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Q: Are pollution and spitting related?
Actually I only spit because of the pollution, otherwise I have nasty crap coating my throat all day. But I've noticed it's much better during the summer; I don't have to spit that much, as there is less coal burning, so cleaner air. But I live in a relatively clean part of the country and am not sure how this plays out elsewhere, such as industrial areas in the interior places.
So, in your place in China, do you notice a difference in spitting levels when there's less and more pollution? Actually before I came here I read about the spitting and it sounded so RUDE, but now I can see that it's just a survival skill necessary to keep our bodies gunk free.
Any thoughts?
10 years 36 weeks ago in Health & Safety - China
It is still possible to spit into something - like a tissue and dispose of that. ok, that aside, in my travels around China, I did notice that in more pollution free cities such as Xiamen, there is less spitting. Whereas in more interior cities, sometimes i have had to dodge random spitters, even in summer.
Spitting levels? Sounds like a rubric.
Anyhow, a thought or two: There is no relationship between spitting and pollution as far as any scientific evidence proves or disproves.
And where I live, winter or summer, no one spits except certain oldies (with black lung or TB history?) who spent most of their lives in a coal mine or on a farm before coming to this fair coastal city of mine with relatively clean air.
And now you are spitting. Disgusting habit. See a doctor.
sam239:
I don't care what a doctor says. If gunk is backing up my throat, I am going to spit it out. If the people around me are cool, I'll be nice and do it quietly in an alley or in a napkin. If they're being obnoxious a--holes, I'll do it right in front of them. Discourtesy meets discourtesy.
In China, my nostrils were filled with the black gunk of pollution. It also ended up in my throat. You're damn right I'm going to spit that up. No idea why scientists can't prove that polluted particles get stuck in your nose and throat, but I know what I experienced.
So, I spit onto a tissue, in the bathroom toilet, in the trash, down a running sink, or onto the grass. It's just disgusting. I actually saw people spitting in restaurants on the floor, and inside railway stations on the floor.
I'd say they're somewhat related, but there are people who spit for no reason, and that's unrelated.
I was thinking along the lines that pollution also causes stupidity and behavioural problems
They both hurt the environment in some way so yes....
It spreads TB. Check statistics for TB rates in China.
RachelDiD:
Oh, man. I hadn't even thought of that. And, there I was believing that I couldn't hate the spitting more than I already did.
Don't know the answer, but definitely have an opinion. Pollution probably has something to do with it, but I am convinced, by countless anecdotal evidence, that spitting increases exponentially whenever I (a laowai) am passing by - it seems a passive-aggressive method to express (expectorate??) their distaste for foreigners, as they know that the act of hacking and spitting irritates us. Many wait until the exact moment they pass me, then they hock the loudest and wettest loogie they can. I do not rise to the bait, and serenely ignore them. Other foreigners I know, hock and spit loudly right. Anyone???
sam239:
Never had that happen. Sounds like a lot of people in tier 1 cities like Beijing are foreigner-hating a--holes. I've never encountered this in the tier 2 city I'm in.
I'm pretty sure they're linked- I lived in Hainan for a year and was always surprised if I saw or heard someone spit, and if I did, they were normally mainlanders on holiday...
