Hungary through the eyes of Chinese students

Hungary has always been an “old friend of China”. The two countries have maintained friendly and comprehensive cooperative relations since they established diplomatic relations in 1949. In June 2015, The Belt and Road cooperation documents were signed to strive for the further improvement of bilateral relations. Afterwards, friendship among people has deepened, more and more students got to study Chinese in Hungary, and the understanding of Hungary in China is also more widespread.

Foreign students were asked to compare China and Hungary from different aspects.

Food

The Hungarian meal is mostly bread-based, where meat is the main meal, and seafood and vegetables are less common. Meat and poultry mostly mean chicken. Duck, for example, is rarely seen among the dishes.

Ordering in restaurants is not the same as in traditional Chinese restaurants.

In Hungary the menu is divided into pre dishes, soup, dinner and dessert. The order of eating includes the finishing of a dish before they serve the next dish.

In traditional Chinese restaurants, the menu is divided into cold dishes, hot dishes, staple food, soup, and so on. Generally, cold dishes are served first, after that come the hot dishes and staple food, a little later some soup. Still, there is no need to finish a dish before the next one.

Transportation

In China trains or high-speed rails are used to travel across provinces. There are also many differences between the two countries regarding ticket prices.

In Hungary, with a bus ticket one can take almost all kinds of means of city public transportation, while in China one needs to buy the appropriate ticket for every particular vehicle.

Hungarians can use the bus tickets (daily, monthly or annual tickets, etc.) multiple times, because those cover unlimited travelling within a specified time.

One bus ticket can repeatedly be used in China. One has to recharge the bus card and charge it according to the number of rides and kilometres. In China, there are strict security checks before entering the subway or railway station. In Hungary, one has to be ready for coincidental spot-checks.

People

The Hungarian people are enthusiastic and honest, and they are friendly to Chinese people.

In Hungary, it can frequently be seen that people with special needs, as well as old people, travel by themselves. That is something rarely seen in China.

Hungary is rich in art.

Watching musical performances has become a part of life, and tickets are cheap.

In China, watching a musical performance is mostly a luxurious leisure activity. The main reasons are the low number of performances and the expensive tickets.

Hungarians are generally highly educated. Most of them have skills, but the popularity of the English language in public places is low.

Hungary has a slow pace of life and many holidays, but shopping malls or supermarkets are not open on holidays, and some of the shops close early in the weekend. This is very different from China.

Prices

Regarding food, milk and bread are cheaper than in China, while the prices of fruits and vegetables are similar to that of China, but the 500 ml bottled water and beverage’s price is twice that of China.

Regarding transportation, the single-pass ticket price is 2-4 times more than the ones in China, and the price of a taxi per kilometre is about 3 times that of China.

In general, Hungary is a warm and hospitable country with convenient transportation, rich cultural herritage, suitable for rental countries.

Written by Tong Heyu

Featured image: www.facebook.com/BudapestImages – Bódis Krisztián

Source: Daily News Hungary