Beijing Exposed: The North-South China Gap is Bigger Than My Entire Imagination!
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Hi, everyone!
I'm originally from Guangdong Province. I have been living in the south all my life (Hong Kong and Macau are too close to be considered distant places). There had always been this dream of mine to 'drift' north, specifically to study or work in Beijing.
Back when I took the college entrance exam (the important test here to enter university), my parents weren't very supportive of my goal of applying to schools outside my home area; I also had some qualms about being away from home for a long time. Therefore, I thought then that upon graduation, I would surely set out for Beijing!
This March, during my internship period, I finally made the trip to Beijing and spent two whole weeks exploring. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to make me realize my 'drifting north dream.' I was so disappointed!
On the eighth day of March, when I arrived in Beijing, the wind was surprisingly fierce and terribly cold! It completely froze me. Note: My down jacket got packed away in the luggage cart, and after arriving at the airport, I encountered a very shivering journey to the hotel.
Here's a warning for those who will go see Beijing in spring: You might want to keep your thick jackets with you rather than checking them in because Beijing can be really chilly during this time of year.
When I finally arrived at the hotel, the freezing and strong winds made me quite shocked. I grew up in Shenzhen where the winter temperatures do not really compel one to venture outdoors, let alone endure such severe wind chill. I was fully equipped - hat, scarf, mask, and glasses - but still felt as if my face was being torn apart by the wind.
My experience at the hotel that night was even worse:
The radiator was not far from the bed, the environment was unbearably dry - I woke up in the middle of the night due to the excessively dry air, followed by continuous nosebleeds on waking up; for a moment, I was scared I'd lose too much blood and needed to keep an address for the hospital nearby just in case. This was my first-ever bloody nose which I thought could be fatal.
Emergency alert! - The indoor temperature in Beijing during late winter and early spring is very, very dry, due to the strong heat from radiators. After stopping the bleeding, I couldn't sleep due to the intense dryness and kept dabbing wet wipes on my nose.
For the next few days, I either bled through my nose when waking up, or experienced nosebleeds after bathing. It was like living within a nightmare!
From the first day till March 15th, I lived in a cycle of "bloody nose/windy/cold shaking/painful face". From the 15th onwards, however, the good news was that the radiator turned off, making the room less humid, at last.
That is my little moisturizing suggestion: having two buckets of water on the ground, four open bottles of water, and homemade humidifier, like wet cloths, made things more bearable.
The weather wasn't so harsh anymore, the wind wasn't so strong, and I could finally enjoy my trip happily.
Then came the climax! While visiting Temple of Heaven, I experienced what they call 'pollen attack'!
I was utterly shocked at the sight initially until I realized it was actually pollen (I think mainly from Cyprus trees), which had flown down from the trees and coated everything in a layer of yellowish dust, feeling like there were powder inside eyes, nose, ears... It was like the first time I saw such an overwhelming amount of pollen; previously, I always believed pollen was invisible. I learned new things indeed, hehe.
Note that, according to driver stories, this year's pollen situation was very serious due to lack of snowfall in Beijing during winter, which is not always the case. But if easy-allergic friends decide to visit in spring, it is advisable to wear a mask.
Finally, my last piece of advice would be about the metro...
I used to think Guangzhou Suburban West Tiyuxi Station was the most crowded metro I'd ever seen (a really busy transfer station).
However, after visiting Guomei Dongzhimen Station during rush hour in Beijing, I knew no longer if it could be less crowded.
To be honest, I still really want to go to Beijing someday and study or live there. But for now, because my body could not adapt well to the arid air and constant nosebleeds during late autumn and winter, it deterred me a bit, so maybe I’m not ready yet. I wonder what the summer in Beijing may be like?
I wrote this little note, not to say that Beijing isn't good – I really love Beijing! I just think some of my problems were due to my body being unequipped to handle the climate conditions up north. Anyway, during those two weeks in Beijing, my hair never got oily, even after three days without washing; my face did not break out either, as it always felt fresh and clean, and my clothes were perpetually dry. In fact, I left Shenzhen during the springtime, a season where the humidity index is incredibly high and the walls feel wet, so the difference in weather made me realize how much I had adapted to my home place.
I could only hope the next trip will give me new impressions.
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As someone from Fujian who settled in Beijing, aside from the dryness, I find the climate here much better than in the south. We have heating in winter, summers aren't too hot, and it's way better than the damp, sticky weather down south. Plus, the four distinct seasons are a real bonus.
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Exactly! My husband, who's from Fujian, came to Beijing and never wanted to leave. He feels the same way you do and has been here for 30 years now.
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I'm from Guangdong and have been in Beijing for ten years now. Apart from my cooking skills taking a nosedive, everything else is great. I love the distinct seasons.
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Your cooking skills got worse? Haha! Shouldn't they have improved in a 'food desert' like Beijing?
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When I visited Guangxi, it was damp every day, which I actually loved. I'm so tired of Beijing's dryness – seriously, I go through a bottle of moisturizer every few days! If I don't use it, my arms and legs get all white and flaky. My best friend, on the other hand, said she'd never go back! Her clothes wouldn't dry, and she never felt truly fresh.
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That 'white skin' is likely just dead skin. We folks from Northeast China always scrub it off in the bath and then moisturize, so our skin stays smooth even in dry weather.
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You'll get used to it after a month or two. As someone originally from Wuxi, I have no desire to go back there now.
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I totally get you. I'm not from Guangdong either (I'm from Jiangxi), but winters in Guangdong are wonderfully warm – definitely the best time of year there. There's hardly any rain, so you can be outdoors all the time, which is fantastic if you're not a homebody. Northern winters are just too cold; you're basically confined to heated rooms, and I can't stand that.
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I once had a colleague from Guangdong visit Beijing for work, and we could visibly see his skin flaking off from the dryness. I ended up giving him a 'Kaiselu' – a glycerin suppository, believe it or not – to use on his skin, and it actually helped a lot!
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Hahaha
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I've never been to Guangdong, only Guangxi. Summer there is brutally hot – you start sweating after just a few steps outdoors, and your skin gets really sticky. Even in November, the bedsheets felt damp to the touch. And the cockroaches and rats were huge! Aside from the climate, which I wasn't quite used to, everything else was great. The 'fen' (rice noodles) were delicious, and the fruit was cheap and amazing. I've been thinking about it ever since I got back.
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Maybe you visited during that awkward period when the central heating is off, but it's still quite cold? I find those times in Beijing – right before the heating kicks in or just after it stops – pretty uncomfortable to get through.
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When I was in Beijing, my face wouldn't get oily for days – it was amazing! But in Shenzhen, my face becomes an oil slick again almost immediately after washing it.