Introduction: Mind-boggling Culture Shocks in China
When you are living another country, there are many things that you will notice. Some will be our mind-boggling, some might even be shocking at the time and other will be a blast!
We spent 3 years living and working in China, in a 10M inhabitants city in central China and here are what we found to be the most mind-boggling Culture Shocks in China.
Depending on your perceptions and characters, for you some of them will be annoying or in the contrary super cool. One funny thing is that coming back to our home country after living abroad was also an experience. And we started noticing stuff, but that’s for another time.
Those are some of our favourite mind-boggling Culture Shocks in China but there are many others and actually depending on your own culture you may or not find those mind-boggling Culture Shocks in China. In any case, we love China and can’t wait to return there!
Now that we spent 3 years in France, to be honest, we have experience mind-boggling Culture shocks in France! Even for me and even if I am a native from there.
Let’s get on with our mind-boggling Culture Shocks in China
Table of Contents
Culture Shocks in China
The Open Pants
Also known as the Open-crotch pants or split pants are pants worm by baby and young kids in China. They are basically a regular pants but with an opening between the leg. So, if the child needs to pee or even poop, it just needs to squat down. Or sometimes its parent is holding him. That eliminate the need for diapers.
Problems appear when you are on a bus, and the kid need to pee! Either you get it all over you or are lucky enough to be at a bus stop where you can hold the kid outside the door of the bus. In supermarket, while choosing which fruits you will by, it was often that we saw kid peeing on the floor, or parent running to put hold the kid on top of a trash before it is too late. And we cannot even imagine in winter with cold air blowing through the kid’s legs.
But it also has advantages, no diapers rash, no diapers to be recycle and kids are learning much faster how to be clean and use toilets.
The spitting
We can only imagine that with their level of pollution, you will need to clean your through quote often. Well, where is the problem, in Europe you also often see runners or people spitting in the streets. Well, it’s another story when it happens in an airport with a guy just spitting on the floor, or when you are in your office and the guy next to you takes its trash and spit in it.
Not too mentioned the crazy racking noise going along!
The Farting/burping
I must admit that in our society it might not be the best and we would feel ashamed if farting or burping in public. There, while negotiating in a business meeting, I must admit that it was both awkward and funny, when a guy just farted! Loud enough that most probably the complete floor heard him.
Feeling like a Panda
If you go to a zoo, and see a panda, you will take picture of it. Well, in most of the case in central China at the time we were there, it was normal and happened often to be taken in picture by local people. Some of them would ask you to take a picture altogether which was all right, but some would just take picture of you without asking and would simply be rude which could be annoying if happening all day long while hiking on a remote place where foreigners are not common at all.
Also, you could be in the doctor and people would stare at you! We grew up in a multi-cultural society but for most people living in rural China, they have never stepped out of their region and of course never seen a foreigner.
If you are a blond woman (as Tina was), don’t be surprise if they ask you to touch your hair. They all have long dark hair there so they could be curious about you!
WeChat is the WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, payment system, and so much more of China. This platform is a dream and make Europe feel like medieval age! You can do everything with it, we would chat with our friend, organise party, discuss meeting and business. But also pay with it. Even when buying food from street stall. One would pay in a restaurant and then we would all pay back from WeChat. It is an amazing platform!
Not to amazing an amazing Translator!
Though, it is recommended not to speak about government issue on it 😊 but well, our platforms are most probably the same.
The great Firewall
Nope, it is not the great wall but the great firewall. While in China, get yourself arm with a VPN or say bye bye to Google, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and most of our American made apps. The Chinese network (WIFI and 4G) is fully controlled and blocked.
Our Favorite VPN
Nap Time
From our own experience, we do not take nap in Europe. In China, people do take nap at the middle of the day. This is even a cultural thing as since childhood they are doing it. In my office, after lunch, people would either take a 1h at least. All Chinese employees have their folding bed with them in office and use it nicely lay down and rest after lunch. In factories, it could be more primal, but they all do Nap, even if only laying on a wooden mat.
PS: That is not a problem for them as their bed is not made of things mattress and cushion but of wood. They sleep on really hard bed with barely anything but wood. And tis is apparently much healthier for our body.
Toilets
Toilets in China can be such an adventure. But be reassured that it is changing, and that more and more seating toilets can be found. Though squatting ones are healthier for us and cleaner.
But that is not the point, while in China, you will have to use a squatting toilet at a point. Boy, when you are used to it and not flexible enough it will feel like climbing a mountain. I remember going out of toilet there completely sweaty with my leg shaking hahahah.
And if you travel far enough in China, you will find those toilets, that may not have doors, or where 2 toilets are together, you may even see a batch of them only separated by 1m tall wall where you wall in the middle to get in. But you could also just see a huge place with no wall and a long square hole.
PS: Do bring you toilet papers with you.
That is another side toilet in China, I remember waiting my bus and seeing a kid coming being the bus stop (it wasn’t in the city center though), lowering its pants, squatting and doing its business there. The same happened while going on a hiking trip in a remote place, we stepped out of the bus and a little girl was just peeing in front of it while there was toilet 100m from there.
That’s something that you can mostly see in go deep inland.
Eating
Do you plan on trying all the Chinese food? Well, that is not possible. That are just way too many of them. China is bigger than the European continent! Its culture is vast and really different from one side to another.
The funniest part of it, if when you enter a restaurant and you receive a menu full of Chinese characters! And not a single picture! Yeah, menu with pictures are an amazing things if you do not speak Chinese. Local tips: Lift you finger, close your eyes, and let luck decide your faith! And what you will be eating.
Pollution level
Pollution level in China can raise to extreme level. Even if nowadays, it is getting better and better, you can still find yourself visiting some amazing city with a foggy screen all day long in front of you. To be honest, that is not only in China, but it is there that we experience some EXTREME level of it. Especially in winter, you can end up with a wall in front of you.
Ni he re shui ba
你喝热水吧, which means, you drink hot water. For a westerner, going to a Chinese doctor is a mind-boggling Culture Shocks in China. That is because China relies first on alternative medicine and then on pills and western medicine. One of first things that doctor would tell us is to drink more hot water as it is believing (and is) to be really healthy and often we westerners don’t drink enough of it.
After that comes the medical tea! That is an experience, be ready for the taste!
Mody Mody
Mody Mody is a local taxi in Henan province. It is not really Chinese language but is part from the dialect. If you find yourself in a street in Henan hearing Mody mody while seeing a man coming in an electric scooter that will be a taxi! You can stop him, negotiate a price for the course and hop on.
How are you?
Did you know that in China you normally ask “Ni chi fan le ma” 你吃了吗？to ask how are you? Translated it mean, did you eat? That’s coming from the huge famine that was all over China years ago. By this time, the main dish was tree soup!
Now it is still stand but you could also use Ni hao ma? 你好吗？which is how are you?
Skin Color
In China, being as clear as possible is really important. Their society rules are the one in place in Europe a century ago. Having a tan skin mean that you are mostly working on the outside and therefor are a from the working class.
Chinese people put whitening sunscreen and during summer are covering completely their body.
Belly out
This one is a super cool one. The reason why is that why bother! If you are hot, well then just lift your t-shirt! In rural China, you can still encounter some of those!
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
