Studying in Beijing in the fall, and have a few questions

[Holly]

I'm studying at Peking University/Beida in the fall, and I have a few questions. So, here they are!

1. Is it possible to buy bread (particularly wheat bread) and peanut butter in China? Unfortunately I have special dietary needs due to health problems, and can't eat a lot of ethnic food, particularly if it's spicy. I also need a diet high in fiber (will that be difficult to satisfy in China?). So I'm wondering if I have to bring some food along with me...I know cereal isn't very common there, which is a bummer, as that's an easy way to get fiber.

2. What's a good travel guide to buy? I was recommended Lonely Planet, but I've heard some iffy things about the quality of their books. I've also heard their China guide has been confiscated at times because it contains some sensitive political info. I'm probably going to buy a guide just for Beijing, rather than for China, as I doubt I'll be getting out of the city much. I have class Mon-Fri, roughly 24 hours per week. I was told to wait and buy dictionaries in China, but the guide is something I'd buy here.

3. Should I set up a VPN? And if so, what's the best way to do so? Will I have to pay?

4. Am I going to freeze my butt off? I'll be there from Sept-Dec, and have heard mixed things about just how cold fall and winter are in Beijing.

I'll probably think of more questions, so I'll post them as they come to me. :rolleyes: If anyone has any tips or advice, I'd be more than happy to listen! I have never traveled abroad before, and am quite nervous about this trip, given my newbie-ness and also my rather poor health.

[Jane_PA]

Welcome to Beijing!

1. Is it possible to buy bread (particularly wheat bread) and peanut butter in China? Unfortunately I have special dietary needs due to health problems, and can't eat a lot of ethnic food, particularly if it's spicy. I also need a diet high in fiber (will that be difficult to satisfy in China?). So I'm wondering if I have to bring some food along with me...I know cereal isn't very common there, which is a bummer, as that's an easy way to get fiber.

----Sure, there are many kinds of breads in China. Chinese main food on table is rice/bread/noodles and vegetables, not meat and potato. (I am wondering, when you learn Chinese, do you have any reading about Chinese food? ) However, I may say that Chinese bread, even the western style, is different from the taste in the U.S. (Are you an American?) In China, most bread that I have had is flavored with sugar, which tastes more like a cake (but is not as sweet as American cake...). Some bread might be salty. But, almost not hundreds of kinds of bread as a U.S. supermarket shows, from Italian to Rye, from whole wheat to black wheat... You will see. As many Chinese students complaint how terrible the American bread tastes, I don't think you would like the bread in China...

-----Also, there are many kinds of Chinese steam bread, flat bread, Chinese grains soup etc.

----- Many cereals too, but might not be the cereal that you usually defined...

2. What's a good travel guide to buy? I was recommended Lonely Planet, but I've heard some iffy things about the quality of their books. I've also heard their China guide has been confiscated at times because it contains some sensitive political info. I'm probably going to buy a guide just for Beijing, rather than for China, as I doubt I'll be getting out of the city much. I have class Mon-Fri, roughly 24 hours per week. I was told to wait and buy dictionaries in China, but the guide is something I'd buy here.

-----Sorry, not sure this... My home is in Beijing, I don't need a guide book. Usually, if I only have a short time to stay in any city, I would get a city map and try all the highlighted attractions with pictures on the map. It works out well, when I visited Istanbul, London, Vienna etc...

3. Should I set up a VPN? And if so, what's the best way to do so? Will I have to pay?

----Oops, not sure of this. If you only stay in China a short time, do you have to visit those political sensitive website during this time period?

4. Am I going to freeze my butt off? I'll be there from Sept-Dec, and have heard mixed things about just how cold fall and winter are in Beijing.

----Beijing is cold... depends on where do you usually live. -10 C (please check the difference between C and F) is possible but rarely lower than that. 0 C is freezing point. Probably you will need a down coat if you go out when the lowest is under 0.

