The anxiety when a stranger talks to Chinese people reminded me of my visits in China. I am so used to greet people in the hallway or asking people how was their day because these are common practices here in US. When I visited Ningbo for the first time, I went to stop by my Dad's company. I was greeting and was trying to engage in conversation while waiting for the elevator. I observed the anxious looks and side glances from other people. In the elevator, they were pushing themselves on the sides and gave me side glances. It was awkward and when I brought this to the manager, she laughed and told me that I made those people uncomfortable because it is not a practice in China.
@@PristianoPenaldoSUIIII It's the same with anything smaller than a town in the UK, from my experience. Villages are jam-packed full of people who won't stop talking to you.
I live in Ningbo right now, and I realised that compared to Fujian people, 宁波人 on the whole are way more cold to foreigners and less forgiving. Makes it much more difficult to make friends/engage in meaningful interactions. This is just a general observation tho, there are always exceptions.
The idea of 调休 is so wild to me cause in Australia if a public holiday falls on the weekend, then it also moves to the Monday so that we still all get a day off work😂
Russia also has 调休 of sorts? If a national holiday falls on the weekend, we get an extra day of rest during the week. However, if the holiday is on Tuesday, and it's decided to let people enjoy Monday off as well, we'd have to work on Saturday to make up for that extra day.
Thank you for the video) in Kazakhstan we also adjust our holidays. For example, we have national holidays on 7th and 9th of may, so we usually work one day more in advance to rest on 8th of may as well.
Here in Brazil we talk A LOT about our lives, weather and everything else with strangers, is even a politeness matter having this chit-chats in street. We also greet strangers on the street, like "Hey, the sun is really hot today", "Don't tell me about it" and the conversation is over. So it's pretty odd to me having contact with cultures where this is not the normal xD I love your videos, they're really helpful in my learning
调休 in Russia usually takes effect before the specified date. Say, you've got an adjusted holiday in the future, so in order to make up for it, you have to work on Sunday or Saturday BEFORE that date. It takes effect on the national level as well
After studying at a Chinese university for a year I found out about 调休, 中秋节 was coming up and I was looking forward to having three days off, then a few days before our break my teacher said she we have extra lessons on Saturday and Sunday, I was so confused because I'd never seen weekends added to the working week so I could get days off.😅I was so sad as well because I had to go to class for 7 days straight.
In most places in the U.S. the facilities are closed during the Holydays so we can travel or stay home but, before the long holyday most teachers and professors at all levels pile on tons of work this spoils much of our time off.
hahaha, the elevator thing is so relatable. I'm Spanish and here it's quite common to at least say hello if you go somewhere where there's other people ( for example elevators), but I panic if there's small talk involved, I'm so bad at it. But when I was living in Beijing, I used to say hello when going into an elevator and I remember people looking at me a bit strange. Good to know about the rest. I wish Spanish weddings were so relaxed, I have one this weekend and I have been panicking about it for months.
In my Indian state( Manipur) wedding we dressed up with a bit heavy makeup & wear our separate traditional dress for going to other's wedding . Also, there's no 调休 here even though we have different religious festivals every month & some strikes/ band . Now, the strikes are reduced due to our new Govt. But, some few years back when there's so many holidays the teacher will forcely finish the syllabus at the end And so we go for cram school . Going to cram school ( tuition) is a trend in my state .
Amazing tips. In Brazil when we're going to a wedding we just take care to not dressup more than the bride or the groom. And we always try to engage in conversation. Please talk about more the letters chinese use like P. I'm learning mandarim but I never before undertand what they means. 谢谢你啊!~
Poland also has a 调休 system, but it mainly applies to education. Nationwide, students go to school on a Saturday in exchange for a free day on a Monday or Friday. Some companies also participate and the public transport system in many cities works according to a weekday schedule on those Saturdays.
Whenever any Chinese person sends his or her photo to me without any P 图 on it, I feel like thanking him for the honesty. It is a pity if photographs lose all their meaning in describing the reality.
I got the impression that Chinese don’t view photos as representations of reality, but rather as pictures of a better reality that we can pretend is the real one. It’s not only photos of people, but of things, too. When I took photos of Chinese food I cooked and shared those on Chinese social media, I got bad comments from people saying my food looked disgusting. I followed real Chinese recipes exactly with real Chinese ingredients and cooking tools. The problem was that my photos were just natural and unedited. Drops and streaks of oil could be seen on dishes, the inside of the wok was visibly blackened. My food didn’t look like a perfect, retouched image in an advertisement.
I have seen this a few times on my recent trips to China. I was with my student and his family and business associates at a going away brunch type meal, about 11 AM in Zhengzhou. The waiter brought a very large bucket and placed it in the middle of the table along with a very large pot of hot tea. Placed in front of each guest was a stack of dishes, plates, soup bowl, soup spoon etc., all encased in a neat plastic package, most likely delivered from a factory. Everyone sitting at the table started to take the plastic coating off the stack of dishes and then one of the guests had the job of pouring hot tea over each person's plate and dish, rinsing them over the bucket. The washer would hand back the plate to it’s owner and that person would start eating. I asked about why these supposedly clean, plastic ensconced dish packets had to be re-washed and everyone laughed at me!
