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Q: What do you most respect about China and the Chinese?
It seems all too common for foreigners to point out the negative aspects of life in China and the Chinese themselves, but unless you are an ignorant (ie. prone to ignoring the truth), bigoted, racist, there must be a number of positive things to say about this most ancient of cultures.
They may do strange things (according to our norms) but when it comes to family, say what you want, but their heart is more often than not, in the right place.
from history.. i like kungfu... well not as a danger sport .. as some sort of spiritual control.. the scientific part of it... dont know if it exists.. but atleast ideas exists and shown in good movies...
Like the fact that old generation is actively doing exercise by the side of the road... in groups.. good co-ordination.. team work.. with happy face... taichi?
Old generation changed their style after china opened up... i mean clothing.. i was surprised to see grandfathers etc wearing nice suit/pants etc.. normally old generation does not change what ever happens from the way they are used to....in most countries i have been...
one more... even though 99% of population are atheist... i didnt find any considerable difference from most other countries i have been when comparing crime rate / ppls happiness / society control... what ever... this point really gave me a big doubt if religion is that important or not... as i have observed atleast in countries like india - religion is business strategy... and is creating a lot of trouble in society...
This comment is gonna get a lot of thumps down... but try to think of it bypassing ur beliefs for a moment.. if possible..
Gaohao:
No thumbs down here, I think it's a very good point indeed.
derek:
I thumbs up ya!
Really, religion can be traced as the cause, purpose or at least the avenue that gives some the ability to cause crimes...and I mean crimes on a large scale. People talk about racially motivated crimes....I say many of those are actually religion motivated. It's a powerful force.
tomcatflyer:
I don't normally agree with most of what you say, but here you are right on the button. thumbs up as well.
The close family ties that they share. And also it is great to say to see them exercising in the parks, and in the evenings all the old women coming out to do an exercise / dance together in lines. I would never see that in Canada, and it is a shame.
nevermind:
I've never understood how their families are different from ours in that sense. Everyone I know in Canada is just as close with their family as people here. Maybe that's just coincedence. My mom and sisters, for example, are really close. Mom takes care of the kids all the time and they talk on the phone at leat an hour a day even though they see each other at least every two days.
HugAPanda:
It isn't close family ties in China. It's more about the older gens controlling the younger ones, no? I'm close with my mom, but that's because we respect each other's boundaries, not control each other.
Like Thakkudu, the things I respect about the Chinese are considered "history". Their arts, their martial disciplines, the work ethic... Their sciences (even if a great load of it is superstition, whoever thought that jabbing someone with a pin could stop pain? I mean, come on.) And, like other people here, I respect their family ethics...
It's just a pity that so much of it has gone into the crapper the last 100 years.
Wow, what an original topic idea.
But I'll play.
I like how they don't drink like we do. Sure they drink like teenagers when they DO drink, but unlike our culture they don't feel the need to have a drink at every opportunity.
Gaohao:
Haha, I think we kind of got off on the wrong foot, didn't we? Don't think i'll continue playing. Yeh, I agree with you, i've often found it a source of embarrassment that the moment I find an opportunity to put a beer in my hand - be it over a game of pool, sitting in the park on a sunny day, or judging contestants at the local kindergarten's English competition - everyone around me is drinking water and worse still pointing fingers when I take the stage, drop my pants, and start singing the theme tune to Happy Days.
nevermind:
My wife has a friend over and they drink tea. I have a friend over and we finish a twixer of whiskey. I can't cook a big meal without a glass of wine in my hand either.
Gaohao:
Well i'm a new dad and have actually started counting days, AA style. Boring but true. Chinese brandy was getting the better of me.
When's China gonna introduce low-alcohol beer? Hey, that's another question. Must post question. Must post question.
nevermind:
I don't think you can get any less alcohol than Chinese beer, it says 3 per cent but is really 2 or lower. When I go home I get railed off one beer after a long China stay.
these people are much more peaceful , and they got their own history, and these people have got families and close relations and they are doing well, they are much more better than people i have seen in other countries
nevermind:
WE ALL KNOW YOU ARE CHINESE, GO AWAY.
