Here is What I’ve Learned about some cultural differences in China:
It is completely normal for a place of business to call you after 11pm on any given night of the week.
My Chinese shoe size is 43
Chinese women in Shenzhen absolutely love umbrellas, rain or shine and even inside the metro station! Is there a new worldwide trend going on I’m unaware of?
If a Chinese person doesn’t know you, you basically don’t exist… holding the door for you, cutting in line, etc.
Almost all Chinese kids will yell, “Hello!” every time they see you. You’ll have some older folks yell the same but in both circumstances, the ‘conversation’ quickly dies there…
Its not unusual to see a nicely dressed woman hocking up and spitting on the sidewalk. Yes I’m serious and yes… its gross.
Both McDonald’s and KFC have delivery… by bike!
Rice Krispies here will stay “crispy” for days. Pretty sure I can add them to a bowl of milk, fly to Japan and back and find that they are still crispy. (Sorry, I broke down, couldn’t take noodles for breakfast everyday)
It doesn’t matter if you have a mailbox in China. If you can’t read your mail because it’s in Chinese characters, what’s the point? I’m still trying…
You can’t leave messages on people’s phones as there is NO Voice Mail on a cell phone
The air quality really is as bad as I thought it would be. This is mainly due to the fact that there are coal factories nearby which supply power to Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guanzhou (which is easily more than 25+ million people… In fact, I found this article for a recent 2010 survey of the top 10 worst cities with air pollution. With Hong Kong and Guanzhou making the list and Shenzhen unfortunately sandwiched between the two, you can understand why it’s so bad! Glad I’m only here temporarily!
This is not fog, nor is there any chance of rain for the day….
As a result of this, It only takes about 5-7 days before you start getting what I like to refer to as “China lung” (also known as random but uncontrollable coughing)
Where I’ve spent most of my time here in Shenzhen (South China), it seems to rain as much here as it does in London. In any given week, it rains an average 4-5 times!
Where and when you can find sliced bread, ‘crunchy’ peanut butter and strawberry jam, a “PB&J” can really make you feel at home
Since I love a grilled cheese sandwich and since its so hard to find cookware in a flat pan shape as well as butter, you just have to learn how to cook one with Olive Oil in a Wok… takes some practice!
This city seems to be like New York… it never sleeps! There are kids out playing basketball at 1:30AM on a Tuesday.
The small children here don’t wear diapers, they just have a split in the back of their pants… its classy…
As a result of this, unfortunately it is a common sight (and almost seems encouraged by parents) for kids to be relieving themselves all over the streets. And no, they do not use a “Pooper Scooper.”
Unless you like being called Lorli such as myself, you had better come up with a Chinese name if you’re going to spend some time here. Ironically however, all my Chinese friends are named Tom, Jason, Frank Joy, Penny and Dolly. Go figure.
You can eat a huge plate of food for dinner along with a drink for about $1.50 but a box of Honey Nut Cheerios cereal will cost you about $4.50 for a box half the size as you would get back home… dammit.
When you visit an office or place of business, it is customary for them to give you a cup of hot water on a hot summer day. No not hot tea or hot coffee. Just a small cup of scolding hot water to cool yourself down. I don’t know why, it’s just how it is…
As a foreigner standing among 1.3 billion Chinese, it is completely normal for people to turn and stare unblinkingly at you for minutes on end. Get used to it! And to you ‘blondies’ out there, be prepared for Rock Star status…
To sum it up, there is no doubt you will have a bit of culture shock after spending some time here as there are some clear cultural differences in China no matter what country you are from. And with China advancing as a country so rapidly, it is still amazing to see them using and doing the same things they have done for thousands of years. However, for those people that you’ll meet, they are extremely friendly and for the most part many will go far out of their way to help you. I’ve made some excellent friends while spending time here and genuine friendships at that. While there are many things a foreigner will need to adjust to, living in China and adjusting to cultural differences is an exciting (and never boring) experience.
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Funny! And it sure makes us appreciate all that we have here… but I don’t know about that thing about kids just relieving themselves everywhere….!! Yikes!
Yes, that part of it just wasn’t too cool….unfortunately I came across it far too often!
A fun article to read! In Asia women often use umbrellas when outside (rain or shine), so they don’t get tanned. Here in Asia skin tone is thought to resemble social standing, so darker women are thought of as farm girls and lighter ones as coming from successful families. The kids peering in the streets is gauche, but I think more parents are now realizing this.
So true… I think it took me a few months living there to realize the reason for the umbrellas! It just seemed so different for me at the time, especially as a lot of them were using them while swimming in the ocean! Back home, it’s the opposite as everyone wants to be tan. As for the kids in the street, that was also an eye-opener for me! Haha….