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Published: June 25th 2009
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This past weekend was relatively low key since I have midterms coming up. On Friday I went to Zhujiajiao, a historic water town dating back to the 14th century, and on Saturday I spent all day in Hangzhou. Hangzhou is the other place mentioned in the Chinese saying "Above is heaven, below is Hangzhou and Suzhou" which I mentioned in an earlier entry. It is most famous for West Lake which covers 3 square miles and has been a long time inspiration for artists.
For this entry I also decided to share some anecdotes from China.
Honking
A honk in the US, particularly the South, is used sparingly. I could probably count the number of times I have honked on both hands. Take one taxi/bus ride here and the driver honks their horn every 5 minutes. Honks here mean "I'm coming through," "I'm passing," "move it, pedestrian," or simply "it's Wednesday." In fact, with all the traffic it is probably the only way the cars here are able to avoid crashing.
People wanting me to teach them English.
People often approach me on campus when studying Chinese asking me to teach them English in exchange for help with
Chinese. It was interesting at first but between class, planning trips, and taking trips I hardly have time to teach English over lunch, tea, etc. Still, I have been participating in one tutorial exchange but I simply don't have time for anymore.
People staring at me.
Doesn't happen in Shanghai as much but it can occasionally get annoying. Especially after a long day of traveling where you have been on a train for 14 hours or hiking up a mountain all day. Still find it flattering though when people ask to take a picture with me.
Hagglers
"Hello, watch, bag, DVD?" I thought Europe was bad, hagglers are everywhere in China, especially the tourist areas. They are also more aggressive. Techniques for getting attention include yelling in bad English, physically grabbing you, following for several yards, and on one occasion shining a laser pointer in my eye as I walked down the street.
Carrying umbrellas when it's sunny
In order to keep their skin lighter and more attractive women here, young and old, carry an umbrella with them all the time. Apparently even when riding a bike or climbing a mountain. Unfortunately, I always seem be at
just the right height to get poked in the face. Going on from there people also dress up for everywhere. On the mountain I saw several women in high heels and dresses while some men were wearing loafers.
The concept of Lining up
Queuing often seems like a foreign concept here. People frequently cut in line and I haven't decided if its because they don't want to wait behind someone who can't speak Chinese or they simply do not know what a line is. Apparently in Beijing in the time leading up to the Olympics people were hired to show the Chinese how to wait in line at a bus stop. On the subway people stand right in front of the door before entering the subway regardless of the amount of traffic and jump on before letting those passengers who are trying to get out first
Young Couples with matching shirts
For some strange reason beyond me guys here allow their girlfriends to buy them matching shirts, especially ones that say "Sexy" and "Naughty" and even a Hello Kitty shirt. I find it amusing more than anything else but I can only imagine the humiliation you would receive
in the states for this. Its bad enough wearing the same solid color shirt for family reunions.
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