5 mins, prepare

when you're travelling for a while you start to pick up and use some common phrases. here is a compilation of some of ours:

"5 mins- prepare"
Origin: came from one of our Chinese tour guides who used to shout this urgently as us to get us ready to hop off the tour bus in time. (did give us the slightly startled impression that the tour bus wasn't even going to stop and we'd have to jump off instead)
Uses: now used whenever we feel we are getting to the end of our bus/train journey and need to collect all our things together for a hasty jump off

"Best not to look"
Origin: not sure when we started to use this, probably comes from the idea of what you don't know (or see) can't hurt you.
Uses: Many, many uses in China including; when the bus you're in decides to overtake the vehicle in front on a steep incline around a bend (often with another vehicle heading for you). Or when you pass the kitchen where they are preparing your just eaten meal. Or when you need to use a public toilet (more about this later)!! Or when a parent is holding their toddler in their poopie pants (pants engineered with a big gap at the back for easy dispensing, very popular all over China, rarely worn with a nappy) over a drain in the street to do their 'business'

"How's the serenity?"
Origin: a classic Castle quote
Uses: Again, many in China. The continuous honking of car horns- used more than brakes I would say. Music (Chinese pop or Chinese opera) being piped into trains, planes and scenic spots. Tour guides in serene temples with megaphones. Drilling and building works

"if you're going to have someone in the photo, it might as well be someone you know"
Origin: The summer Palace in Beijing the weekend after the National public holiday i.e. with thousands of people swarming around
Uses: Any time you take a photo of nice scenery. It's very hard to get a photo opportunity without someone in it in this country of 1.3 billion people!

"!!Relax!!"
Origin: first shouted at us by the lady selling us jade bracelets at the terracotta warriors as she squeezed potentially too small bracelets over our ("so soft") hands
Uses: now used to shout at each other in situations where relaxing is not really an option

Ah, such fun!!