My personal favorite mode of transportation while visiting Guangzhou was the metro system. Although it may be crowded, it is well-organized and enables people to easily reach many parts of the large cities.
When I initially took the public bus system in Zhuhai for the first time, I learned the importance of writing down my final destination on my phone in Chinese. Along with doing this, I found the Chinese people to be very helpful, even if I can only speak to them in broken Mandarin. Therefore, although I found myself confused at times due to the language barrier, I remained calm and observed my surroundings while taking the buses. After completing a couple of rounds of the public bus system, I am comfortable taking it throughout Zhuhai. With the public bus system, I use Didi and taxis when in the city. Although driving in China is much more aggressive and without rules in comparison to the United States, I feel safe. Overall, I have not witnessed any accidents and their system of driving seems to work.
On the other hand, when I took the high-speed train for the first time last weekend, I was stressed. In China, WeChat Pay is used to pay for anything you can imagine. It is similar to Apple Wallet and is the equivalent of having your credit card on your phone to be scanned anywhere you go. When I arrived at the train station, I was under the impression that I could pay for my train ticket using WeChat Pay. Thus, I was unsure of what to do when I was informed that I could only use cash to pay. A couple of other young women who also did not have cash asked if I wanted to take a car with them, but I was determined to take the high-speed train.
