So I'm just going to say, it sucks to have a baby in tow with you in China versus at home in the USA. I am not sure how baby friendly other countries are but I am very much accustomed to the standards in the USA, and maybe that means I am spoiled. I took Grace on my own Friday to Shanghai for her 2 month check up. (She is doing very well, up to 11.3 lbs or 5.15kg) First of all there aren't a lot of elevators or lifts to get the stroller up and down floors, when I arrive at the train station i determine its just easier to take the stroller on the escalator that look for the elevator. Some of the elevators don't go in the direction you want either, there are specific elevators, especially at the train stations that only go up or down not both. Taking a stroller with a diaper bag and baby on the escalator isn't impossible but it is difficult to balance. People push on to the escalator with no care that you are trying to space yourself our to go up with the stroller which drives me crazy! In China, I am not sure they are really being rude but that the culture is for them to just get where they are going and it turns into no lines and a little bit of pushing. Once I get to the first level I know there is an elevator to get me to the top floor where I will wait for the train to turn green, scan my ticket (in the line with the larger doors to open so the stroller will fit), and then take another elevator down to the train platform so I can wait in line to board the train. Once they turn your train number green on the board you have maybe 10 minutes to get through the ticket gate, then down to the platform and onto the train in the correct car. With only one elevator which i have found in the past to be out of service )luckily was working this time) it can be a time crunch! I make it to the train platform, then the train pulls forward, many people are looking at me, not sure if its because I am a foreigner, have a baby or have the stroller but I just look around and smile. Once I board the train in my particular car, I realize that the train is turned around so what i thought was row 1 where my seat was, is actually row 13 and i have to walk all the way through the car. While holding up people boarding i have to collapse my stroller, find a place to store it, then walk all the way down the 13 aisles with the car seat that Grace is in, where the width barely accommodates the car seat! I find my seat and I find a man in my chair, i have two seats because Brian was supposed to come but ended up staying home with sick Mr. Blake. So i show my two tickets, which i shouldn't have to if this guy didn't pay for a first class seat, or this seat in particular and he gets up and moves to the other train car. I sit down and the baby starts to cry.....so i spent the train ride holding her and she finally fell asleep just as I was about to get off and start the whole journey off the train and to the taxi line. Once I get to the taxi line i have to put the baby in the taxi, take the diaper bag off place it inside the taxi, then fold up the stroller and hope it fits in the back of the taxi ( many have a large canister thing in the back so the stroller won't fit) and then off we go in Shanghai. Ugh! If I can't get around with my fold-able stroller how does anyone in a wheelchair get around China?
In addition to my early complaints; that China isn't stroller friendly for walking around on side walks, and there are no changing tables in most stores and restaurants, I did find a sign to a nursing room in the Shanghai train station, however you have to read Chinese to translate the sign that I believe says you have to call this number XXX to get someone to unlock the door. And just across the hall is the "smoking room" you don't see these too often, mostly people just smoke wherever they want, even near "No Smoking" signs. It is really an odd thing to have people smoking everywhere we go, at home we are so used to "No Smoking" in restaurants, grocery stores, hotel lobby, everywhere that it is really difficult for me to wrap my mind around people smoking here everywhere i go and trying to protect my kids from all the second hand smoke.
Trying to think of other things I come across in China that I haven't included in my previous Blogs I was able to come up with the following:
I tried to purchase a heating pad online with my taobao website, i ended up getting a heating pad for your laptop for when it overheats in the mail.
Cigars are very difficult to find in China, but lots of cigarettes!
You can't find non-fat greek yogurt or almond milk easily.
Every time I go to the bank to convert money in my account from USD to RMB they take 20-30 minutes and look at me like I'm crazy and its the first time they have done this! It's always the same people working there too!
Having no dryer catches up to you when you have a sick kids at home vomiting on everything nad requiring vast amounts of laundry!
You really take for granted living in the desert and being able to see around you, when you live in China you can see a few other buildings nearby and lots of "fog" according to the weather app. Let's just say it people, it's pollution "smog" not "fog",
If you buy prepared popcorn it is not butter its kettle corn, at an event, at the movie theater, anywhere in China!
You have street vendors that sell fruit on a stick, corn, sweet potatoes, and other random cooked items on most corners.
Starbucks asks you if you want a Chestnut Macchiato instead of a Caramel one.
You shouldn't hold your baby upright for a few months or their spine might not develop properly, only hold them horizontally in China! Sorry that's just the way i hold and burp my baby.
I can't read the store adds and I haven't come across coupons so saving money at the grocery store can be tough.
They sell many of the magazines from home but they are Chinese versions, not converted to Chinese but completely different versions, and either way I wouldn't be able to read them.
Ok that is all I can come up with for now and Grace is waking from her nap.....until next time!
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