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Q: What do you hate most about living in China?
I'll start, I hate the spitting in small towns. Especially when people do it on the floors of restaurants and in buildings. Its the worst and makes me lose my appetite. I am pretty resilliant and can put up with a lot, but that is simply where I draw the line. Another thing is walking in the street. When walking toward somebody, most don't seem to notice at all and often times I find if you are noticed, rarely will someone move out of the way for you.
The fact that married folks can't work.
Robk:
I now enjoy this law, to mock it.
Because I so successfully found a way around it, I can laugh at it and tell the Chinese I earn NOTHING in China. Technically all my funds come from outside of China to my account back home. So I transfer money sometimes to my wife's account, but never actually EARN money in China.
Hotwater:
Only issue there Rob is that after 5 years living in China they claim they'll tax you on worldwide income...unless you leave for 3 months in the 5th year.
Shining_brow:
Oh - when I first read this, I thought it was sarcasm - like, as soon as you marry them, they give up their job, do nothing (especially housework) and just rely on you as the ATM... :p
Robk:
@Hotwater - Well, they can try. And I do plan to leave at least a few months every year or so...
Plus, I don't see how they can claim taxes on me when I am not even a permanent resident and don't make my income from any Chinese sources.
ironman510:
My wife asked me:
Why are you buying a house in America?
Me:
Because China doesn't allow me to stay here forever, it's not secure enough.
Smoking. People smoking in lifts, in restaurants, in hospitals, in taxis , into the faces of their innocent children and grandchildren.
Also, the complete lack of respect for anyone else but themselves.
Nobody ever helps others. Someone trips or falls off a scooter, everyone stands around watching without doing anything to help.
Standing in line. FFS, how hard is it to just stand in line for a few moments instead of pushing in every single time.
Shining_brow:
I think the accident thing is intentional.. the person on the road is trying to milk it for all it's worth. Wait for the police/ambulance, to PROVE how badly they were injured, so they can get more pei ( word that coincides with meaning and sound between English and Chinese!)
Xenophobia, racism, lack of critical thinking before opening their mouths to bark at the 'evil foreigner'.
I have probably written a long list of items multiple times on this site but the things I HATE the most and can't stand are:
- the pollution (especially during the winter)
- the education (turning children into thoughtless drones)
- the lack of empathy (most people just seem indifferent to everything, like their souls were stolen, probably due to the crappy education)
- the lack of consideration (Chinese are incredibly noisy... I find they are getting better with their manners but talk WAY TOO LOUD)
That's the summary of it.
RandomGuy:
Loud talking is typical among poorly educated people. You will notice that rednecks in the US or your typical working class pub regular in Europe also talk pretty damn loud.
Educated people tend to be more quiet, be it in China or elsewhere. The few Chinese I know and who I can call 'worldly' and who often studied or worked overseas are far more quiet (as in less loud, not less talkative) than the rest.
I strongly suspect the reason for that is poorly educated people lack the knowledge to argue in a constructive manner and often think that barking louder than the rest will impress others and get their point on top (period), while highly educated people have the knowledge required to argue their point and convince the other party that they are right.
Shining_brow:
Add to that, in school/uni, you need to SFTU in class, etc.
The fact that married folks can't work.
Robk:
I now enjoy this law, to mock it.
Because I so successfully found a way around it, I can laugh at it and tell the Chinese I earn NOTHING in China. Technically all my funds come from outside of China to my account back home. So I transfer money sometimes to my wife's account, but never actually EARN money in China.
Hotwater:
Only issue there Rob is that after 5 years living in China they claim they'll tax you on worldwide income...unless you leave for 3 months in the 5th year.
Shining_brow:
Oh - when I first read this, I thought it was sarcasm - like, as soon as you marry them, they give up their job, do nothing (especially housework) and just rely on you as the ATM... :p
Robk:
@Hotwater - Well, they can try. And I do plan to leave at least a few months every year or so...
Plus, I don't see how they can claim taxes on me when I am not even a permanent resident and don't make my income from any Chinese sources.
ironman510:
My wife asked me:
Why are you buying a house in America?
Me:
Because China doesn't allow me to stay here forever, it's not secure enough.
hard to pin down one thing,,, it's kinda like asking the condemned man which sux worse,,, gallows, firing-squad, or guillotine.....
butttttt,,,, if I had to choose the one thing that gets on my nerves the worst, it would be the way they SCREAM THEIR MONOSYLLABIC, GUTTURAL BARKS. jeez people, just learn to talk already,,, 4,000+ years,,, crikey.
