China has the US beat in more than a few areas. 

中国在多个领域击败了美国。

After traveling in China for six weeks， I realized there were certain things the country does unquestionably better than the US.

China's high-speed rail is extensive and convenient； the food is complex， diverse， cheap， and delicious； almost all young Chinese people use mobile payments instead of cash； you can get any kind of errand done with China's on-demand service apps； and China's e-commerce platforms make Amazon look dated.

That's not to say that visiting the country was easy. Few people speak English， and many of China's most convenient services， like mobile payments， won't work for foreigners. But I found my time there to be an incredibly enriching experience.

在中国旅行了六周后，我意识到中国在某些方面无疑比美国做得更好。

中国的高速铁路是四通八达和便利的；食物是丰富，多样，便宜，美味的；几乎所有的中国年轻人都使用移动支付而不是现金；你可以通过中国的按需服务应用完成任何任务；中国的电子商务平台也让亚马逊显得过时。

这并不是说访问这个国家很简单。很少有人会说英语，而且许多中国最便捷的服务，比如移动支付，对外国人来说是行不通的。但我发现我在那里的经历非常丰富多彩。

I'm not sure what I expected before visiting China.

Whenever I spoke to people who had visited the country before， the dominant reaction — whether the person was white， Chinese-American， or something else — was along the lines of an exasperated sigh and a face that said， "You haven't seen anything yet."

Even when I was in Hong Kong during the first week of my five-month trip， when I told people there that I was about to embark on six weeks in China， they smiled knowingly.

"Hong Kong is Diet China，" one told me. "Hong Kong is China without all the extra difficulties， weirdness， and inconveniences. Get ready."

After traveling in the country for six weeks， I think I understand a lot of what they were trying to convey. From an American perspective， China does not operate in the way you expect it to.

For example， it is pretty common for companies to have job listings that include qualifiers like "men only" or "only aesthetically pleasing women."

On a smaller scale， times are more or less suggestions. Once at the bus station when I asked when the last bus to the town I was staying in would leave， I was told， "7 p.m.， maybe." The bus left at 6：40 p.m.， and I missed it. Another time， on top of a mountain， when I asked when the cable car closed， I was told， "Whenever the workers decide it's time to go home." A sign said 7 p.m. The cable car stayed open until 7：30 p.m.

Among other things： Personal space is nonexistent， few people speak English， and you'll often be told things are not possible， with little or no explanation. (And that's assuming you understand enough Mandarin to hear the explanation in the first place.)

But despite those difficulties， it became apparent to me that there are certain things the country does unquestionably better than the US. Here are a few.

在访问中国之前，我不确定自己的预期是什么。

每当我与到访过这个国家的人交谈时，他们的主要反应——不管是白人、华裔还是其他什么人——都是气急败坏地叹了口气，一副“你还没看到什么”的表情。

在我为期5个月的香港之旅的第一周，当我告诉那里的人们我即将开始在中国的6周之旅时，他们会心地笑了。

“香港是饮食中国，”一个人告诉我。“香港是中国，没有任何额外的困难、古怪和不便。做好准备。”

在这个国家旅行了六周后，我想我明白了他们想要表达的意思。从美国的角度来看，中国的运作方式并不是你所期望的那样。

例如，公司的招聘信息中包括诸如“只给男人”或“只给漂亮的女人”这样的限定词，这是很常见的。

在较小的范围内，时间或多或少是建议。有一次在汽车站，我问最后一辆去我住的镇上的公共汽车什么时候开，有人告诉我：“晚上7点。”，也许。”公共汽车下午6点40分离开。我错过了。还有一次，在山顶上，当我问缆车什么时候关闭时，有人告诉我：“每当工人们决定回家的时候。”一个牌子上写着晚上7点。缆车一直开到晚上7：30。

在其他方面：个人空间是不存在的，很少有人会说英语，你经常会被告知一些事情是不可能的，很少或根本没有解释。(前提是你懂足够多的普通话，一开始就能听到解释。)

但尽管存在这些困难，但在我看来，中国在某些方面无疑比美国做得更好。这里有一些。

1. High-speed rail and public transport

1 Train C BulletTrain Japan China Korea Russia Best1

China has fast， seamless cross-country travel.

Traveling to China can often feel like visiting the future. The cities stretch for what seems like forever， while new skyscrapers， bridges， and futuristically designed landmarks spring up every year.

Nowhere is this feeling more apparent than when you encounter China's 15，500-mile high-speed railway network of "bullet trains." It's the world's largest.

The practical result of this is that you can pretty much travel in anywhere in China via high-speed rail. It's usually comparable in speed to air travel (once you factor in security lines and check-in) and far more convenient.

What's perhaps most amazing is that the entire system has been built in the past decade. China's first high-speed rail was a single 70-mile demonstration line built specifically for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

In many major Chinese cities， the high-speed railway station is near the center of the city and directly connected to that city's metro， creating a fast， seamless public-transportation experience.



