Thoughts on some China rumors I had heard before actually getting to China

Smog: Wasn't horrible while we were in Beijing, but we really had a lucky couple of days.

Heat: Yes, it’s hot and humid. And yet people don’t really wear shorts… But for some silly reason, guys are allowed to be immodest and roll up their shirts to cool their midriffs no matter the level of belly fitness.

Water quality: Some of the rivers look absolutely horrid. Others are quite clean. As for drinking water, you can get cold bottled water almost anywhere on the street for one yuan (aka less than 20 cents). You don't have to be too ODC while washing your face or showering - just be smart.

Noise: We're in big cities. Sure they're kind of noisy. The main streets have tons of cars, and they're loud, but the second you turn off a big street, there are tons of cute little streets that are quite quiet. It's just city life. Though I must say it seems like people are more prone to honk about any random thing, not just to get traffic moving.

Smells: I think we all expected it to smell kind of gross here. But we’ve been pleasantly surprised that there are lots of fun food aromas and only once in a while we’ll get what we’ve termed a “China whiff.”

Dirtiness: It’s still a developing country. The farther outside of a downtown you get, the less cleanliness you’ll find. But it’s no different than I expected, and you can manage to keep yourself clean (usually with the exception of your feet). I made myself dirty not because the China itself is dirty, but rather because chopsticks + slippery food = I haven’t splattered this much on myself since childhood!

Tons of red: Do restaurants actually have tons of red lanterns and decorations all over and make staff dress formally? Yep! Not just for foreigners – it was really comforting to see “real China” still holds onto such beautiful traditions and real people eat at those types of restaurants.

Bathroom experiences: Yes, you need your own toilet paper. What's nice is I've actually seen a bunch of public restrooms you can use. Outside of dorms and really nice places though, do be prepared to take a squat.

China in general: They do everything super-size here. Especially Beijing - everything was extremely spread out, a concept we'd think of as downtown plus suburbs, except the suburbs are still considered part of Beijing and Tianjin etc and also have innumerable skyscrapers.