The Sims 3: World Adventures First Impressions - China

Yesterday, my Sim Celia set off on her first trip in the Sims 3: World Adventures expansion pack. While she had a grand time on her numerous journeys to Paris, even managing to land herself an overseas boyfriend, Celia’s urge to travel had her setting her sights on China this time around.

(Click here to read about her trips to Paris!)

When I left off yesterday, Celia was in the middle of finishing up an adventure at a museum in Paris. Today, she completed exploring the depths of the museum and reported her findings before heading back to Sunset Valley for a brief return to reality.

So after dressing down, deciding that her outfit was too snazzy to be trekking all over the Far East, she decided to show Paris some love with her new outfit and then set off for China…

Celia quickly learned that while they ride scooters in Paris, the Chinese prefer bicycles to get from place to place (provided there’s a road)…

As she had no Visa Points for China, her trip wasn’t going to be a long one and she decided that she’d rather explore the countryside and visit the market rather than embark on a new adventure…

After buying some recipe books (egg rolls and stir fry! Yum!!!), she found the cemetery, which looks quite different than the one in Paris.

But there were catacombs and she explored them, bringing back some iron with her. Nothing too exciting there but she appreciated the familiar metal as she left to wander the area. Eventually, she stumbled across an old barn which had some treasure inside…

She spent her evenings at the Base Camp and on her last day, continued exploring, enjoying a swim in the pool before she had to return to Sunset Valley again…

Celia’s first trip to China was brief and uneventful. She brought back a little treasure and some new recipes but not much else in the way of fond memories. As she fixed herself a cheese plate dessert, she wondered if maybe she should spend her next vacation in Paris again. She did love Paris…

She couldn’t think about her next vacation because there was another matter to attend to. Celia was on the brink of reaching her life goal of becoming a Five Star Chef. And on her next day at work, she did it!

Her triumph made her realize that she needs to try new things and give China another chance. So after depleting her saved and recently earned Reward Points to purchase a reward that will make her require less sleep and one that will allow her to travel for longer amounts of time, she called in for her next trip…

No more lounging around in pools or wandering around aimlesslessy. This trip back to China was about adventure and meeting new people. So instead of sleeping at the Base Camp, on her first night after restocking up on provisions, she camped out right in the middle of the market.

To be honest, I couldn’t really tell a huge difference over the Less Sleep reward but after Celia was fully rested, she woke up in the middle of the night and set off some fireworks that she bought earlier the previous day…

The thing didn’t do much. It mostly swirled and fizzled around before burning out. I think future tests are in order to see if these things are always just a lot of whipping and buzzing or if she just happened to get a dud.

The next morning, she went to the adventure board at the Base Camp and got herself an adventure. She had to meet up with this old guy, whom I believe might also be the town merchant (unless I’m confusing him for another old guy). He told her he needed help finding something at a museum and gave her a keystone to start her mission.

Now it needs to be said that Celia had happened upon the Army museum (or whatever it’s called) in the market area and found the hidden staircase the previous day. When she arrived at the locked door and the lock for the keystone, she learned that she needed to be on an Adventure in order to get through that door. So it appears not everything is accessible to wandering travelers out for some sight-seeing.

Like the Celtic Ruins mission in Paris, this first Chinese mission wasn’t all that difficult. It mostly involved a lot of pushing, pulling, inspecting and clearing of doors, piles of rubble, pillars and such. She did come across this murky pool. She had the option to explore it or just get soaked. She explored it, diving deep into the thing (it’s a good thing it was deep because she just dove right in)…

And after given the option to explore a found tunnel or return to the surface, I had her explore the tunnel. She popped up in a different pool, in a different room…

After returning to the man once she’d made it through the adventure, she scored some money and some Visa Points.

She stopped to visit with his family and learned two new songs from this guy.

She had to pee but by the time I realized it, she was on her way back to the Base Camp. As China is full of hills and stairs, she never made it back to the house and ended up doing her business on the ground.

The next morning, she served pancakes for everyone in the Base Camp…

While eating, she noticed a good-looking traveler whose name was Cartier. She assumed he was French but as it turned out, he was Egyptian. She sang him a French love song…

But he didn’t appreciate it and she apologized, feeling silly (and probably wishing she’d gotten dressed before wandering around the Base Camp in her bra and jammie-pants.

She met up with him in the bathroom and they talked for a little while. Some other guy was in there waiting to pee but after Celia and Cartier refused to leave, he did his business on the floor (because that’s less embarrassing than just going in the toilet in front of the company, I guess). And then Celia got a call with a new adventure…

This is when she met Ho Sung. Isn’t he a dreamboat?

They talked for a while and Celia learned that he was married. They talked and sung enough to become friends though and then Celia set off to do the adventure he was sending her on. He asked her to find some gems. When she got them, he asked her to get some metals and on her third time around, she had to find some bugs. Using the “Map View” made this adventure way too easy. The items she was looking for were flagged on the map, so all she had to do was click the image and it zoomed to the area where she would find the gem, rock or bugs. The hardest part was all the running. China doesn’t have a lot of roads for the bicycle, which meant a lot of foot-traveling…

After she finished the bug-task, Ho paid her thousands of Simoleons and some Visa points. She really scored big on this adventure (earning much more than the cost of the trip and the friendship of a dreamy local)…

As if her fortune weren’t great enough, she stopped in the market to get herself a fortune cookie before returning to Sunset Valley…

When she got back home from the trip, she had a greater appreciation for what China had to offer. Not only did she bring back some relics and other treasures, but she also purchased herself her own fortune cookie maker and a karate-training dummy.

She practiced on the dummy, upgrading her belt (which was already at yellow from practicing at that museum in Paris) from yellow to orange and then from orange to green.

By that point, she was feeling pretty good about her Chinese experience and decided to invite Ho Sung to visit her. They were already good friends at that point and he agreed to come. He wasn’t in the house more than a few minutes when he promptly changed into his workout gear (stripping off his shirt) and started working out in front of the TV.

Celia had no complaints. While she hadn’t officially discovered his “athletic” trait, it seems likely by his behavior, added to his bulging biceps that he must be something of a fitness enthusiast. So she decided to show off her fancy new green belt by engaging in some sparring…

Ho Sung revealed his blue belt and right away Celia knew she was probably outmatched. Still, the fight was on. She put up a decent fight against him..

But then he nearly took her head off…

And Celia found that to be strangely attractive (maybe because he didn’t actually take her head off). So after he won the match, they hugged…

And then she gave him a massage…

And then Celia discovered that a Chinese kiss can be just as enjoyable as a French one…

But that’s as far as it went because Ho Sung is married and different zip code or not, he’s just not that kind of guy, nor did Celia attempt to take it further before he returned to China. She does intend to keep in touch with him but after a truly enlightening Chinese experience, Celia is ready for her next great adventure.

Next up: Egypt! The final destination… Will Cartier be glad to see her when she arrives? Will Celia stumble across a mummy in one of the tombs? We’ll have to wait and see…

CLICK HERE to read about Celia's adventure in Egypt!