Green Tea vs. Black Coffee

Important learning of the day: Chinese people count to ten with their fingers using only one hand. (Technically they do number ten with two hands, but not like this 👐, but by crossing their index fingers.) Germans, and apparently Swiss people, too, sign “two” using their thumbs and index fingers. The rest of the world uses their index and middle fingers for this (Source: Dude, trust me). Be careful when ordering two beers, because the German “two” means “eight” in China. Can’t say I figured this out the hard way… would have made a good story though. 😅

During a slightly touristy photo bomber bus tour we got many opportunities to climb up hills and take photos of the scenery. Our 15-seats bus was utterly cramped, but Chinese people make even better use of their vehicles: You literally see more scooters with three people on them than scooters with just the driver.

We also made a stop at a teahouse on top of a mountain and took part in a tea ceremony, learning how to hold your cup the right way as a guy or an married/unmarried woman, how to politely cover your mouth while drinking and how to say “This is good, ANOTHER!” with just your hands.

Today I also learned why so many houses have a handful of steps in front of their front door in China. Here it comes: It’s crucial to keep ghosts out of the house. And as everyone knows, ghosts are really short. Also, they cannot climb – and only jump a little. Because of this, they can’t get up the steps. So there you go.

There’s one thing that’s hard got come by in China: Our guide for the entire trip has dubbed it the “Getting Off Coffee Tour” and so far, he’s been right. Green tea is really nice, but I often sneak in a small can of oddly sweet cold coffee.