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Q: Why are there such double standards in hygiene in China
I was at anew supermarket opening today and watched at the meat counter as people just picked up and mauled the meat and then put it back for someonelse to buy. This is just one example, at home things seem to be better but as soon as people leave their front door behind it changes. Why?
If you are Chinese please let me have your views as well.
12 years 17 weeks ago in Health & Safety - China
It is not double standards, it is a total lack of concern about other humans in my opinion. I do as I want and wish, and the hell with whomever happens to be after me.
I agree with HappyExPat. Once I saw a guy trying to break apart two pieces of rabbit frozen together by slamming it on the floor of the supermarket. I also think that a lot of people (especially those raised outside of the cities) dont really have a solid concept of hygiene, germs, or healthcare in general.
You should go to the wet markets like I do. It makes supermarkets look like high tech clean rooms.
And yes, China is the cult-of-me country.
Because of a combination of there being too many people and culture telling them that a single random person it worthless. Chinese have a smaller Monkeysphere than the rest and/or are more willing to throw away all social tact when it comes to someone outside their personal Monkeysphere.
For those confused with the Monkeysphere, I put a link but the main idea is "one death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic."
Yeah, it's the whole "well, it's not happening to me, so who cares" thing. Once the leave the area, they never have to deal with it again, and no one calls them out on it, so they don't feel guilty. If you worry about all of it, you'll go crazy.
Thsnks for the answers everybody, it is pretty much as I guessed. It doesn't bother me I just accept that is the way they are, but I was curious to see what other people thought. If this post is seen enough times it would be inetereting to hear from some Chinese on this as well.
Thanks for the answers everybody, it is pretty much as I guessed. It doesn't bother me I just accept that is the way they are, but I was curious to see what other people thought. If this post is seen enough times it would be inetereting to hear from some Chinese on this as well.
You haven't described the 'double standard' part very well, or at all.
Surely the point is that you see most Chinese people being careful not to put their (dirty?) bags on the floor anywhere - so instead they put them and their greasy hair and unwashed for months feet on the counters or table tops and seats at restaurants where they have bought nothing, like the tramps McDonalds in Xinzha Rd; and they won't touch any door handle or hold it open for you as a result; or hold onto a rail on the subway, preferring to lean against things and occupy all the space; and go round wearing masks etc at the first sign of flu or foreigners or cologne or dust or whatever; yet wash dishes in cold water in the street; urinate publicly along any wall nearby; leave garbage out for hours rotting; throw litter almost ostentatiously and unashamedly where they stand/walk; cough up and spit noisily at will or again on sight of a foreigner; and sneeze loudly right into your coffee while making it at even the posh bars/cafes! They have never heard of a handkerchief, tissue, or much else; yet can be picky and aghast if you put your fingers in your mouth, as they spit gristle and bones out all over a table and the floor; hardly ever wash their hands; rarely seem to shower, except at the wrong end of the day; like the smell of garlic and old socks but not shampoo and scent or deodorant; would not drink out of the same glass or straw as you; and yet their homes are usually spic and span, and girls especially usually look clean and tidy and their clothes are freshly laundered and ironed and stains frowned upon! These are the contradictions and double standards we would like answers to - a strange mixture of the private personal protectionism and public filth - someone else will come along and clean it up, and I and my health are very important though I have no idea about germs or bacteria or viruses etc as I was asleep during the biology class that may once have mentoned it! Or is it Yin and Yang? Or jingoism? Or just plain contradiction?
giadrosich:
I think you have accurately pointed out the great contradiction of terms which many find perplexing (to put it mildly) or just plain (insert expletive here) annoying. The end result is, one never knows quite what to expect! I've seen the daintiest of women, when eating fish for dinner and carrying on a conversation, when all the while, a proverbial bone-yard waterfall cascading from their lips onto the table top. And yet these same will chide you for picking up food and eating it with your fingers. The list could, of course, be endless as myth, misconception and legend blend with fact until, in the mind of locals, all three become doctrine.
the 3 years that i am in China, i never saw any standard regarding hygiene.
There are none
Localla:
if you say ppl, yes there are many of them whom dont even realise it a bit. If you say the system, of course there are many standards about hygiene in the food.
OP, don't need to get this question further. Happyexpat's answer had explained all...
And to boot, they wear masks to ride public transportation. Isnt that funny when they can't even look past their own front door. Lie, cheat, steal or even catch a disease, as long as it's from their own kind they don't care, god forbid they catch and thing from a foreigner thats worse than ecoli
