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Q: Do non mainland Chinese believe their bodies are different?
I hear it all the time.....
We can't drink cold water because we'll get sick.
We can't wash our hair and all that other stuff after having a baby because we'll get sick.
We can't sleep in front of a fan because cold air gets in the belly button and makes you sick.
We can't do this, this, that or anything because we'll get sick.
Whenever this has come up I always point out that the rest of the world seems to have no problem and that's when you hear that "Chinese bodies are different".
I've always been pretty sure that it's a mainland Chinese thing, I know plenty of Chinese educated in Western countries who are normal and just like everyone else, a glass of cold water doesn't lay them out, but what about Chinese from Taiwan or Hong Kong ? What do they believe?
It is bullshit.
It is just a system used to prevent illness when China had horrible medical options and many people died due to disease in villages.
Boiling water meant killing the germs... not showering for a month after pregnancy meant not getting the chills (in unheated homes) and getting sick when your body had a weak immune system.
All of these "superstitious practices" really come from simple threats to human life such as starvation, malnourishment and getting sick. Nothing more and nothing less.
Chinese are just uneducated and don't know where old traditions end and new science begins.
ScotsAlan:
Yup. it is a system invented to move the blame from the God emperor to the shamans.
Shining_brow:
One word - pork!
And what the hell - another word - shellfish.
The taboo in eating them merely comes from lack of knowledge about hygiene and safe food preparation (and storage).
While we can argue about the superstition of Chinese still firmly set in the minds of the mainlanders, we should also do the same with the religious taboos imposed in other cultures.
I was wondering exactly the same thing... so I am gonna bump this question!! anyone knows?
I love the "we can't get used to the food in America or any other country." What about the poor quality of food or gutter oil here?
Eorthisio:
Well that means they can't get used to quality food since they eat garbage all the time. Proof they have no problem to drink or eat junk (Coca Cola or KFC come to my mind, both very popular in China), but will struggle to put anything of high quality into their mouth (e.g. the various traditional dishes from European countries or a good grass fed beef steak).
.I was raised in a massive Chinese-American community...I never heard that bull before I came to China. So, either about 400 Chinese families who can trace their family lines back all over China and the INDEPENDENT COUNTRY OF YOU KNOW WHERE realized, over time, that Westerners laugh when they here this and never let it slip...or they don't espouse such nonsense.
I hear it all the time.....
imagine this gorgeous China doll, petite and just plain gorgeous .... oh I want to be with her 1 year later ... the ceremony and a belief of greater things to come. 6 years later and the fat assed bitch is on the phone more than in the kitchen. 7 year itch beware.
No because non-Mainland Chinese still have culture. In the Mainland it has been replaced with Socialist myths and beliefs.
You know what I am talking about, an entire generation still thinks that Mao could control the weather. Same kind of shit with the different bodies.
Also it is used as an excuse by insecure Chinese men to prevent Chinese girls from dating with Foreign men. A female friend who is married with an Italian man was told by a Chinese guy beforehand "Your bodies will not be compatible, Foreigners have different bodies, you should date Chinese men instead." Just like other excuses such as "Foreigners have too much sex drive, you will become a sex slave" or "Foreigners cheat their girlfriend/wife all the time", lol, just lol, Chinese guys do so, it's socially acceptable and will never change, we tend to be more loyal.
RachelDiD:
Do you think that Mainlanders didn't believe stupid stuff like this before Socialism, though? Look at stuff the Chinese did before Mao...here is my personal idea of how the Boxer Revolution happened:
'You can't really stop a bullet with your skin.'
'Chinese bodies are different!!'
Perhaps Chinese outside of the Mainland moved on to things other than peasantry.
laowaigentleman:
Setting the sight on the rifle to maximum distance doesn't increase the velocity of the bullet fired from the rifle, rather the recoil sends the bullet skyward and you and your band of superstitious peasants will be mown down by well trained regular infantry until it finally starts raining again and you can head on back to the farm.
I read David Silby's book on the Boxer Rebellion a few months back and they're exactly as you describe them.
Just asked my wife and MIL about the cold water thing. They laughed and said of course cold water is bad for you.
Ok.
I am not a scientist, but I will have a go with my general western knowlege as to why that is wrong.
First, bacteria grow faster in higher temperatures than low. So it follows that cold water contains less bacteria. Bacteria of course are cold blooded creatures, so they depend on thermal energy in the environment to expend energy.
