chan teng-s do not represent Cantonese cuisine. If you have been to Zhuhai or Shenzhen you would know what exceptional dimsum is like, despite of its Hongkong originZ South East Asian Chinese cuisine itself is also interesting because it was a mixture of different ethnic cuisines mixed with international flavours. There’s the Hokkien with the dark braising. The Cantonese introduced wok cooking and frying. In between is the Teochew and Hakka cuisines. Then there’s the influence by the Malays, sea farers, Tamil and Hadrami traders, and indigenous islanders. I myself for example found Chinese food in Jakarta and Java island as a whole as rather bland. Hokkien food was fundamentally poor people’s food. Famine was rampant during the sea ban along the coasts. What made Chinese food in South East Asia amazing, particularly along the strait of Melaka, was the trade and exchange of culture for hundreds of years.
You know quite a lot about China and southeast Asia!! I was born in north of Fujian, study in Shanghai for 3 years and now exchange in Germany. Our traditional food is not spicy and not so salty, and we'd like to show fresh flavor of seafood, that's maybe why you like the food here. And also personally thank you so much for your sharing, cuz I have an Indonesian friend, everytime we go to Chinese restaurants in berlin, people will speak Chinese with her🤣It's amazing cuz she actually has Chinese ancestors and we like similar flavors! The exchange of culture in Southeast Asia is so special and precious, we gotta know more and share more with each other. I'm inspired by your comment here. Hope you enjoy every trip and if you're interested, welcome to more places in China🥰
Fair enough, Ivana. We are just human. But your conclusion on not liking CHINESE FOOD in China is akin to generalising the food of the whole China. You were only exposing to just a drop in the ocean. There are diversed varieties in relation to areas, regions, provinces. Unless one truly lived and explored there for a number of years, one should not to be specific. There's no doubt Chongqing and Sichuan are known for its hot, oily and spicy food. I'm not a big fan of extremely oily food myself. I still don't get it, why need such amount of cooking oil. I think authentic Shanghainese cuisine is subtle, light and slightly sweet, definitely not oily and spicy. Likewise, so are Fujianese, Hakka and Cantonese.
Other than that, I enjoyed your take on this vast and diversed country called China. 👍
On the subject of food, as a Chinese person, I deeply empathize with this sentiment. Having traveled to many different provinces and cities, I often find myself not quite accustomed to the local delicacies. There's a Chinese saying, "Different waters and soils nourish different people," which, in my understanding, means that I have become so accustomed to the taste of food from my hometown that some of the renowned cuisines from other regions might not seem as palatable to me.
but... but... but... malaysian chinese and singaporean should be excluded from ppl who always assuming ivana MUST speaks chinese because she looks chinese. some of us tends to speak chinese to ivana at 1st sight, but we will not feel that it is STRANGE that she doesn't speak chinese. we kinda have lots of chinese who do not speak the language although they are malaysian chinese or singaporean.
as for China's chinese food, china is HUGE.. keep trying the food, ivana, because north and south's cuisines is very different. take malaysia as an example, our ancestor are from southern regions of china, fujian, guangdong etc.. so our dishes kinda "inherits" the cooking styles of those regions. that's why we find Hong Kong dishes are more to our liking. (i, also, dont like some of the china's cuisines that are too spicy, too oily and too salty. but i like cantonese, hakka, hokkien dishes.)
The big plus for Malaysia/Singapore is that English is spoken fluently. So even if at first they speak in Chinese to Ivana, as soon as Ivana speaks English, they can reply in English.
We weren’t a fan of the food in HK as well. Went to a Michelin star restaurant for wonton soup. But found the hawker wonton soup in Malaysia way better.
Also is the food in Fujian/Guangdong use the same sambal, and sprinkles like friend onions we like to add on our SE Chinese food? Coz the Indo/Malaysian Chinese food sambal is soooo good!!
@@JetLagWarriors hahaha.. for food, you need to explore more. it's the same everywhere > different stall/shop/restaurant, different taste. some tastes good, some tastes...er... not so good. and, don't always trust michelin~ hahahahaha!!!
as for food in fujian/guangdong, i'll wait for you to discover and tell us all about it. 😁
Haha, you are always so honest and right-on-spot, we recently traveled back to China after living in Canada for a long time. Except I don't really mind the youtube connection since I don't really need it all the time, and probably it is hard for you to find good real Chinese food without information from local people, the commercial area food venders are not so good, and I don't know why. The other likes and dislikes are so true. 3 applause for you guys!
