Staff Snippets - China

Submitted by Imaginative Traveller on Tue, 16/02/2010 - 12:17

Commercial Director and ex-tour leader Liddy Pleasants relates a snippet from a tour of one of her favourite countries - China!

China is just the most incredible place you can ever visit. The people are inquisitive, welcoming and hilarious. The food is beyond delicious. The scenery is varied, majestic and extraordinary. The sights are fascinating and abundant. And the culture has been going strong for a couple of thousand years and continues to do so !

One of my favourite travelling experiences was a few years ago when leading tours in China. I had picked up a fair bit of Chinese and was able to get by in most situations. One day I was in a lift and when it stopped on the third floor, a group of about 15 middle aged Chinese women got in. As we climbed laboriously to the top of the hotel, the women started to take in this freakish foreign woman who was behind them (at 6 foot, with long blonde hair it was always a little difficult to blend in in China!).

Eventually one commented quietly to the others (in Mandarin) that she had never seen such a large woman. They all giggled. Then another looked down at my feet and, astonished, suggested that the rest of them try to look at how enormous they were. They all giggled even more and I didn’t say anything. Eventually we arrived at the top and just as they were leaving, I said in my best Chinese, that I was happy to meet them but had seldom met such a bunch of small women, with such tiny feet! They all looked appalled that I had understood what was being said and started to apologise before I burst out laughing and they all collapsed into even more giggles.