And we know you have never been to other countries and if you are going to Wu Mao, don't be so obvious about it.LAR:
Typical stupid,ethnocentric,racist,,xenophobic and obnoxious answer from a Chinese.
nevermind:
And Ignorant. The funny thing about the Chinese is that EVERYTHING that is their worst trait they will lie about and say it is their best. Example: "The people in China are the most honest"
Well known around the world is lying is a huge part of Chinese culture, so these WU Mao try to turn the tide by flat out lying about it, they should just avoid THAT subject. A true way to know China's weaknesses is to understand that if they deny something it's 100 per cent true. It makes it so easy to read them.
Also "Their 'own' history"... uh EVERYONE has their "own" history. Duh
Great slim thighs. I'm home now and have seen more tree hogs than I care to.
China....no one left china and didn't say china was amazing...simply amazing......exotic and amazing...Thumbs up China
Family, biological or married into, you are family with all the responsibilities and expectations as well as benefits and mutual support that entails.
Religion, is firmly in its place, a personal choice and never organised or controlling.
Women, ladies know and want to be ladies. They know how to act and retain their dignity, (when was the last time you saw a Chinese lady bending down at the waist or sitting open legged?). Of course I find them extraordinarily beautiful ( so much so I married one ), so I am biased on that one.
Geology and Geography, incredible country with some amazing sights and nature at it's most wondrous.
History, an amazing history.
I also read recently a new discovery that humanity may actually have started in Asia, as the oldest fossil that could be evolutionarily linked to humans was found in Myanmar, this would mean humanity migrated from Asia TO Africa not the other way round.
Gaohao:
Well I certainly remember hearing that people migrated from Asia to what are now the Americas, hence the slightly elongated eyes of the north and south American Indians.
I respect Chinese People for their Professionalism..
derek:
Ok, please explain this unless of course u are being sarcastic and in which case I totally get it.
Family values? Really? Many millions of Chinese use abortion as a form of birth control. Many millions of the elderly, (retired) Chinese men and women will work at menial labour until they die. Many millions of Chinese have no hope of a better future so merely exist as outcasts of a society that worships the 'young' and 'able'. I've heard countless stories of an elderly family member having a sickness that requires a certain amount of money to cure. Family members and in-laws 'decide' not to spend the money and allow the elderly person to die in their bed. Family values?
Forgive me if my experiences and discussions with countless Chinese people in rural areas have clouded my perceptions. It's possible that the families that live and work in the large cities indeed have an elevated sense of family. I haven't talked to this minority. I speak of the majority only.
Gaohao:
Yeh, it's all true. Just another ugly symptom of the monetary system.
I will try to sum up what I felt about China and what I feel about China now.
On the sixth grade of elementary school, our school usually offers a book to all the students. Among the choice left, I chose a book called 15 stories of martial arts, which from what I can recollect gathered stories and legend from Japan, Korea and naturally China. From there, I have always interested by Asian culture and society in general, especially Japan and China.
Later, fate decided that I chose Chinese over Japanese as field of studies at the University.
Like any other people learning a new language and culture, I was deeply interested by Chinese history, culture and traditions. We used to study Chinese literature and philosophy in classical Chinese as well as past and modern Chinese history. All through my academic studies, I remain very much in love with Chinese culture and language, even though I could meet that much Chinese where I live.
Then I decided to take a new step and went to China to see this culture, tradition and civilization face to face and to study more deeply.
The cultural shock I had was not that much because I am Westerner and I was in China, but rather because everything I was told about Chinese civilization, tradition, mentality was at the end just a joke or simply over after decade of communism. I felt tricked and the more I stayed in China, the more I discovered that nothing was eventually left of the great engineers, the great philosophers, the great minds, the great artisans of the previous dynasties. I was faced to a society of people completely ignorant about anything (even their own history, culture and tradition), always ready to stab you in the back and on whose friendship is often related to what I can bring to them, or what they can bring to me.
As to talk freely about China or Chinese history, forget it, people minds were just as branded as a cow with what they are told by media and schools.
Sorry, I keep admiring Chinese past, but Chinese nowadays are at a billion miles from their ancestors in terms of knowledge, creativity and engineering. I keep admiring and studying Chinese language and characters, but I don't want to use Chinese to talk to somebody, be treated like an ignorant by Chinese people so be it. I don't care now.