[Holly]

Sugar, huh? I wonder if Chinese bread isn't considered that healthy? We didn't cover Chinese food much in my language classes.

I do live in America, by the way.

Are there a lot of whole grain/whole wheat foods in China? Here in America, although our food is quite often unhealthy, there's been a big push recently to make more food (bread, cereal, crackers, etc) whole grain, so that it's better for you. Most of my experience with Chinese food has been with Americanized Chinese food, which is also pretty unhealthy.

[Jane_PA]

Most Americanized Chinese food I never heard of when I was in China...

Tell you a joke... A group of Chinese students in the U.S. talked about what is a typical American food. They were silent for a while because they think pizza and spaghetti is Italian... Then one student said, "General Zuo Chicken?"

Just a joke, don't mind it.

There are lot of grains in China, but most might be different from what you are familiar with... Some I even not sure how to translated...millet? Pearl barley? Purple rice? And many kinds of beans to mix together with the grains to cook for a home made grain soup is a common food for Chinese trandition breakfast... There are some special restaurants in China just called grain soup restaurants which serve many kinds of grain soups...

Chinese steam bread is very healthy, no oil no sugar. Flat bread depends on the way cooked, some with stuffing like vegetables.

[roddy]

Most Chinese supermarket bread is white and not particularly nice. There may be a couple of 'wholewheat' options, but they're not necessarily that good. Cereals tend towards the kids market. What I suspect you might end up wanting to do is make a weekly trip to one of the places catering more to an expat market - April Gourmet, Jenny Lou's to stock up on imported stuff. And a scour of the supermarket may turn up some useful stuff - there are various oat and nut based breakfasty things aimed at older people which may work, plus imported products are increasingly available - I get German muesli at about 50Y a kg.

The Insider's Guide to Beijing is actually the best option if you're going to be living, rather than traveling, here.

VPN depends on whether or not you want easy access to Facebook, Youtube, blogs, gambling sites, etc.

Winter is cold, you'll want thermal underwear, a warm jacket, etc. But it's not windy and it rarely rains or snows, so it's not actually that miserable. Think crisp blue(ish) skies.

[Holly]

Are you talking about this guide book? I can't seem to find it for sale anywhere...

Are those stores you mentioned pretty far away from Beida? That's a shame about the bread. I thought bread was more...er...global? That of all things, it would be relatively easy to find. Well, like I said, I'm a newbie when it comes to travel.

Gambling sites, not so much, but Facebook and Youtube would be nice. ;)

I'm from Wisconsin, so I'm used to pretty miserable winters, but I wasn't sure if I should expect worse in China.

[roddy]

You should be able to pick up a copy very easily once you get here. If you want something to be going on with, I'd just get whatever's most recent - Beijing changes so rapidly that it's not so much the publisher that matters, it's how long it's been since the book came off the presses.

China's more about rice and noodles as a staple. You do get bready stuff - steamed buns, for example, but they tend to be very white and I'm not sure what the fiber content is. I'd imagine you'll be able to find something near you - there's a massive Carrefour in Haidian for a start - but it might take a bit of hunting. All part of the fun.

[Xiwang]

The Korean-owned bakeries, such as Paris Baguette and Tour Les Jours, sell bread baked to Western tastes so you'll be able to find non-sweet bread there. They sell a variety of sliced non-white breads.

There are branches located down the street in the Wudaokou area, which is an area where you and your new friends will probably be hanging around often.

[v13co]

You can get whole wheat bread or "brown bread" in China. I have no clue what the bakery is called but it is a chain and all over the Wudaokou/ university area and it has a pink signage. It's not as sweet as bread you would find in the States (I am American) which I actually like better. There is Walmart in Beijing (Zhi Chun Lu subway station, one stop away from WuDaoKou) so getting a peanut butter, cereal isn't a big problem. Finding milk that suits your taste on the other hand is a whole different story.

I'd bring fiber packs you mix into drinks just to be safe if your diet calls for it.

The Lonely Planet guide is good but for me the best guide would be a Chinese friend.

