By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: What will you never get used to?
Whether here for 50 or 100 years, what are the things that your cultural upbringing or possibly fragile western sensibilities will never get used to? After a bunch of years here i've come to terms with the fact that there are a few that will never get past my years of outside China programming. They are:
1. The sound of my live-in in-laws masticating at the dinner table (setting jokes up for you already). Wonderful, kind people and i'm very glad to have them here, I just wish I didn't have to hear every step of the journey their food takes once it's past their lips. The wife says this is a perfectly acceptable difference in cultural behaviour, to which I answer, "Go visit a United Nations luncheon and see how noisy the Chinese table is there." I'm guessing it's a little more of a refined affair.
2. Having to have the same tedious conversations five times a day when meeting strangers: "Your Chinese is so good. Where are you from? What do you do? Are you used to Chinese food?" etc, etc, add tedium. I've taken a number of approaches to this mind-numbingly boring but seemingly unavoidable pot-hole in the road I took when I moved here; from answering those who spoke English to me with a quick-fire barrage of British Isle colloquialisms that even the most advanced English student would find confusing: "Top o'the morning, addaway an' shite 'n' beggurra, for 'tis a moonlic broonlic noo, t'be sure t'be sure, I 'n' I, Jah Rastafari" to replying in Chinese that my dog was stuck in the hallway of stars but all is good in the south of France for a September artichoke. It's surprising how many people nod and smile in agreement before turning away in puzzled bemusement. I even considered having cards made that I could hand out in answer to the inevitable questions and pleasantries that were about to be predictably thrown my way:
(In English with Chinese translations)
Why thank you, I study regularly, but it's a difficult language.
England.
I'm a teacher.
Yes, and i'm very fond of hot-pot.
Not much, but my wife works too, so we get by ok.
She's Chinese.
From Yulin.
Thank you.
Yes.
Sorry, I don't use QQ.
Thanks.
Seven inches.
At the end of the day it seems there is no recourse but to nod politely and lean sharply in the direction of quickest escape until a pause in conversation allows the option of a quick getaway.
3. Being treated like a martian.
That's about it. I could go on (and probably have), there are others of course but those are my top three.
PS: Happy Christmas:)
Have to agree I'm never going to get used to the sound and slurps that are 'accepted' when eating out here, you haven't lived until you've heard my Mother-in-law sucking the marrow out of a bone!
Very young children / babies wearing crotchless clothes.
Volume, why do they have to shout when speaking? I know it's a tonal language but why do all the tones have to be at 80 decibels?
mArtiAn:
Yeh, the arseless pants thing gets me too. I'm sure there must be more than a few kids who reach a state of self-awareness under just those circumstances. "Jesus Christ, my arse is hanging out!" Got given a few pairs of those when my son was born. "Over my dead body" were my words on the subject, if I remember rightly. The whole prettying young girls up in red lipstick for some Spring Festival show doesn't sit comfortably with me at all either. And as for the food thing and your mother in-law, well the only time any elderly woman should be slurping on a bone is on her husband's birthday and maybe the odd anniversary. No offense to your mother in-law.
Gimme a shout when you're free for a game of pool anyway, Huge. You can explain to me again why you changed your avatar from that picture of the cat to a picture of Richie Cunningham from Happy Days.
standard things get on my nerves and always will...
> that odd noise they make before spitting.
> speaking soooooo loudly.
> males staring at me, I'm a pretty normal looking guy. I'm not against homos, but I feel if you don't get a positive response you should drop it. seems 90% Chinese males stare at me. I'm not into penis, thx anyway...
> grown 'men' riding those little clown bikes. polyester trousers, patent-leather shoes, knees akimbo. 90% Chinese 'men' look/act like clowns to me. I feel sorry for Chinese women.
I dislike the no planning, no schedule, give timetable information as late as possible mindset.
BHGAL:
and I thought it was just me ....... I want to know where and when and how much money, more than half an hour before I am to do anything!!!!!!!!!
For me it's the fact that many of the locals will knowingly cheat/rip you off at almost anything. Exams and shopping/bargaining come to mind. The acceptance of such behavior is mind boggling.