In China, credit cards are very common, with almost all young people under 40 having one or more credit cards. However, due to the widespread use of mobile payments in China, credit cards are mostly linked to mobile payment platforms. We rarely swipe credit cards, and the last time I used a credit card for payment might date back to more than ten years ago, probably around 2010.
We also hate VPNs, so we also use about 3 VPN APPs. But after you come to China, you should also understand that China has built a firewall on the one hand, but on the other hand, it allows you to use VPNs. Isn’t it fun? We also think that sometimes electronic payments can have more warmth, but is it also a risky experience for China to have such an application for five thousand years? Welcome to China again, Tibet, Yunnan, Xinjiang... there are many more places to walk. I like riding in the countryside the most.
i like this video, because u r honest too.
Thank you for your honesty and objectivity. I'm so happy that you enjoyed your time during the trip in China.😊
About the food, I suggest you travel to Fujian province next time, and try the foods there. You won't find the sichuan pepper or chili there for most of the time, for the people there couldn't bear spicy flavour as well.😂
Actually, there're also spicy foods without sichuan pepper in China, of course other flavours too. But the street foods might taste quite similar sometimes.
So it would be better to go to restaurants instead of having street foods in China, if you want to have better experience in the flavour of food.
However, wish you a safe and happy journey all the time. And you're always welcomed to travel back to China.❤
Even when I was traveling in Singapore, which is much more tourist friendly, if you go off main streets, most places (even well established restaurants) do not accept international credit cards. We had to circled back to the "tourist quarter" to find a place to eat. I realized this is a common problem in many countries, if you wander off to non-tourist oriented places, those shops simply won't go through the trouble to setup payment method accommodating to foreign credit cards.
Sorry for the language thing LOL，they don't mean to it, they are truely confused, and most of these people don't understand English, they just thought Ivana is one of us.
To be fair, if a couple like yours are in the USA or UK, most people would think that the white guy would speak English too. Its just normal presumptions of local ppl which may not be correct, but certainly not supposed to be offensive.
I watched almost all your China videos. I think your "dislikes" about your visit to China are not only reasonable but also valuable to the Chinese your comments related to. For those who plan to go there your dislikes may give them important "heads-ups" that could help make their trips more enjoyable. Good work, pals!
Steve - hope you bought a brush and ink - how is your calligraphy art coming on ? I love this because it is pure art - just black and white, line and space. And the beauty is far beyond the actual meaning, which might actually be "a little less SiChuan peppercorns, please" ;)
请少放一点四川花椒 (Ivana should print this out on a business card and in top pocket at all times ; )
Maybe it's because of you or other foreigners. Recently, China has issued regulations on the pass rate of WeChat and Alipay foreign credit cards. Foreigners will be more convenient to use WeChat and Alipay in the future. Welcome to China Again
SO FUN LISTENING TO YOU TWO 🤗, AS ALWAYS! You are just a wonderful, fun, lovely couple! What a pleasure to hear you both in this conversation 😘🤗😘
很感谢你在公开平台传递正确的声音。事实上我们独特的网络防火箱是十分必要的，需要将包括大量违法内容的网络信息平台阻挡在外，当然，我指的是违反我们的法律。这些公司并没有和我国官方进行受管控的合作，因此存在大量不适宜展示的内容。
Love your honest opinion ❤ and the food part is very objective, you don’t need to be sorry if you don’t like it ❤
Hi Ivana, I’m glad you said it out loud. It’s okay you don’t like Chinese food in China, you are just being honest, nothing wrong with that.
I kind of get what you mean by that strong taste/smell of oil, sometimes I also notice that, it happens more in street food, and would be much better in decent restaurants. And yes, Chinese food in Canada is very good, especially those authentic hongkong/canton cuisine.
I’m Chinese. Love your video and love your honesty. I started follow you guys since your first China videos and now I’m a huge fan of you guys. Your comments are so true and hopefully next time you guys come to China, the situation can be more helpful for international travellers! Also, finding a local guide for your food tour is gonna improve your food experience a lot! 😄I usually do a lot of restaurant research before going to a new Chinese city.
I miss Shanghai. There are different areas to explore, obviously The Bund is most famous. There’s the French Concession, Pudong, etc.
Hopefully u guys managed to grab the Siao Long Bao, at the street (sorry, can’t remember where is it exactly) whereby there are 2 shops opposite each other. They sell diff version of the dumpling, so the ‘trick’ is you buy from the shop that sells the pan fried version as takeaway, and u eat that as u queue at the other restaurant.