Nuances of China

Today’s blog is a compilation of the little nuances that you will find in China. These are things that I’ve only seen happen in China, and they help to remind the foreigner that indeed, he/she is in a different country. These quirks fall into one of three categories: Cute, Surprising, and You Decide.

Cute

Elaborate Hair on Little Girls –  Here, you will often find little girls with many unique hair styles. May it be 3 ponytails into a braid, or a ponytail flipped and connected into another braid, or anything else you could imagine.

Old Ladies Dancing in Parks – Every night after dinner (ends at 10 pm), if you venture into a park or any open space in the city, you will see a bunch of ladies dancing in sync. To me, their dance seems like a mix of Tai Chi and Zumba, and how they all know the dance well enough to be so synchronized is beyond me. It looks like so much fun, I’ve contemplated joining in several times!

Old Men Gambling in Parks– Next to the old women dancing the parks you see groups of men gathered around a table gambling on same games. In Shenzhen, I’ve seen only two games being played. It’s either Chinese chess, which has large circular wooden pieces or a card game so complicated that even a Chinese man couldn’t explain it to me. These games are taken seriously as there is almost always money on the line, and to reflect this, serious players slap their pieces down shouting as they do to signal their turn.

Surprising

Spitting – I’ve noticed that they spit all the time here, with little regard to where their spit is going. I once was standing on a bus close to the trash can, where every five minutes a man would spit into the trash can, sometimes making…sometimes not.

Bathrooms-Bathrooms in China get the job done is a different way. Here’s a list of all the differences just in the bathroom.
o Squatting Toilets: In most places, they are actually nice and very clean. However, it’s once you venture to public places such as metro stops or a train bathroom, that they become annoying to use. For me, the most annoying thing is that their design makes it easy for the floor to be always wet, either from your pee missing the park, or the flush splashing too much. Most likely, it’s a mix of both.
o Toilet Paper: In China, this is not seen as much of a need as it is in the West. In properrestrooms, usually there will be only toilet paper roll outside the stalls, so that you getyour paper before you enter (something I constantly forget). But more often than not,the toilet paper roll is empty meaning you are usually out of luck.
o Soap: Hand-washing too, is something that is skimped here. To some, it’s not seen as
important and is skipped all together. To others, it seems like the belief is that just alittle bit of water is all you need. Thus, most restrooms have no soap.

You Decide

Babies Pants-You will often find babies in China not wearing diapers. Instead, they will don these pants that have a giant hole in the butt area, making it easy for babies to do their business in a quick fashion. The result is a parade of babies’ butts when they are around, but be warned.The price is that they might do their business, poop or pee, wherever in public their parents might see fit.

Pictures- If you are a foreigner, you are going to be asked to have your picture taken. This is especially true if you are blond, white skinned and/or tall. There are many theories as to why this happens, but no real reason is known (to me at least). Sometimes, the step down from this is just a lot of stares, or stealth pictures (where your picture is taken without asking).

 

 

China’s quirks are a part of the Chinese lifestyle and culture. It has been interesting discerning these differences and features that are unique to the Chinese culture. It makes me wonder what quirks foreigners find interesting when visiting the United States!

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