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Q: Is machoism the only way forward here?
As a wannabe romantic rennasiance poet vegetarian finger-picking guitar playing quasi-hippy, I'm often a little out of place with my Chinese friends as they boast about how many glasses of beer they can down and (insert other stereotypical macho allegory here). The society seems to run on it though. I'm not just talking about courting women or making friends, it seems like being a tough guy is admired heavily here, with the soft spoken, more diplomatic shall we say approach not really having a say. Am I right? Why is this?
When you are raised in a country where you are told that the people of this country are better than the rest of the world, then you are automatically void of modesty. Since having a dick-measuring contest is futile among these young "men" they are left with other cavemen behavior such as how much drink you can claim you can drink.
No offense my friend, but I don't reallly see it.
I can only compare to America but in America we as a society have a lot more macohism. We have it in our mainstream movies, music, sports, and news. It's everywhere. All the time I see people (usually younger people) in America walking around trying to act or protray an image of toughness (sometimes it's true, sometimes it's fake).
I don't really see that in China so much. As far as people seeing how much they can drink, that's just men being men and it's especially common amongst younger men.
Edit: For example how often do you see school fights in China. Sure it happens but nothing like what you see in America. How many mainstream popular TV shows in China protray men going out to clubs to get one night stands with "bitches"...none that I know of but these type of reality shows are everywhere in America. How often do you see Chinese people covered in tattoos, wearing their pants to their ankles and blasting music out of their car about how much of a THUG and OG they are...I haven't seen it but I see it all the time in America. Just a few examples.
At a dinner, last Saturday I was so happy to share tea in the very traditional Chinese way. While enjoying it I started to talk about other teas like ostmanthus, that got me in love with its perfume and rich flavor, jasmine, chrysanthemum, bragging about how much I love tisanes. I was surprised when a lady told me that in China, the green and black teas are for men and the flower teas are for women. In Europe, we drink it as a many reasons way. Here, it looks that drinking this green and black teas it's linked to a manifestation of your manhood. Anyway, I've never felt like much man then I am and I drink black tea since I was little kid.
I don't know about machoism but masochism is definitely rife here. You only need to spend one hour with the gentle, petite massage girls here to find that out. Everywhere else, a massage is a way to relax. In China, you leave in a worse state than spending twelve rounds in the boxing ring with Mike Tyson. 
mArtiAn:
Finally someone who's had the same experience as me, though the massages i've had have always been off blind men. Painful as Hell though. Did once get a foot massage off a girl though. Eleven years ago in Yangshuo. My girlfriend worked on the door and had just nipped out to get some fruit tea for me. The girl giving the massage moved up my leg, which I had not expected, and sure enough, as eggs is eggs, I got a woody. Cue my girlfriend with the tea. God has a twisted sense of humour.
Erm....find some new friends. In my opinion the men here are much more.....metrosexual shall we say? Anyway, they're way less macho than in the West. You've probably just come across a weird bunch. I've not really come across a tough guy here in China. Have you seen Chinese men trying to fight? It's no wonder they lost so many wars.
I don't think Chinese are macho, but bragging is a common social behavior across the world.
You are a troll, a hipster, or an idiot. (Notice I give you three possibilities)
-I play Jazz Piano, have a degree in Russian Literature, and cook for my girlfriend.
-I also broke a dude's nose, have gotten into half a dozen bar fights, and took a knife off a guy.
-Nobody cares if you can't run with the big boys, but in Asia, the real men will stand up for themselves. If you want to carry your girlfriend's purse go ahead, bt.ut we arent going to respeect you.
mArtiAn:
Do we still have hipsters? I thought a hipster was some goatee wearing, beat-poet, who calls everyone daddio.
I don't really see the Chinese as victims of machismo; on the whole they seem slightly more laid back than that. When I think of 'macho' I think of a testosterone fueled womanizer with a gun. Not someone who judges you on how many beers you can drink.