As well as that, since my wife and I are in the process of decorating our new home I have come to another realization: the contractor/laborer/installer/carpenter are in no way responsible for the general clean up of the huge mess they create while completing the job. It must be the "Someone else will clean it up" mentality. I have to work so I can't be overseeing the whole project. My wife and her parents have assumed that role. The materials used in the installation process must be downright illegal in the rest of the world but for some reason, they are totally acceptable here. Formaldehyde and benzene in the binding agents for the closets and doors! I have had to go to "my home" everyday for the past three weeks in an effort to clean up the mess created by the workers. They create more dust and debris from hanging simple curtain rods that anything I could have imagined. The kitchen countertop guy was like a snow-covered man when he emerged from fitting the countertop. Grinding dust covered him from head to toe. Another thing...I was told they must install the wooden floor first! So I have to clean that every time one of the trades leaves! The workmanship is like something we would do when we were kids building a tree house. The lack of finishing skills is maddening! We have to be present and watch each move they make. The bathroom tile guy somehow got out without grouting the floor tiles. The closet doors were damaged...got sent back. The table was broken when it arrived from the factory, got sent back. The door knobs didn't show up with the doors. We were told we had to pay extra to get them shipped. (No dice there!) The painters have left paint on all the windows. When I complain about any of these atrocities.....I get the familiar response, "In China........blah, blah, blah."
DaqingDevil:
Have to agree and I am glad I am not getting any major work done! Having to clean up after minor repairs (badly done I might add) is a real pain in the arse! I reckon China is the biggest user of plastic filler in the world! Got a problem? Fill it with caulking compound! Sheesh.
Nessquick:
I can imagine all of you wrote, and also can recall some out of my memory.
One single water pipe, going from wash basin in washroom to the water boiler, which was total maybe 4 meters, took them 4 hrs for 2 persons and 500rmb for us. And was not able to arange one pipe back with hot water to the basin, because "too mafan" when i later visit the material market, 4m of the same pipe was 12rmb, holders and glue , total cost maybe 60rmb, so i did the hot water , and alone - faster and cheaper. Next time i know :-)
Any other some home repair, before i find out where to buy stuff and so, the "specialists" always have to talk 30 minits how much trouble is to that and that work, which it take back home few minutes to do-it-yourself, because you have all the stuff normally at home, or the shop is usually within 10 min of walking distance.
There is no way, if you call installators, and explain him in the phone, that you need do some work, what he have to take and after he arrive, he check and tell you that did not bring the tools and stuff, need pay for his taxi to go buy that shit and money for the stuff, because he wouldn't pay by himself.
They try to killing me here :-)
Traditional Chinese Medicine. Don't get me wrong, I am all for not filling the body with chemicals from pharmaceutical companies, but in China, if you look like you might consider coughing in a distant future, there is already someone brewing some strange plants for you to enjoy. The contents of the brew is made up by some old geezer or sheezer operating from some hard to get to apartment in the cheap side of town in a room with just two chairs and a table and certainly no way of providing a receipt.
The mindset that comes with TCM and the diet being integrated takes all the fun out of eating or doing anything. If I am in a shop buying tea I want tea that taste well, not tea that has some magical property. People become hypochondriacs and think they should constantly be taking some kind of medicine. I just want to lean back, enjoy being healthy and then die in my sleep in 60 years. (hmmm, maybe 64 years to make it an even 100)
There is complete faith in the TCM simply because it is 4000 years... blaa blaah...Which is exactly like western medicine. People back in the day would do weird stuff to combat ailments, people learned from that and modern medicine evolved into revolutions such as antibiotics, a thing that is integral in doubling the living age of Chinese (and the rest of the world)
My inner conspirator sometimes thinks that TCM is a means for the country to not have to fork out the cost of providing proper healthcare for the people.
