1) Do drink a lot of water!

It is verrrry dry here, something a girl from the good ‘ole humid Florida knows little about. Within a couple days I had lost my voice. Most people here buy humidifiers they turn on while they sleep. I have actually yet to get one, and am ok thus far (other than that first couple days). But with or without the humidifier, water is a necessity here.

2) Do check out one of the roadside Barbecues.

When the weather is decent, many of the restaurants take over the cities sidewalks with plastic chairs and open grills. I have yet to go to one of these without someone who speaks Chinese and English, so I do not know how difficult it might be without one. I do know, however, that the food is pretty good, and the experience is awesome. Food is brought out in the order it is cooked, so you could get thing brought out at random times (this happens a lot in China). If you indicate that you want mushrooms, for example, (at the barbecue we went to it was a form you filled in, like a sushi menu), they will come out, roasted, on a skewer. Best thing we had there? The bread, which had been slathered in honey then roasted over an open flame. Yum.

3) Do take time to check out all the little shops on the streets.

Unless you can read Chinese, the little street shops can be very daunting. From afar, they all look the same, and the people sometimes standing outside them don't make the places look to welcoming. But if you have the time (and possibly another foreigner, you will be bothered less if there are more of you) you can find plenty of diamonds in the rough! Most are little restaurants or mini stores selling Bijo (chinese alcohol of choice) and soda. We have found some awesome toy stores, dvd stores, and florists though, too! As long as you are aware that someone might follow you around the store, and speak to you as if you understand them, you can have quite an enjoyable shopping adventure-there's nothing like finding a shop that sells shirts for 30 yuan- about $4!