Shining_brow:
Actually - gallows.. hands down!
The other two are relatively quick and painless... with hanging, you can be dangling around for quite a while before you kick the bucket.
Firing squad? Depends where they hit.
diverdude1:
I hear you,,, I've read of botched hangings where the fellow was left to strangle to death,,, instead of the quicker neck snap that was supposed to off them in supposedly a split-second.
I always favored Firing-squad myself,,, for the Romantic quality associated with it. Last cigarette, Refuse the blind-fold and all that...
The "you don't belong here" or "we don't want you" attitude that exists among a certain percentage of people here (especially uneducated males).
People who cut their nails or shave in public places such as in bus stations, the metro, or the long distance bus. The sound is the worst thing which i cannot stand.
The My shit don't stink attitudes of locals.
You don't know because you are foreigner.
And the Chinese mantra. "Chinese food , bodies, and every thing bloody else is different to other ......"
BlightyMatt:
Ah yes.....Chinese bodies are different from Western bodies.
I teach English to a TCM doctor, she said this too.
I replied...."Thats bollocks!.....why do you think that?"
Priceless answer....
"Because Chinese people come from monkeys and Westerners come from apes!"
Thats what she was taught at school 
icnif77:
My lesson last two weeks:
A: 'What are you wearing today?'
B: answer with at least three items you are wearing!
If I can't get anything out of them, we switch A&B .... I as B, go on and on ... when I come with my clothes description close to the shoes, I must take off my shoe and 'do you know what is this?' pointing toward my socks .. All students close their noses ....
without answering.
me: 'your feet doesn't stink?'
they: 'mei you ....!'
Must be 'different bodies' or different-human's-'mother-animal' ....
in China.
If I honestly "HATED" anything that matters here, in China, I would leave, go somewhere else that is more in tune with my expectations.
Many of the above... but to add one more - they lying. Especially when it's so damn automatic. Especially in the business world. I'm sure everyone on this site knows what I'm talking about. Blatant deceptions - and when you catch them out, they usually follow up with "you don't understand" or some other way to extricate themselves without actually accepting what they've said.
The public spitting - restaurants, buildings,in classrooms, on buses and trains - sure, it disgusts me and I hate it.
The pissing on the footpaths by the kids held by the ayis... similar (especially when there are much better alternatives - such as in the bushes (at least where I am) - the same way the taxi drivers do...
The yelling on the phone - on the bus... annoying...
But the blatant lying! Yep, that takes the cake!
(also the impatience... MUST. GET. SEAT!!!!!)
And then... just the locals justify it all! (or, deny it!!!) Even seemingly intelligent people...
Kaiwen:
I have lived in China now since 2003. I have been involved in countless situations were I have been wronged in one way or another but I cannot recall any situation, not a single one, were a Chinese person has admitted fault or put their hands up and apologised. On every single occasion, it has been something or somebody else's fault.
Shining_brow:
Me: "have you done your homework?"
Student: "Yes"
Me: "Really"
Student "Yes!"
Me: "So, if I ask you to show it to me, you will have it here ready?"
Student: "Oh, no., I didn't do it..."
icnif77:
My beginning in the classroom is always with 'Stand-up' and greeting. If student come in the class after the bell, he/she must say: 'Sorry, I am late!', while standing at the door ... My 15-16 years old chaps here know about 'Sorry'.
I saw the spitting in Shanghai everyday. I felt throwing up everyday.
diverdude1:
me too,,,,, I've been a lot of places, like most posters* here, and that hacking/spitting earns the #1 spot for the grossest public behavior that I have observed. Not something to be proud of mr. Han.
*posters? members? contributors? rapscallions? suggestions needed....
Impolite Smokers. They smoke like they were alone and the spitting sound is so disgusting
OPIUM Syndrome. 'Only Person In the Universe is Me'. Absolutely no consideration of others or a sense of consequences.
The spitting in public. The stench of urine in so many places. The drunken foreigners getting in brawls in Beijing. The high level of salt in food.
The pollution (air, water, food) and the way most chinese don't give a shit about the environment
Pointing out to the rude tuhaos fockers that they're smoking right under the No Smoking sign... and have them just laugh and smile.
(I will contrast this with those who will apologise and either put them out or walk outside when asked!)