BHGAL:
personally I have no use for drugs ............pills, or powders.......... I had a bit of a cough last year, and my chinese wife took me to a TCM retired doctor......... he made up some conglomeration of dried sticks and leaves and recommended that I make some tea with them and drink on some schedule...........I did do what my wife and the Doc recommended, but to no avail ........I believe useless ............ but in a couple days, I was fine,,,,,,,,,,,, colds only last a couple days,
Scandinavian:
....no no no no, the doctor cured you, without the dried sticks you could have gone belly-up
Chinese driving!! The total, blatant disregard for pedestrians, traffic lights, sidewalk safety and pedestrian crossings (there's an oxymoron) has turned me into a non-driving road rager. Last week I was walking along the service road (no footpath) and a car came up behind me driving the WRONG way and beeped for me to move!! WTF! I refused to budge and walked in front of the car until we reached the side street he wanted to turn down. It was a waste of time to swear at him or shake my fist.
People walking towards you on the sidewalks seemingly totally oblivious to you. If you stopped moving they would still almost walk into you knocking you off your feet. This behaviour extends to holding doors open, allowing somebody to get around you in a supermarket aisle, just common courtesies I guess.
Hey people - put your hand over your mouth when you sneeze or cough for cryin' out loud! No wonder the country is an incubator for infectious diseases.
Smoking in restaurants, schools and hospitals. Come on??!!
That hawking sound before the big spit. Ugh!!
Other than these (and a few others already mentioned) I'm having a great time
Hugh.G.Rection:
The driving was my biggest hatred when I got here (2 years ago), but I've sort of mellowed out over it, I drive almost as crazy as they do (if you don't you wouldn't get anywhere), and in a perverse sort of way actually find it fun, (I suppose same kind of fun as rock climbing without a rope). They have to do something very unusual to get my ire now.
DaqingDevil:
You drive here? Wow! I've been thinking about doing that and I know where to buy a licence but I don't know where to buy a gun!! Haha (evil laugh)
Hugh.G.Rection:
Got my license the legal way, i.e. I took the test, it's a lot cheaper! I usually drive an e-bike though as I leave the car for the wife to do shopping etc.
Spitting in restaurants and screaming over 100 decibel levels. You can add slurping louder than heavy metal rock concert.
To sum up: Slurping and spitting when eating in restaurant, while yelling to waitress at the same time.
Going to the hospital and have 15 complete strangers in the examination room giving the doctor advice. why not wait outside people !!!
Nessquick:
Yeah " giving the advice to the doctor" is very very exactly said :D :D
Being touched and stroked by complete strangers makes my blood curl.
Chinese people that invite themselves to sit at the same table as me in restaurants even when strongly displaying "not welcome" body language.
The quality of service in shops, banks etc.
Invasion of privacy.
Being constantly told what's supposedly good for me choosing or eating food.
The speed and quality of internet.
Constant noise.
There are plenty more but they are some of the main ones.
Spitting at public places and especially on the Dining table..
the way animals are treated, be it livestock or pets, they all have a shitty life in China
Being (nearly) spat upon
Chinese Spitting
Riding the Iron Rooster – Paul Theroux P 361
It was simply, that they were not very good at it.
They spat all the time. They cleared their throats so loudly that they could drown conversation – they could sound like a Roto-Rooter or someone clearing a storm drain, or the last gallon of water leaving a Jacuzzi. With their cheeks alone they made the suctioning; hhggaarrkh! And then they grinned and positioned their teeth, and they leaned. You expected them to propel it five yards, like a Laramie stockman spitting over a fence. But no, they never gave it any force. They seldom spat more than a few inches from where they stood. They did not spit out, they spat down … But after the snarking, the mucus streaking thru their passages with a smack, Chinese spitting was always something of an anticlimax.
Honestly, while agree with most of the posts here, the biggest pet peeve I have in China is this:
Everything is made here, but NONE OF IT IS AVAILABLE IN MAINLAND CHINA.
So many products are manufactured here but not SOLD here. I just want to be able to buy some things that I know are made here but cannot be found except in it's destination country. Example: I had to bring a plastic $1.00 paper towel holder that was made in China back with me from America (the wall mounted kind found in most US kitchens) because you simply can't find them for sale here.
I'm sure I could go to Yiwu and buy a lot of 10,000 of them, but I only wanted 1.
Scandinavian:
IKEA has potato mashers. 69RMB. Production country unknown
