Just got back from a trip to Taipei and Chinese is a LOT different there!

Wow, I couldn't believe how different the  spoken Chinese was in Taipei. 

At first it seemed easier, everyone had this nowhere accent that reminded me of a radio announcer who had achieved level III on the Mandarin test.

It wasn't until I got back to the mainland and heard normal Chinese again  when it hit me like a freight train. 

In the departure lounge at the airport waiting for my connecting flight listening to the other passengers chatter: wow, how different it was!

Reminds me of the first time I went to Beijing as a CSL speaker. Supposedly Beijing is the neutral standard Chinese for all of China. 

I couldn't understand a dang thing. Everyone sounded  indistinct, like they were  like they were talking with marbles in their mouths. 

I was at a restaurant and I could understand the waiter just fine.  I asked where he was from and he said Guizhou.  Then I asked him, is it me or are Beijing people really hard to understand?

He said, "yeah I can't understand them either."

Which made me feel better, but didn't help me understand  anyone. 

Think they used to say Beijingers talk like they're sucking on a sour plum. I've moved out the the suburban countryside and that's different again from the city, not just accent but a bit of vocab too. Used to it now, but I'd agree it's not the most clearly enunciated dialect.