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Q: Why do Chinese like spitting?
As far as I understood the explanation, for them a spit is like poison, so you must remove it from your body as quick as possible, no matter where you are.
Red_Fox:
There is truth in what you say. Spit, which contains mucous which contains bacteria and other ugly critters, is best removed by expelling it from the body. Preferably through the oral cavity rather than a nostril.
It is a health thing. Better to remove the junk onto the sidewalk than swallow it like we do in the West. Right, boys?
crimochina:
no red, it is best swallowed where it would be destroyed and broken down by the stomach. that is by design of the human body. if it was meant to be spit out then your respiratory system would not intersect with the digestive tract in your mouth. think about it, the mucus from you nose goes to your mouth. why do you think it is easier to the mucus in then then blow your nose.
by spitting it out you can spread the bacteria or virus. whether you believe in evolution or the bible, you must admit the human body is a well engineered machine with "community protection" designed into us. it is safer to destroy it in the stomach than to spit it out and risk spreading the disease.
(i'm drunk/ hungover) so i hope thes makes sense).
Red_Fox:
@crimo: I concede - you make a good point. I guess the stomach is a lot tougher than I thought it was! Well, mine used to be made of cast-iron, but over the years, it's taken a beating and it ain't from swallowing boogers. Probably the whiskey... Cheers!
Grotesque, uncultured people do grotesque uncultured things. I guess many years ago in the west, people indulged in similar habits hence saw dust on bar room floors and spittoons. But I bet the Chinese never grow out of it. If special places were set aside for them to spit, they would just ignore it and spit where they want to.
Red_Fox:
Agree that public spitting is a grotesque habit, but disagree that the Chinese will never grow out of it. I have yet to see a Chinese boy or girl under the age of 20, for example, follow in their parents' spitsteps and hock a loogie in public. See it mostly in older generations and one day, they'll die out.
For interest's sake, in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the city fathers issued a number of edicts to "educate" the populace on the finer details of "international" norms of behaviour and etiquette. Among the norms was "Don't spit! It's not nice!" or something along those lines. I think BJ even put up yellow pictographic signs on posts in and around the city (especially at the sports venues) with a pictogram of a spitting human silhouette with a big fat X superimposed on the image.
So, I believe spitting in China will go the way of the spittoon in the West... eventually.
derek:
Red Fox,
You have never seen a Chinese person under 20 spit in a public place?
Ok, so now everything you post after this can't be taken seriously due to the fact that we all know you choose to hide the truth for some unknown reason. If you choose to lie please don't insult our intelligence by stating something so obviously false that we can't prove it to be true. Ok?
crimochina:
derek i must back red on this a little. i have been in qingdao for 3 weeks, i have yet to see a young person spit. but i must admit, spitting on the street no longer registers on my radar, I only notice when someone spits indoors or on a bus.
i believe i have yet to see anyone spit on the bus or indoors, except in a garbage can.
crimochina:
kaiwen those spit things were for tobacco chewing. back then most people chewed tobacco instead of smoking it.
Red_Fox:
@crimo: Yeah, man. Qingdao. That's where I live! And you know what? I have never seen a person under the age of 20 spit in public in Qingdao. It's always the oldies or middle-aged.
And nobody spits on the bus here. That kinda sh*t must happen in the backwater cities and towns of this country. Anyway, hope you're enjoying QD, bro.
I read that it comes from an old superstition, if you breathe in an evil spirit then you must spit it out. But maybe they all have colds, my nose never stops running in China.
My girl friend can't spit tooth paste out without hacking, wtf? But not any where else.
@ Kaiwen so are you saying that Chinese like Sparky just want to be American?
sorry Guys bad joke put it down to Jet lag
From what I remember reading spit was viewed as a bad spirit or devil and had to be removed from the body, but the devil / spirit is sneaky so you have to really hawk hard to make sure you get all of it out or it will just grow back.
Now, that was 4,000 - 100 years ago, and it is now widely accepted that it is wrong, unfortunately many still stick to the old ways.
I think it's because they need to clear the throat. To much mucous build up isn't a good thing or a pretty site. 
Ha ha, I said: "prettY"!
I lived in Nanning China for over one year and never saw a Chinese spit. Maybe they have been watching American major league baseball.
crimochina:
i swear you guys need to stop lieing .
I only have been called waiguoren once
i have nevr been approached by a complete stranger
i've never seen a chinese person spit , blame america.
so much BS is not good for your "healthy"
crimochina:
"American major league baseball."
am i the only one who could see this guy is a poser. please do not tell him!!!!
tomcatflyer:
I have been living in Nanning for nearly two and a half years and have lost count of the number of people I have seen spitting. If you haven't seen it Franck you can rarely go out. I think Traveller has it right with his idea of personal habits and self-respect.
Spitting was part of the outcomes of the cultural revolution wasn't it? As far as I have red, the old chairman had a pretty crude behavior, and guys like Deng also. Especially in the early days of the PRC there would have been no other "role models" than those great guys who ran the country.
People show their self-respect by their personal habits.
This comment is sooo gonna get removed but: Some cultures forcibly remove foreskin or make people have tattoos and stuff. Spitting I think is a fair level of sophistication given that many of those that do it here are not from big cities and often (although I realize this doesn't cover all cases) don't have access to much schooling and so are to be honest a bit backwards.
