Something that I can’t quite get used to here is the fact that everything is SO LOUD. Just like Spinal Tap I think that China has a dial that goes up to eleven.
Conversations aren’t like normal conversations, two people in the street will most often yell at each other. Restaurant staff bellow across diners at each other and everyone else as a matter of course.
Shopping involves another whole level of decibels. Apparently Chinese shoppers need people with microphones to help them select products. Some of them are noisily doing demonstrations others are I think just helpfully telling people what’s on offer at a completely scary volume.
That’s just the shop assistants. One of my regular supermarkets plays Spice Girls music (really!) LOUDLY on a constant loop (at least that’s what they’ve played every time I’ve been in there). That’s before you get to the shoppers – who are of course roaring their requests to shop assistants and generally chatting at the tops of their voices.
I think I might invest in a large pair of noise cancelling headphones.