A Friendly Reminder to My Readers: This article is not aimed to be a tour guide, and is entirely based on subjective opinions and personal experiences. You might want to look elsewhere for more comprehensive trip advice.

1. The Food

To a food lover, food is always the major part of traveling. A journey without good food is not a good one. Thus, New York is an ideal tour destination for all food lovers. Here, you can get nearly any food from any place in the world at any price. My personal favorites are milk tea, pastries, dim sum, sushi. Right next to my hotel was a Gong Cha tea shop from Taiwan, and I got a cup every morning to wake myself up. Milk and tea are two very different kinds of things, one from the animal, the other from the earth; but together they have a secret chemical reaction that makes the final product so dense, so rich, so silky, so redolent. I love my milk tea with the least amount of sugar (30%) and no ice. For the one topping, I usually order herbal jelly (natural and healthy), red beans (soft and sweet), or coconut jelly (chewy and juicy). I don’t normally order bubbles because I am picky about the extent to which they are cooked – the longer the softer and the better for me. Though it might be tempting to make your own milk tea, instead of paying for it, I have never succeeded in making the perfect blended milk tea. The temperature, the ratio, the tea leaves, the milk, the sugar, and even the topping(s) … they all matter.

2. The Shopping

There is a saying that “men are hunters, women are gatherers”. I can’t remember where I read this statement, but it is definitely true for me and the people I know. Growing up, I did not have much chance to do my own shopping for clothes – I did not have much leisure time; I did not need many casual clothes since most of the time I was at school wearing uniforms; my mom would shop for me, though there was room for negotiation. But then, since coming to college, my shopping instinct has been “awakened”. I could spend several hours just on “sightseeing”, picking items and trying them on. If you are like me, then New York is the right place for you. From 5th Avenue to 8th Avenue, you can easily encounter shops and stores, big or small, that fit your needs. For me, it’s not really the feeling of luxury or fashion that I am pursuing, but rather, the freedom to wear what I want and the availability of various choices out there that I really like about New York. Everyone has their own different needs, and I am sure you could find what you want here, without the fear of being stared or judged.

3. The Crowds

Okay, I know, this is not a common compliment you will always hear about New York or any city in general. The annoying traffic, the slowly walking people, the noises at night – who likes all those hustles and bustles, right? But, I guess, once in a while, I enjoy being around the crowds. The Chinese word “rè nào” (Chinese characters: 热闹), which does not have an English equivalent, can well describe the warm, joyful, and festive feelings that arise when you are surrounded by family, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers, at the same spot, same event. In China, we have the New Year fireworks, the Spring Festival flower market, the temple fair, the lantern show, the street concerts … just simply being there at that moment makes my heart smile. In New York, there too are lots of exciting things going on. I was at my hotel room sitting by the window when the Thanksgiving parade took place. People gathered together on the streets, in the buildings, in front of the TV, for this special moment: balloons flying in the midair, performers in strange costumes, people clapping, kids yelling, Christmas music playing. People are celebrating different things here in the US, but the way they celebrate is not so different from ours – the main themes are no other than reunions, food, music, presents and lots of, lots of laughter.

4. The Art

If you love art of any form and any kind, you would definitely love New York. No need to mention the Met and the MoMA, which never fail to surprise me (in good ways) no matter how many times I visit them. Here at the Met, you can see mummy masks from Egypt, female figures from Near East, rosewood cabinets made in the US, bodhisattvas from Pakistan, floral panels from India, Ming porcelains from China, Claude Monet from France, paintings from Dutch Golden Age, … the list goes on. Just by walking from one room to another, I could fly through thousands of years and travel across seven continents. The feelings that human beings are interconnected and art has no borders are real and magical. But art is not just in the museums; or, it should and could never be confined to a small box. Originated from and created by nature (including all living beings), art is more than just the exhibit on the other side of the glass, untouchable and rarefied; it is in life. The nature of the exhibit itself (being so delicate and fragile) makes it impossible for everyone other than the specialists to have a close relationship with it, but the stores in the city make those concepts accessible to common people, such as a cup mat with sunflowers, a phone case with starry night, a notebook cover with the Japanese waves, a calendar with cats (although, I would love them more if they are not so expensive). You might also find the smallest artistic ideas at the Café around the corner in the hanging lights, the ceiling, the bricks in the wall, and the bottom of the coffee mug that they hand to you. These “coincidences” are like little, hidden gems left by the angels by “accident”.

5. The Metro

Well, the extent to which I love the public transportation in New York is just as much as that I “hate” it. All the delays, changes, snafus in the complicated routes almost always get me, a newbie, into trouble. But you have to admit that it is the easiest, most convenient, and perhaps the cheapest and quickest way for New Yorkers to move around the city. Cars are not welcomed here unless you want to get yourself red lights and parking tickets. So, I have nothing to complain about the metro, even though I would argue that some construction work could be done to make the rides more enjoyable and that the metro system back in Guangzhou (my home city) is much, much more updated and less confusing. The fifth reason is not comparable to my other favorites listed above, but it is definitely a huge plus to a city in the US, where public transportation is not as much needed and funded by people as in the other parts of the world.

At the very end, just as the saying “a thousand readers behold a thousand Hamlets” goes, every person harbors different opinions and feelings about New York. Frankly, I have only been to this place three times so I probably don’t know about every facet and aspect of life in New York as much as those who have been there since Day 1. Thus, I am open to any idea and comment that are different from mine, which could help me learn about this city better.