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Q: Chinese lunch hour = No coffee places or recreation places to go to.
It seems that the lunch hour in the Chinese mainland is tailored to be a quick visit to the average Fan Guan where they sell poor to average quality food, whereby you walk in, you order your noodles or rice, you eat them in less than 5 minutes, and then you're gone, back to the office, either because the Fan Guan is crowded, with more and more people coming in, either because you prefer to spentd half of your lunch time hour sitting in the office going on Weibo and Weixin. No coffee places, no recreation places where you can buy a chocolate, a small cake, some chewing gum or a juice and you get to actually sit and read the newspaper or simply watch TV. I know it's all cultural but am I the only one finding this uninteresting, annoying and unhealthy?
I don't know what is less healthy, Cake or Weixin.
I don't think it is that bad. During nap-time it is possible to find a cup of coffee, a park or something here in town.
TianjinCity:
A cake is something that you can buy at a coffe place. Not what you necessarily have to buy. I mentioned thing you can buy a in a coffee place. So, yeah Weixin wins. I am working just in front of a beautiful river. Only one or two people out of 50 go there during lunch time, for a walk, or simply to clean their minds while contemplate the river. Zero. So I still stick to the "this might be cultural" thing.
Scandinavian:
I sometimes go for a run along a river during nap time, rarely see any people there, despite the fact that there must be 1000s on lunch break in the area
Where I live lunch time is between 1.30 and 4pm. Everyone goes home to eat slop and sleep for an hour or so before returning to work/school.
For the poor sleep deprived students who have to stay up till 3 or 4am doing their stupid, useless homework, this is a godsend.
For everyone else it's just a way of filling in time.
I've never slept during the day and when I do start doing that I'll know it's time to jump out the window.
TianjinCity:
I know no student that stays awake that late doing homework most of them tell me they go to sleep around 10 pm or 11 pm... That's when they're dormitory lights are turned off - the electricity is cutted off by the school so they all of them go to sleep early. I agree with the rest though.
royceH:
Perhaps not 3 or 4am every single day but at least twice per week and not a lot earlier on other nights. The average isn't before 2am. This may not apply to each and every student but it does for most.
When a student hasn't completed the huge workload of homework demanded of them their teacher text messages this info to all the other families in the class, thereby humiliating the student, and their family.
Additionally, students are regularly hauled in to school to attend weekend classes of maths, physics, Chinese etc..
This happens at no notice so students then have to dodge their regular extracurricular classes, often without warning to their tutors (eg; me).
This isn't just the reality at my school but others in my city too. I don't for a moment think things here are different to the rest of China, so perhaps your school is unique...
The schools I'm referring to aren't boarding schools, btw....
5 minute sub-standard lunch followed by internet addiction sounds about right. Your best bet is probably joining the lunch time ping-pong club. But personally I hate the game. If you're near a karaoke bar that might be an option but your colleagues will cover their mouths and titter like school children because you're going to a place where "adult things" might happen.
You need two things:
1. Snacks. Chocolate bars, fruit, pistachio nuts, etc. Bring anything you want to work.
2. a book or an e-book reader. Take this and sit down by the river.
TianjinCity:
Yes! That is a good method. Just wished it wouldn't be so cold and polluted outside. 
Chinese prefer to sleep during lunch breaks, not drink coffee and socialize.