Second. Cold water contains more dissolved oxygen. And drinking cold water, freshly poured, provides oxygen to the friendly bacteria in your gut that is breaking down the enzymes of the fatty food you just ate. Cold water invigorates the bacterial blooms in your pretty much anerobic stomach environment.
Now, I am not a biologist. Just an Engineer with a general western education. So the above is just a guess. Can any pro warm water people put forward their arguement?
And oh dear... I decided to post this because I just had an arguement with the wife about watching a movie on the pc in an unlit room. I lost. So I bailed out to have a smoke in the kitchen. Chinese logic is fun on a good day, make it makes a bcd a very bcd.
Lord_hanson:
Scots, are you saying you don't know that boiling water kills chlorine and heavy metals?
BobC:
Only problem with that is how many harmful types of bacteria are in your gut. My understanding is the gut is a highly acidic environment so you are not going to have whole lot of harmful bacteria. In addition, I do recall reading how some scientist are considering our GI (gastro-intestinal) tract to be its own flora because of the amount of micro-organisms that are in it. Hence taking too many anti-biotics can have a negative effect on our body. I grew up in 30 degree plus weather where people played outside as much as possible, playing sports all the time, I don't recall anyone drinking cold water, and getting 'stomach' cramps, let alone cramps in the first place. It was more like drink water it is good for you, but I guess when your city can provide healthy drinking water you tend to forget how bad it can be if it is untreated. Now that I think about it I haven't seen any drink fountains here.
In addition, to what you are saying is it makes it sound like there is something in your body to begin with and the water makes it worse, whereas I think it would be the untreated water (whether chemically or heated) that introduces something harmful.
ScotsAlan:
I am talking about treated water. Just having a go at debunking the cold water kills thing. I am not going to argue with counter arguements. I only have an o level education in biology and chemistry. But any arguement is better than "because it is!"
Shining_brow:
Scots - you've just answered your question - 'treated' water!
How many areas in China are still having to drink untreated water? How many of you would drink water straight from the tap? How many feel the need to use filtered water instead of tap water for your tea/coffee?
With this in mind, it's a sensible approach to have your water boiled, then cooled down to warm - rather than directly from the 'cold' tap.
The next question is going to be - but what about filtered bottled water? The response to that is - how well do you trust it?
"Cold" water - as in from the fridge... well, I will admit, there is a slight negative physical response when it gets into the body - the body needs to expend energy to warm the water to body temperature (well, maybe not 'needs', but does). Same with anything that you put into the body.
It is bullshit.
It is just a system used to prevent illness when China had horrible medical options and many people died due to disease in villages.
Boiling water meant killing the germs... not showering for a month after pregnancy meant not getting the chills (in unheated homes) and getting sick when your body had a weak immune system.
All of these "superstitious practices" really come from simple threats to human life such as starvation, malnourishment and getting sick. Nothing more and nothing less.
Chinese are just uneducated and don't know where old traditions end and new science begins.
ScotsAlan:
Yup. it is a system invented to move the blame from the God emperor to the shamans.
Shining_brow:
One word - pork!
And what the hell - another word - shellfish.
The taboo in eating them merely comes from lack of knowledge about hygiene and safe food preparation (and storage).
While we can argue about the superstition of Chinese still firmly set in the minds of the mainlanders, we should also do the same with the religious taboos imposed in other cultures.
Kind of a different thing here... my wife did, but doesn't now.
I have her drinking cold water constantly! She will walk around and enjoy herself after having a baby (she's done this twice), and will do some housework, even though her mom is screaming on the Webcam, "THE CHINESE BODY IS DIFFERENT! YOU HAVE TO DO <X, Y, OR Z>, OR YOU WILL DIE!" "You have to wash all your fruit with water or you'll get sick!"
She ignored the advice, and she didn't die. And she drank cold water in front of her. And she's been washing her hair like crazy.
The rebellion is at hand! The liberalization of the wifeinization has almost reached critical mass!
Nessquick:
my wife can drink cold coke, fanta, juice or beer, but not cold water :D
There is a Chinese guy in my office who drinks cold water. He did work abroad for some time though.
Eorthisio:
He learned about basic science while abroad, I work with Hongkers and they drink cold water, they do look younger and healthier than local Chinese of the same age, and I am talking about people who are in their late 20s or early 30s, no great famine excuse for China's apologists.
Lord_hanson:
My wife sometimes drinks cold drinks but she tries to keep it secret from her mother when we visit her hometown. It is ridiculous.
