Turning Chinese: Spitting and Littering
Posted on December 6, 2009 and filed under Culture Shock, Tips.
I have always been one to spit, or to cough up phlegm and then spit it out. People think I do this because I’m learning from the Chinese but really I’ve always done this.
In Hong Kong, it’s illegal to spit on the ground. “You will get a penalty!” my friend warned me. A penalty I guess is like a ticket. 1500 Hong Kong Dollars ($150) to be exact.
Also, I’m a bit of a litterbug when it comes to small things: cigarettes, wrappers, etc. In China the ground is your trashcan, in Hong Kong they take a similar stance to spitting, although there are trashcans everywhere with messages like “Love Our City!”.
If you’re eating something with shells or bones, in China they go on the ground. I would imagine you’d get thrown out of a restaurant in the US for this but really it’s easier for them to hire someone low waged to sweep it all up than to have waiters clean all the tables.
Walk around late at night on a busy street in a city in China and it looks like hell: shells, bones, lettuce, broken Tsingtao bottles, noodles, rice, misc rubbish, etc. By morning it’s as clean as a whistle. A dirty, smelly, chinese made whistle. But it looks clean!
I like this sort of thing.
Of course the seafood areas reek like seafood because it has so permeated the streets and sidewalks, but shouldn’t seafood areas smell like seafood?
The Infamous Chinese Toilet
Posted on December 6, 2009 and filed under Culture Shock.
I had to use one. The Chinese toilet that is.
It’s a popular design in other countries in Asia also. My friend Wesley claims its actually “cleaner”.
Local Wai Laos call it the “high dive” or “long drop” and once you use it, you’ll see why.
I thought I would never use it, but like eating dog, you can’t always choose these things.
The night started off normal enough. I shared a Chicken hot pot with a friend from Hong Kong and had a few beers and a dozen cigs. As I was leaving the restaurant to go to Maya City (which deserves its own post) I suddenly became very sure that i would need a toilet soon.
Since Maya City is an opulent spa with waterfalls and every convenience and amenity I was sure I would find a western toilet. As Plato says, only the fools are certain.
So there I was.
I was wearing a towel having just showered and I took the towel off and hung it on the hook and did my business. It was weird. It took athleticism. It wasn’t so bad.
God works in mysterious ways. That I not only had on only a towel and had a shower 10 feet away was certainly a gift, and without those two, i’m not sure I could have done it without incident.
But Wesley is right, there is something more clean and um, efficient, about it.
Thanksgiving In Changsha, Hunan Province
Posted on November 27, 2009 and filed under China Travel, Food.
Shenzhen is full of thieves, prostitutes and hustlers.
That said, it has a bad side too.
Read more »
MyRedChina Server Outage
Posted on November 23, 2009 and filed under Uncategorized.
I apologize if you tried to access my blog and were not able to. My server was down and this happens all the time.
I usually just write the admins pure nonsense to bump my help ticket up. This time I chose a chinese theme:
Reset Please
Read more »
Shopping For Produce In China
Posted on November 22, 2009 and filed under Culture Shock, Tips.
Now let’s say you want to buy some produce at the supermarket. Naturally you’ll make your selections, bag em up, and bring them with the rest of your grocceries to the front of the store. In China it’s a little different.
Read more »
Adjust Your Shower/Water Heater In China
Posted on November 22, 2009 and filed under Culture Shock, Tips.
To See A Larger Image Click here.
Because I was taking warm for 1 minute then freezing showers for the last week or so (and assuming I was maliciously given a faulty shower) I am sharing this in case you are having trouble with your shower in China (and can access this page) and need help.
The thing about water heaters in China is that they are instant water heaters— they heat water on the fly— whereas in the US and other places we have big hot water heaters with tanks full of water being kept warm at all times.
These save space and might be more efficient.
Left to Right:
The first knob is water volume.
If you routinely take short showers turn the knob to the left (away from the character for “many people”). I’d leave it on the many people setting unless you like a machine making your shower decisions for you.
Read more »
21 Tips For Shenzhen China Bar Patrons
Posted on November 21, 2009 and filed under Tips, bars & nightlife.
Ok, so i’ve been to few (dozen) bars and nightclubs here in Shenzhen. While bars aren’t as complex as say a rail station or something if you’re a new drinker in China, you’ll need some tips. Like information tips, not gratuity tips.
You don’t have to tip in China.
With that, let’s go:
Read more »
How China Will Change You
Posted on November 19, 2009 and filed under Culture Shock, Moving To China, Tips.
I remember after my uncle came back from Vietnam he was never quite the same.
“That place changes you, man” he said to me, “Big time”.
When he came back to the US, where things were supposed to be better, sometimes they weren’t.
Sometimes they were just different. He had nightmares. He took to drinking heavily.
That he went to Vietnam in 1993, and travelled there as a sex tourist isn’t really relevant to the point i’m trying to make, instead living in Asia does change you, despite what I wrote before.
Now I don’t want to be the “this is what i’m learning in this foreign land” kind of asshole, but maybe this will be of use to you. Or me.
A few things you realize after living in China for a little bit:
Read more »
Dinner In China
Posted on November 19, 2009 and filed under Culture Shock, Food.
Yep. It’s all-you-can-eat dog night again.
The Gwailo
Posted on November 16, 2009 and filed under Culture Shock.
The tools I need for my work are paper, tobacco, food, and a little whiskey. William Faulkner
I’ve been reading William Faulkner. In fact I read anything I can get my hands on here. Part of me wishes that I was out here writing a novel or script instead of internet businessing but that’s stupid because I can write a novel or a script if I want to and I don’t seem to do it.
I have an idea for a script called The Gwailo (or maybe The Wai Lao)– both terms mean white devil or ghost devil or whatever kind of nasty words they have for us crackers here in China.
Anyhow, here’s my pitch:
Read more »