....I really have to mention the unbelievable differences between the Chinese and Japanese.
When I was in Beijing, quite frankly I was DISGUSTED by the habits of the locals. Now, I have been informed that other parts of China are not like this, so before everyone starts jumping down my throat bout me hating on the Chinese, I'm not. I'm simply telling you what I saw.
Firstly SMOG! I have never seen anything like it. At first I thought it was just cloudy...and then I stepped outside and literally couldn't breathe. I was forced to buy one of those masks that the Japanese wear when they have a cold to stop spreading germs. Fetching, eh? Beijing has a serious traffic problem. And the roads have 7 lanes going EACH WAY and still, you could be stuck there for hours.
2) SPITTING - men and women alike. Every split second it was all you could hear and see. Fing disgusting. Can't put it politely.
3) PUBLIC URINATION - this applies to children more than the adults actually. You see, the kids wear these trousers that are open at the crotch meaning that at anytime and any place they can simply squat on the floor and do their business. Just walking along casually, my friend and I turned a corner to be greeted with a stream of urine coming from a little girl squatting IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PAVEMENT ON A BUSY STREET (?!?!?!?!?!?!?). I was scared to walk in front of lil boys in case they decided to let it all out there and then! My friend went to China not long after I did and said that she saw a girl taking a shit in the middle of a SHRINE. Respectful. Think this really shocked me - Beijing has some beautiful historical buildings, yet the Chinese themselves seem to show absolutely no respect for them.
4) MANNERS - my first day there I got my chopsticks THROWN at me in a restaurant. Then a cab driver wouldn't take me where I wanted to go because he didn't know where it was. Despite me showing him a map and giving the place names in kanji.
5) LACK OF ENGLISH - don't know how the hell Beijing is gonna cope with the Olympics. I can only assume that they are going to employ a lot of foreigners of English speakers because there is hardly anyone who spoke even the basics of English. Which is surprising for such a touristy city. If you're gonna take a cab anywhere, make sure that you can give the driver the place name in Kanji. Otherwise, you're not going anyway.
Historically the city is amazing. Culturally, they have a long way to go.
3 comments:
re: spitting in the street....
lesson time - i'm sure i've told you this before though...
in the west, spitting is now some kind of social taboo - why? when the great plague broke out in 1665, it moved west across the globe, after supposedly beginning in central asia. as time passed, people realised that one of the ways to contract the black death was via saliva. this realisation saw people stop gobbing on the floor everywhere and hock their throats up into hankies instead...
the plague never took hold in east asia - that is why people still openly flob everywhere.
still - it's fuckin nasty all the same...
Hey, Just got the e-mail about your blog.(obviously) sounds like you are havinga fantastic time i'm glad it's all working out for you.. stay in touch and update frequently..
David
XX
Dude I nearly spat my drink all over my computer when I read that you had your chopsticks thrown at you! Partly because it's just shocking, partly because it's so Beijing. I was grossed out when I went last year...somehow I thought they might have cleaned it up a bit for the Olympics, but yeah as you said sounds like they've got a loong way to go...
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