There are free VPNs out there, reliable most of the time. If you only need to access FB, YT once in a while, you should be fine.

BJ winter is similar to Pacific Northwest winter, except it rarely snows

[Holly]

I'll probably just go with the LP guide, then.

Is brown rice common in China?

Hunting is part of the fun, but moreso for normal people who have time to experiment and shop around. For me, it's going to be a very stressful race against the clock to find the right foods, otherwise I'll get to spend a lot of time feeling very, very sick. <_< Hopefully luck will be on my side.

Read an interesting thing in a culture book today - apparently you're supposed to wear socks with flip-flops in China? Any truth to this?

[Xiwang]

Read an interesting thing in a culture book today - apparently you're supposed to wear socks with flip-flops in China? Any truth to this?

I've never seen this among the Han Chinese anywhere in China. (However, some older Chinese women may wear ankle-high stockings with their open-toed shoes.)

Maybe it's a future Fall fashion trend that will only apply to Western expats?

As for Wal-Mart China, its bread is pretty tasteless.

[gougou]

Any truth to this?

The Chinese don't seem to have read that guide book...

[Holly]

Tasteless bread is fine with me. I just want to be able to find some wheat bread. T_T Looks like I might be bringing my peanut butter with me...

Haha! Big surprise there. I swear, these cultural books are always wrong or insanely outdated.

Tell me, what's the deal with eye contact in China? I've heard mixed things about whether you need to constantly stare at the person you're talking to, like you do in the US.

Also, about face masks - can I just wait to buy them when I'm there? My mom wants me to buy some now, but I figured they'd be a much more common store item in China.

[roddy]

I really wouldn't worry too much about the whole cultural thing - the chances of causing an international incident due to your sock habits or eye contact preferences really are extremely slim. Treat interactions slightly more carefully and politely than you usually would and you'll be fine.

I'd write my own cultural guide to China, but I'm not sure how much people will pay when the entire content is 'Meh, we're all just people really. Do more or less what other people are doing and try not to be too much of an arse.'

[yonglin]

There are many good sources of dietary fibre apart from whole wheat bread and peanut butter. For example, brown rice, legumes, green vegetables and many types of fruit. These are all readily available in China, especially if you are willing to do some “cooking” yourself.

What exactly are you planning on using the face masks for...?

[jmhcali]

Savory yeast bread is unfortunately very much a Western thing. However, if you are willing to do some cooking yourself, it is possible to bake your own in a toaster oven with a reasonably accurate temperature gauge. Let me know if you want instructions; it's not that hard to do, even for beginners.

If you just eat as much steamed or raw veggies as the average Chinese, you should get enough fiber. But you should talk to your doctor and get a list of high-fiber foods before you go.

You can get a dictionary anywhere, but there is a huge fabulous English-language bookstore in Wangfujing where you can buy all the dictionaries your heart desires.

Also, I think the people who are horrified by Beijing winters are either Californians like myself or people from more southerly countries. As a Midwesterner, you'll be wondering what all the fuss was about.

[gougou]

Looks like I might be bringing my peanut butter with me...

Peanut butter is much easier to find than decent bread...

[Holly]

You make me laugh, roddy. ;)

I'd use the face masks for pollution, and to ward off colds. I was told by my Chinese teacher that such masks are commonly used in China... Whereas I've never seen anyone here in the US wearing one.

Yeah, like I said, I'm from Wisconsin. It snows and rains a TON in the winter, and it can be fricking freezing.

Do Chinese Walmarts carry Western food?

[gougou]

Do Chinese Walmarts carry Western food?

There are some import shops (check Jenny Lou's or April Gourmet) that provide food for foreigners living in Beijing. It comes at a heavy mark-up, of course, but there's little you actually won't be able to find.

[Xiwang]

Do Chinese Walmarts carry Western food?

Wal-Mart sells some imported Western foods as well as many Western brands made in China, such as Skippy Peanut Butter. It also sells bags of live frogs.