The 'Shanghai Syndrome': Every Foreign Tourist's WTF Moment
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That could work too.
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Paris Syndrome, it's so true! I definitely felt that stark contrast between expectations and reality on my first trip to Paris. Thankfully, the city's architecture provided some consolation. Similarly, in my travels a few years before the pandemic, the place where 'Paris Syndrome' hit me hardest was Helsinki, Finland!
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Hopefully, Paris Syndrome can gradually be overcome.
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And then there's 'Bangkok Sickness' – that one's even worse!
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I think I might have experienced that.
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I think I saw you taking people to a xiaolongbao restaurant.
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The one on Huanghe Road?
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Borrowing the OP's (Original Poster's) term 'syndrome,' let me share a 'China Syndrome' experienced by a German friend on his trip to China before 2004:
- Before his trip, friends advised him to pack medication, warning that the environment would be dirty and the food unsafe. As it turned out, he traveled through most of China without needing any of it.
- In a remote and vast area in Xinjiang, far from any city, he suddenly heard his phone ring – a call from his family, a sound he hadn't heard for a long time. He was both surprised and delighted, and immediately shared it with his family over the phone. Back then, many areas in Germany still lacked mobile coverage, yet even in such a remote part of China, there was a signal!
- When they came to Shanghai, we took their group on the German-engineered Maglev train. They were absolutely astounded, their jaws practically dropped! They couldn't believe China had commercialized it while Germany hadn't. It was their first time experiencing the speed, smoothness, and comfort of the Maglev.
He joked he had to take this 'China Syndrome' back to 'infect' his friends. And just like that, more than twenty years have passed.
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The Shanghai Revelation.
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That's a good one.