1.高铁和公共交通

火车——子弹头列车 日本、中国、韩国、俄罗斯最好

中国有快速、无缝的越野旅行

去中国旅行常常感觉像是在探访未来。城市似乎永远伸展，而新的摩天大楼，桥梁，和未来设计的地标每年涌现。

当你遇到中国15500英里长的高速铁路网中的“子弹头列车”时，这种感觉再明显不过了。它是世界上最大的。

这样做的实际结果是，你几乎可以通过高速铁路在中国的任何地方旅行。它的速度通常可以与航空旅行相媲美(一旦考虑到安检和检票)，而且更加方便。

也许最令人惊讶的是整个系统是在过去的十年里建立起来的。中国第一条高速铁路是为2008年北京奥运会专门修建的70英里长的示范线路。

在中国的许多主要城市，高速火车站靠近市中心，直接连接到城市的地铁，创造了快速、无缝的公共交通体验。

2. Food

Best Chinese Food Authentic China (83 of 104)

Even after six weeks in China， I wasn't sick of Chinese food.Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider

Chinese food is considered one of the most complex and diverse cuisines in the world by chefs， food critics， and travelers. Americans， and the rest of the West， tend to think of China as one monolithic place， but China comprises over 1.3 billion people， 23 provinces， 56 ethnic groups， and at least as many different cuisines. Libraries' worth of books have been written about China's food.

Each cuisine has different flavor profiles， hallmark ingredients， and cooking methods. Sweet and sour is a common taste in Shanghainese cuisine， while Szechuan food is known for its extensive use of the numbing peppercorn of the same name. Steaming is extremely popular in Cantonese cuisine， while several western and northern regions boil dishes in a "hot pot." As you can probably guess， those hot pots don't taste remotely similar.

The cuisine is so diverse and specific that it is not uncommon for a particular county or town to be famous for a single dish that is not made anywhere else in the country.

Whenever I talked to friends back home about visiting China for so long， their first question often was： "But didn't you get sick of eating Chinese food all the time？" Friends， if you understood how diverse Chinese cuisine is， you'd know that's a silly question.



2.食物

地道的中国菜(104位中83)

即使在中国呆了六周，我对中国食物也不感到厌烦。

中国菜被厨师、美食评论家和旅行者认为是世界上最复杂和最多样化的菜肴之一。美国人和其他西方国家倾向于认为中国是一个单一的地方，但中国有超过13亿人，23个省，56个民族，至少有同样多的不同的烹饪。图书馆里关于中国食物的书籍价值连城。

每种菜肴都有不同的风味、标志性的配料和烹饪方法。糖醋在上海菜中很常见，而四川菜以广泛使用辣椒而闻名。蒸在粤菜中非常受欢迎，而一些西北方地区则用“火锅”来煮菜。你可能会猜到，这些火锅的味道一点都不像。

菜肴如此多样，如此独特，以至于一个特定的县城以一道菜闻名于世，而这道菜在全国其他地方都没有做过。

每当我和国内的朋友聊到这么长时间的中国之行，他们的第一个问题常常是：“难道你不讨厌一直吃中国菜吗？”朋友们，如果你知道中国菜的多样性，你就会知道这是个愚蠢的问题。

3. Mobile payments

AliPay WeChat Pay China (3 of 3) copy

Some street musicians use QR codes and mobile payments for tips. Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider

Paying with your phone isn't a novelty in China these days — paying with cash is.

Over the past 15 years， mobile payments in China have grown into a $16 trillion market dominated by China's two biggest tech giants， Tencent and Alibaba. Mobile payments totaled $9 trillion in 2016， according to iResearch Consulting Group data cited by The Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile， the US saw $112 billion in mobile payments in 2016， according to a Forrester Research estimate included in The Journal's report.

Tencent and Alibaba's competing mobile payment apps， WeChat Pay and AliPay， are used by just about everyone in China， from fancy restaurants and high-end designer boutiques to street vendors， taxi drivers， and even panhandlers. All you need is a phone-scannable QR code to give or receive money.

Ninety-two percent of people in China's biggest cities said they used WeChat Pay or AliPay as their primary payment method， according to a 2017 study by Penguin Intelligence cited by the news outlet Tech in Asia. And the amount spent per month through those services keeps going up.

The caveat is that those services don't work for most foreigners， as they require a Chinese bank account. When I encountered a café that accepted only mobile payments， I had to beg someone there to use their account to pay for me.



