Some questions about Rio de Janeiro

Hi everyone,

I've been browsing through a few of the pages and threads and I've learned quite a lot about Brazil and SA in general. But I still have a few questions that I hope you guys and girls would help me answer.

1. I'm going to be traveling with 3 of my buddies. We're around 22-24 years old and we're all Chinese Canadians. Now I was wondering, are there many asians in Rio or in Brazil in general? Are we going to stand out a lot and possibly be getting some negative attention? Because in Canada it is almost the norm to see many Canadians with Asian ancestry.

2. Is it possible to get by Rio with just knowing English? We will be staying at a Hostel and they told us all the staff there will speak English. But I'm more concerned with when we go out and dine out at restaurants, will the menus have english in them?

3. What are some of the things we can do to help us blend in more as in not look so tourist-like? Anything we can do to avoid being mugged?

4. How's the weather in Brazil in August? Is it still possible to enjoy the beach during this time of the year which is winter for brazil?

Thanks in advance guys!

#4 weather is different depends where u go, in rio is the dry season for example
you could check www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world among many others web sites

happy travels : )

1. Yes there are many people of Asian descent in Brazil, particularly in the south. Sao Paulo has about 1 million Brazilians of Japanese ancestry, plus Koreans, Chinese etc. I doubt you will elicit any comment in Rio, it's a very cosmopolitan place and there are increasing numbers of tourists from places like Korea and China.
   
   2. Yes but it's a lot more enjoyable and easy if you have at least a little portuguese, same for anywhere really, life is easier if you can manage a little of the local language. Many tourist oriented places will have English menus. Some will automatically produce one on the easy assumption you are a gringo.
   
   3. Dress local, use common sense. Search the forum for 'Safety Brazi'l, 'security Brazil' etc. Every second post on this branch is asking about safety. There's more than enough suggestions and sensible replies. Most Brazilians are unaware of Dieppe so they don't know about the propensity of Canadians to die in droves on beaches.
   
   4. Weather in Brazil is variable, it's the size of the continental US. It's milder in winter but you should find plenty of reasonable days to hit the beach in Rio. According to today's weather it was quite mild, around 23C but that varies. It's a little warmer today where I live maybe, 27- 28C. It's significantly warmer than winter in Canada so I'm told.
   
   These sites have weather info:
   
   http://www.cptec.inpe.br/tempo/<BR><BR>http://br.weather.com/<BR><BR>

hi

1. there are not many asian-brazilians. h/w sao paulo has the lagest asian immigrant population in the world esp the liberdade area where there is large japanese population and good japanese food.

2. Yes, in Rio you can get by w/ english around copa and ipa., lots of the hostels have english speaking reception. But, it is good to learn a few greetings. But, in general most brazilians do not speak english so it will be limiting to interact with brazilians. But, since rio is a tourist city you should not have too many issues. The menus are all in portugese. A good option is the food por kilo you basically, get a plate load up as much food as you like from trays of hot food, salads, Soup etc and they weigh it or in the Churrascaria (brazilian BBQ) a must do in Brazil, they cut off as much BBQ meats as you want and eat as much as you want for a set price.

3. Get some Hawianas beach sandals everyone throughout brazil wears them they cost like 50 cents US, wear shorts, t-shirts, avoid wearing watches, carrying cameras (if you do put it in a small plastic supermarket bag), avoid the centro area late at night and on sundays, very few police around. Be careful on the beach, rent a chair from the guys renting chairs with large cooler of beer/soda, and they will watch your stuff when you go a swim. The main thing is don t be fearful, be confident w/ where your going and what your doing. If you are not but appearance is everything.

4. Good beach weather year round in Rio. Aug is nice not to hot that time of year, less clouds. Good time of the year for Rio.

ENJOY

# 3 Please tell me where I can buy Havaianas for US 50c / BRL $ 1.00? I would be most interested in a bargain like that. So would my wife and all my friends.

I saw Havaianas for about US$25 in Brussels. In the States we used to call them thongs (not like the swim suits) or flip-flops. Havaianas do not seem special to me, but I admire the companys marketing and wish them luck. Why not call them Brasileiras???

Ah, it seems like only a few weeks ago that the US dollar was worth 2 Reais. Down to 1.89 last I looked.

Yeah that's what I was thinkingmaking my millions with a 2500% markup :-)

It's not unusual in Rio to find sandwich bars (lanchonettes) run by Chinese families, apparently from the old country as they speak poor Portuguese (and are probably illegal immigrants). Surprisingly they seem uninterested in opening Chinese restaurants which are rare to non-existent in Rio.

I'm sure you guys will be fine....I found the Brazilians to be generally very warm and friendly and I have the impression they like to welcome tourists to their country regardless of race, creed or colour.
Carlos69 if you are talking about the Normandy Landings then I find your comment about Canadians dying on the beaches quite upsetting.

The Dieppe raid was well before the Normandy landings, however your point is well made.

Come to think of it I doubt many Canadians have heard of Dieppe either, so it was probably a bit of a baffling gag for the OP.