I was trying to recall the few culture shocks that I felt when I first arrived and 1 of them being the differences in socially acceptable etiquette here. I’m not trying to look down at the people of Beijing / China for that matter. Just pointing out some observations that may seem strange / a cultural “No-No” to an ‘outsider’ but may be totally acceptable locally in China.
1) It’s ok to sport a ‘bush’ as wild as the Amazonian jungle whilst wearing a classy / tasteful / sassy sleeveless top. Yep, the dressing may be top notch, but it’s ok to display some body hair… And just to clarify, I was not referring to men…
2) While 1 above is acceptable, camel-toes and VPL is frowned upon – it’s baffling…
3) There’s a lot of knee-height (ok, I must admit it is MY knee-height, probably others’ shin-height) dividers along the roads to separate the cyclist from the vehicle traffic. So if you plan to cross a road, you’ll have to either go over the dividers or walk quite a bit to get to the end and make a u-turn back. The lazier ones will naturally just lift-up those legs, straddle across and then cross over – but I wasn’t expecting ladies in mini-skirts or nice flowy dresses to do the same. And the result is… lots of ‘flashing’ exposed panties during the crossing. I looked around mouth agape, but no one seems to take notice! Being almost always in skirt, my friends had to wait for me to do my long u-turn… Am not ready for this change in culture, yet.
4) Men and ladies, young and old spit everywhere. In the summer, you have landmines of goo that needs to be avoided if you don’t want them sticking at the soles of your footwear. In the winter you see splotches of clear ice ‘formations’ on the ground that I first thought was due to some tardy snow sweeper, until I saw someone spit on the icy cold ground… then it dawned on me… Ewww…
5) A little sign on my hotel bed in a non-smoking floor saying “Please do not smoke in bed due to fire hazards”!? Errr… It’s kinda out of place in a non-smoking floor. And you’d expect people to have the mental capacity to deduce the repercussion of having a smoldering tip of ciggy amidst linen that can easily catch fire right? People seem to smoke like chimneys here. Whether it’s the non-smoking section of a restaurant or an enclosed area like some of the local buses or taxis, people just continue to smoke even when you give them that “mother’s glare” (i.e. hello, I have a baby with me, can you not smoke here please?). Yea, I had the “opportunity” to use that in great frequency. What I also notice is that I only have to use it on snooty wannabes with either a thick wallet / trying to portray they have 1. In other places, before I can even ‘deploy’ my glare, the culprit either move or politely tell me, there’s a lot of smokers around, so maybe it’s best I just move to the other section where there’s less smoke. There’s hope!!
6) Foods here are either super salty / super oily. Yet everyone around me is super slim!! Where’s the justice! I grow fat even from breathing (Ok, that’s not true, but still…)!
In summary? It’s kinda fun being in a foreign land. Imagine the experiences I’ll be missing if I didn’t come here.
1) It’s ok to sport a ‘bush’ as wild as the Amazonian jungle whilst wearing a classy / tasteful / sassy sleeveless top. Yep, the dressing may be top notch, but it’s ok to display some body hair… And just to clarify, I was not referring to men…
2) While 1 above is acceptable, camel-toes and VPL is frowned upon – it’s baffling…
3) There’s a lot of knee-height (ok, I must admit it is MY knee-height, probably others’ shin-height) dividers along the roads to separate the cyclist from the vehicle traffic. So if you plan to cross a road, you’ll have to either go over the dividers or walk quite a bit to get to the end and make a u-turn back. The lazier ones will naturally just lift-up those legs, straddle across and then cross over – but I wasn’t expecting ladies in mini-skirts or nice flowy dresses to do the same. And the result is… lots of ‘flashing’ exposed panties during the crossing. I looked around mouth agape, but no one seems to take notice! Being almost always in skirt, my friends had to wait for me to do my long u-turn… Am not ready for this change in culture, yet.
4) Men and ladies, young and old spit everywhere. In the summer, you have landmines of goo that needs to be avoided if you don’t want them sticking at the soles of your footwear. In the winter you see splotches of clear ice ‘formations’ on the ground that I first thought was due to some tardy snow sweeper, until I saw someone spit on the icy cold ground… then it dawned on me… Ewww…
5) A little sign on my hotel bed in a non-smoking floor saying “Please do not smoke in bed due to fire hazards”!? Errr… It’s kinda out of place in a non-smoking floor. And you’d expect people to have the mental capacity to deduce the repercussion of having a smoldering tip of ciggy amidst linen that can easily catch fire right? People seem to smoke like chimneys here. Whether it’s the non-smoking section of a restaurant or an enclosed area like some of the local buses or taxis, people just continue to smoke even when you give them that “mother’s glare” (i.e. hello, I have a baby with me, can you not smoke here please?). Yea, I had the “opportunity” to use that in great frequency. What I also notice is that I only have to use it on snooty wannabes with either a thick wallet / trying to portray they have 1. In other places, before I can even ‘deploy’ my glare, the culprit either move or politely tell me, there’s a lot of smokers around, so maybe it’s best I just move to the other section where there’s less smoke. There’s hope!!
6) Foods here are either super salty / super oily. Yet everyone around me is super slim!! Where’s the justice! I grow fat even from breathing (Ok, that’s not true, but still…)!
In summary? It’s kinda fun being in a foreign land. Imagine the experiences I’ll be missing if I didn’t come here.
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