By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: Have you ever made plans to meet up with someone at 7pm and got a call at 6pm, "where are you?"
A few times, I have made plans to meet a Chinese person at a set time. Some time before we were scheduled to meet I get a call from that person asking where I am. What time will I get there? Hurry up! On the other hand I have had similar problems with the person being late, super late. What is the deal with Chinese people not being able to keep a schedule or tell time? Is it a cultural thing?
Wow! Early? Your extremely lucky to have experienced early.
As a person who prides myself on always being early i find it endlessly frustrating that people here are always late. I jave found being a baby about it will make people on time the next go around. If they say 7 and by 7 20 arent there i leave.
Even worse when they say 10 minutes knowing its more like 30. Arrrg why do they lie?????
Have you ever had a thread started by a "member" only to never have them take part in the discussion that THEY started? Ever? Late? At some point?
Have you ever seen a "member" whose English is entirely unintelligible one post but totally coherent in another?
Have you ever had the feeling that you were merely feeding a troll by responding to...er...never mind.
Beautifulsoup:
no, but I a guessing you have? Are you sad? I hope you fnd someone to talk to about your feelings.
It's not in China only. I've seen this pattern in South-Asia, friends who live and work in Africa and South-America mention the same thing. South-West of Europe is like this too (South of France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, etc.).
Yep, i got that. Everyone agreed to meet at 6:30pm, we get a frantic call at 6pm, "where are you?!?!?"
I have never had that.
But I do get calls sometimes to remind me of a planned meet. Checking to find out if I am sober I suppose 
Chinese do this a lot!
There are two things I NEVER expect from most Chinese people are:
1) Being on time.
2) Giving proper directions.
Assume they will be 30-40 minutes late, and just use Google. I don't usually get them arriving early... but even that is still annoying if they are calling you up like "OMG, WHERE ARE YOU! I HAVE BEEN WAITING SO LONG!" - You should shout at them "We agreed at 7:00pm, and now you know how I feel!"
Also send a text for proof of reference next time, because they will fight to the death that you are wrong.
Beautifulsoup:
Chinese people who have lived in a city for years never know where anything is. I find myself giving them directions all the time. They tend not to know about things outside their bubble. Maybe I am like that back home. I don't remember.
I think the sociological terms are monochronic vs. polychronic cultures. I forget which is which, but one culture places much more emphasis on time, whereas the other one is more relaxed about it. Yes, I have had similar situations. "We've been waiting since 1 o'clock." "Yeah, but I have other shit to do. That's why I agreed to meet you at 2, DF."
have you ever had to tell your Chinese wife that you had to leave a hour before you had to so you would have a chance to be on time?
I have to on a daily basis
I got this and other variants all the time in China. People don't want to lose face and admit that they were wrong. They must be saying to themselves, "Let's just blame someone else because we forgot to tell them. I don't want to get in trouble. I'm hungry, where's the Kourou? Oh look! This QQ game is so awesome. What was I doing again? Whatever. I'm going to chat on WeChat. Nuhh.... I need a nap right about now. ZZzzzZZzzzzZzz"
One time I got a phone call from work wondering where I was on a SATURDAY. I slept in because I was exhausted. "WHERE ARE YOU? WHERE ARE YOU?", etc. They never told me we had work that day. I got docked a half day of pay.