What do you most respect about China and the Chinese was your question.
About ancient China and Chinese the way they are taught with passion abroad by great scholars, I respect almost everything.
About today's China and Chinese, the way they are, the way they behave, the way of their arrogance, I respect not even one thing. And I still feel deeply sad about it. I think if one of your famous philosopher or state administrator would rise from the past, it would be sadly impressed by people's "wenmang".
Gaohao:
I know where you're coming from Songoku, but can't entirely agree with you. I was also seduced in my youth by a romantic notion of China and the mystic east. Martial arts of course initially drew my attention, but then my interests turned to China's culture and philosophy, particularly that of Lao Tsu, the creator of Taoism, and it was said that he himself walked out of Beijing, turning his back on his people because he was sickened by the way they treated each other.
I think maybe this romantic notion of Chinese history is nothing more than a fairytale, and if we were able to visit the past we would not find the China of our dreams but a broken country, ravaged by tribal feuds. The China of today is imperfect but infinitely more peaceful.
chenhan:
In my opinion,the ignorance and lack of moral in China nowadays have more to do with the history and the society than Chinese people themselves. Ten years' cultural revolution destroyed the traditional morals passed down from generation to generation,but the new normals hadn't set up.People were taught to be humble and polite to people in the old times,but during the cultural revolution,people were taught to report "guilt" of their parents , relatives or anyone they knew to the government as to improve they were loyal to the XX Party and they were new youths not constrained by the "out of date" feudal thoughts.Confucius and his thoughts were said to be the biggest force restraining people's thoughts and progress of the society.The government denied almost everything in the old times.Numerous books were burned and a large number of wise people were oppressed.People became cold to each other in order to protect themselves.After ten years' cultural revolution,most traditional morals were destroyed.
In this context, the Reform and Opening-up policy took place .Living in a country so overpopulated,the pressure of survival is much bigger than that in the other countries.In order to support themselves and their families,people could do anything.The first need is to survive,only this has been met can the others been considered.Being exposed to a completely new economy system suddenly with almost no corresponding laws and rules,there was no doubt problems would come.That's why there are so many food security problems in these years even after over 30 years' development.
With a history of over 5000 years in feudal times and only one party in power even after the new country was founded in 1949,official rank standard consciousness has rooted in people's mind deeply.It has much to do with why Chinese can stand up with only one ruling party and there are so few strikes here.Likewise, people in western countries take freedom as necessary and usually go on strikes because people-oriented thought has rooted in their minds.The official rank standard can also interpret why there are so much corruption in this country.
What i said above are just a few reasons of the problems china faces today,there are many reasons lying behind the phenomenon we see everyday.However,though there are many problems ahead,the country is progressing step by step either in economy nor in ethics.If we compare China to a person,we can say he is still a teenager now,he still has a long way to catch up with his western fellows in many points.We will see the changes in the next decades .And maybe this is the very point which makes us exciting,we will grow and change with this country.
The fact that almost everyone I've met plays video games. Seriously, even all the female friends I have play WoW (there might be a relation between the two).
Also, the fact that most online gamers are adults. Seriously, when you don't have to hear children/angry teenagers yelling all sorts of insults in their microphones, online games become a LOT more enjoyable.
Well said, Sangoku. I don't agree with everything that you write and sometimes you make grammatical errors but your opinion that ancient China was superior to modern China in many ways is right on the mark.
Gaohao:
Hello Johnny, just wanted to let you know that if you want to remark on someone's post you can hit the 'Add Comment' thing in the top left of their post before you write, that way your remark is sent to them. Otherwise it is sent to the person who posted the question, in this case me. No bother to me, I just thought you might rather the comment go to who you meant it for.
Jnusb416:
If I remember correctly, English is not his first language, so he's allowed to make mistakes.
First of all, your question is arrogant and assumptive. You actually sound like quite the bigot..BICHA! F*** your ancient culture remark. :( THERE'S NOTHING BETTER ABOUT CHINA!!!!!!!! Get off your high horse!!!!!! "What....................Chinese?" LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol lol lol!!!!! ^^
