Living in Australia you know that generally everyone lives the same... despite different cultural backgrounds, life goes on much the same from one end of the country to the other. We turn on taps & get water, turn on lights & get light and our rubbish bins are emptied every week. The only thing that really changes is the geography.

However in China, which is about the same size as Australia, moving from one province to another can be like going to another country. Different dialects are spoken... I don't understand where the dividing line is, but every area has its own dialect. The majority of people speak Mandarin (Putonghua is the written English translation - it's not another language) but people who live in HK or the Guongzhou Province speak Cantonese. Many country folk can only speak their own dialect and Muslims in the north-east speak Hebrew. Then there is the Tibetan population with their own language & dialects. However everyone can read Chinese script - if they are educated. Different areas also have a different accents. Someone from Shanghai sounds very different to someone from Beijing while both are speaking Mandarin.

The food changes. Each province has their own speciality then each large city has their own special foods that they produce and sell to visitors, capitalising in on the cultural habit of the gift-giving of food. Often this food cannot be found anywhere else so, if while living in a particular province you develop a liking for a special local food, don't count on finding it in other areas.

People from Hunan & Sichuan Provinces like hot spicy food and their restaurants can be found everywhere it seems. People from Guongdong Province have a reputation for liking wild animals & will eat anything. When an animal is killed nothing is wasted... that includes all intestine and fat. Generally Chinese people waste nothing. All left over cooked food is to feed the pigs. Fortunately a lot of restaurant owners go to other Provinces and open restaurants specializing in their home food so when found by others from their province they have an instant clientele. Even a dumpling shop will advertise which province they come from.

Muslims have moved into many areas of China and have their speciality fresh noodle shops and sell BBQ & flat bread on the streets in the evenings. In the bigger cities they will have shops selling only their flat breads. Muslims from north-east China also have their special restaurants in the cities. They do not eat pork and favour mutton & lamb so it's a great place to experience a change of diet. Their restaurants are very popular and often have entertainment of their own cultural songs & dances.

In the north bread is the staple food while in the south it is rice. If a big bowl of rice is not eaten at every meal they feel deprived & hungry.

Every festival has a special food... A few of them are: Mid-Autumn Festival (in September) when Moon Cakes are a huge commercial success. Few people will admit to actually liking them, but millions of them are made & sold. Some are beautifully packaged for gift giving. Moon cakes are extremely fattening with a large variety of fillings. At Spring Festival people eat dumplings to represent a new beginning. Then comes the Lantern Festival 15 days later when Tangyuan (small glutinous rice balls filled with sweet sesame paste) are eaten. At Dragon Boat Festival at the end of May, Zhongxi are made. These are triangular shaped flavoured sticky rice wrapped in leaves. Fillings can be either sweet red bean paste or meat or nuts.

Going to another Province also has other difficulties. If your bank account is opened in a certain place & you are travelling, either putting money into your account or withdrawing money can be an expensive exercise, especially if you do so frequently, owing to bank charges. Adding money to your phone sim card registered in another Province creates another difficulty. The Chinese can do it online, but it's a very difficult job if you cannot read script.

Keys turn the opposite way, hot and cold taps can be on the opposite side, they drive on the right-hand side of the road, they don't wear safety belts (though things are slowly changing), they rarely wear bike helmets, their children sit on their knees in the front seats of cars or strapped to their back on a motor bike. So many differences.

But this is all the fun of travel.....

The Universe will provide.