3.移动支付

支付宝 微信支付 支付

一些街头音乐家使用二维码和移动支付获取小费。

如今在中国，用手机支付已经不是什么新鲜事了——用现金支付才是。

在过去15年里，中国的移动支付市场已经成长为一个16万亿美元的市场，由中国最大的两家科技巨头腾讯(Tencent)和阿里巴巴(Alibaba)主导。《华尔街日报》援引艾瑞咨询集团(iResearch Consulting Group)的数据称，2016年移动支付总额为9万亿美元。与此同时，根据《华尔街日报》报告中Forrester Research的估计，美国2016年的移动支付规模为1，120亿美元。

腾讯(Tencent)和阿里巴巴(Alibaba)相互竞争的移动支付应用微信Pay和支付宝(AliPay)，在中国几乎每个人都在使用，从高档餐厅、高端设计师精品店到街头小贩、出租车司机，甚至乞丐。你所需要的就是一个可以通过手机扫描的二维码来支付或接收款项。

《亚洲科技新闻》(Tech in Asia)援引企鹅情报(Penguin Intelligence) 2017年的一项研究称，中国大城市中92%的人表示，他们以微信支付或支付宝(AliPay)为主要支付方式。每月通过这些服务的花费不断增加。

但需要注意的是，这些服务对大多数外国人来说并不适用，因为它们需要一个中国银行账户。当我遇到一家只接受移动支付的咖啡馆时，我不得不请求那里的某个人用他们的账户为我付款。

4. On-demand services

ofo bikes mobike china tech (12 of 19)

In Chinese cities， there are tens of thousands of workers fulfilling city dwellers' every wish， on demand.Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider

While most people know about Chinese internet giants like Alibaba， Baidu， and Tencent， the hottest concept in Chinese tech and startups over the past several years is on-demand services.

In China's major cities， you can get just about anything done with a mobile phone and the right app. Want a manicure or pedicure at your home in a few hours？ Queue up Heli Jia， a startup connecting freelance nail artists and stylists with customers for in-home treatments. For in-home massages， check out Gongfu Xiong. For food delivery， get Ele.me or Meituan Dianping.

That's just the start. People living in China can hire photographers， personal chefs， and driving instructors through different apps. They can get their car washed or laundry done， or rent a bike or scooter， in a few clicks.

While the US has many of these services as well， in China they tend to be more affordable， more convenient， and speedier.

And that's without even getting into e-commerce.



4.按需服务

ofo自行车mobike中国技术(12 / 19)

在中国的城市里，有成千上万的工人按需满足城市居民的每一个愿望。

虽然大多数人都知道中国的互联网巨头，如阿里巴巴、百度和腾讯，但在过去几年里，中国科技和初创企业最热门的概念是按需服务。

在中国的主要城市，使用手机和合适的应用程序，你几乎可以完成任何事情。想在几小时内在家修指甲或修脚吗？合利佳(Heli Jia)是一家初创公司，将自由职业美甲师和造型师与客户联系起来，让他们在家接受治疗。如果你想在家里做按摩，可以去看功夫熊。送食物的时候，去拿Ele。我还是美团大众点评。

这只是开始。生活在中国的人可以通过不同的应用程序雇佣摄影师、私人厨师和驾驶教练。只需几下鼠标，他们就可以洗车或洗衣服，或者租一辆自行车或踏板车。

虽然美国也有许多此类服务，但在中国，它们往往更便宜、更方便、速度更快。

这还没有涉及到电子商务。

5. E-commerce and logistics

I know， I know. You have Amazon Prime， and your packages magically show up two days after you order them， with free shipping (minus the $119 yearly fee and the human cost， revealed by Business Insider's Hayley Peterson).

In China， the e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com pride themselves on even faster shipping with no fee or membership.

According to the news website Axios， JD.com says it makes 90% of its deliveries in China within 24 hours and 57% within 12 hours of order placement.

Let's put it this way： If you realize at lunch that you forgot your toothbrush， it could be delivered to your hotel before it's time to go to bed.

And it's only going to get faster and more efficient. JD.com is already using drones to expand its high-speed delivery network to over 100 rural villages throughout China. Its CEO， Liu Qiangdong， has said he expects drone delivery to cut costs by 70% once it reaches scale.

Both Alibaba and JD.com now have fancy Whole Foods-style supermarkets that offer fresh， high-quality food delivered within 30 minutes of an order being placed. It's a marvel to see in action.



5.电子商务和物流

我知道，我知道。你有Amazon Prime，而你的包裹在你下单两天之后就会神奇地出现在你面前，免费送货(减去119美元的年费和人力成本，由Business Insider的海莉·彼得森(Hayley Peterson)透露)。

在中国，电子商务巨头阿里巴巴(Alibaba)和京东(JD.com)以更快的送货速度而自豪，无需付费或会员制。

据新闻网站Axios报道，京东说，它90%的货物在中国24小时内发货，57%的货物在12小时内发货。

让我们这么说吧：如果你在午餐的时候意识到你忘记带牙刷了，它可以在睡觉前送到你的酒店。

它只会变得更快更有效率。京东已经在使用无人机将其高速配送网络扩展到中国100多个农村。该公司首席执行长刘强东(音)说，他预计无人机交付一旦达到规模，成本将下降70%。

如今，阿里巴巴和京东都拥有高档的Whole foods超市，在下单后30分钟内提供新鲜、高质量的食品。在行动中看到它是一个奇迹。