As a native Chinese I never do this, with or without the plastic covers, but many people do. However, I'm actually surprised to know that some restaurants provide buckets and tea to encourage it. I always thought the restaurants wouldn't like it (because of the mess and the waste of tea, etc)
@@mingyue_chen When I was in Guangxi, some restaurants did provide the “tea” for washing the dishes. I never saw it when I was in Liaoning. So, I thought washing the dishes at the table was a Southern custom.
usually this is only done at some fast food places. its an old custom where they did it at roadhouses but is slowly being fazed out. If you go to yumcha in western cities this is what you may encounter.
I lived in China in the early 90's for nearly three years and I can tell you that Chinese people had no problem making small talk with me. Ok. Most of them were curious and many of them wanted to practise their English but I don't think that 'not making small talk ' is really part of Chinese culture in the way that 面子 ( Mian zi ) or 孝 ( Xiao ) is and has always been. As far as I can make out this 'small talk' thing is very much a generational thing or old world / new world thing . In my younger days everybody made small talk with everyone , everywhere. ( South Africa ) . It was considered extremely rude to avoid small talk.But back then in China the rate of urbanisation was low , most people were less full of themselves and of course there was no social media and no smartphones. Pretty much the same thing is happening here in London. Older people are always up for small talk but more and more younger people have no idea how to make or react to small talk.
In México for holidays now if the day of is in Saturday or Sunday we won't have it, so for example this year May 1st was in Sunday, so I didn't have the day of, also, if you want to have more days of along with the holiday you have to work that time or use your vacations (per year we have 6 days of vacations). Also people here use to greet and if you don't say anything people will think you are rude or 刻薄
Dressing casually to weddings, modifying faces to look more beautiful, and 调休… Interesting! Don’t have any of this in the Philippines. Maybe photoshop is a little universal, though…. But I don’t do it. Also, bringing toilet paper is usually wise, and it’s understandable to forget once you’re used to a privilege of always having toilet paper ready for you. Lastly, feeling uncomfortable being talked to out of nowhere is relatable! Though I try not to make them feel bad and try to go along with it.
Adjust rest in China is absolutely ridiculous. We were given a Wednesday off, but had to work the Sunday in lieu. I tried to explain that we didn’t really get a holiday. We just traded a Sunday for a Wednesday. Also, I’m still traumatized by my first visit to a Chinese public toilet. In fact, one of my interview questions became “do you have western toilets in your school”
At the university where I worked in China we often didn't find out what the actual holiday schedule would be until the very last minute. We sometimes didn't know which days we would have off and when we would be having the make-ups. until shortly before the holiday. I remember on time we found out a day or two before that Sunday would be a class day. In the US there is an academic calendar published years in advance. Changes seem to not often be made.
Nowadays, almost all public toilets in major cities in China are toilets. However, as a Chinese, I prefer squat toilet because it feels disgusting to touch the toilet with my skin. So every time I pee, I take a horse step at the same time🤣
Brazilians feel alright with small talk. However, Chinese immigrants who live here in Brazil remain cold if you approach to do small talk with them. I feel frustrated because I can't practice my little Chinese with them. It's sad, so sad!
in Hungary, if a holiday is tuesday or thursday, we get the monday or friday free to have 4 days in a row, but have to work it off on a saturday either after or before, but that gives max 6 days of work in a row, and its official in the whole country, all opening hours and timetables work as if the days were simply switched
I live in Chongqing. This is the second video I've watched from you and I'm cracking up! I DESPISE 调休!It's in my "Things I hate about living in China" video. 哈哈哈 I never knew what it was called so thank you for that! Just subscribed ☺️
4:14 Wow, those Photoshop are really intense, not just adjusting the colour saturation or shadow, but altering the whole genetic makeup of both your parents.
People really don't greet or talk to strangers in Sweden either, it's considered very forward or even weird, and most people just pretend that there are no other people present XD There are exceptions, of course, depending on place and circumstance. But at the bus stop, in an elevator, in a supermarket, for commuting on trains, etc., yeah, don't suddenly start talking to the person next to you... That was a culture shock for me when I went to the UK and people started chatting with me at the bus stop! We dress up for weddings (there's usually a dress code) and there's always toilet paper in public toilets. We also tend to make the "squeeze days" holidays, so if a Thursday is a public holiday, then Friday (squeezed in between the Thursday holiday and the Saturday when people normally don't work) also normally becomes a day off. But no more than that. Then again, we have 25 legal days off work each year besides the public holidays.
My country has the tiao xiu system. We have to work on the Saturday BEFORE a 4-day long weekend, where the Tuesday or Thursday would not be a holiday to make up for it. It is a national practice in Hungary.
In Canada we don't have 调休. Though, it is relatively rare that holidays fall in the middle of the week; I think we only have three of them that can do so (Canada Day, Christmas (2 days) and Remembrance Day). All the rest are defined as Xth Monday or Friday of the month, so they are unable to fall in the middle of the week. What some people will do for holidays that fall in the middle of the week, though, is to take one of their allotted vacation days to make it a really long weekend.
This is my very first video of yours I've watched--actually, my first video about etiquette in china--and seriously, as an american who's never left the country, I hate when people take group selfies and post it without asking if it's okay first! My mom has done this to me so many times. I literally won't even let her take pictures of me anymore. I feel so genuinely insecure and scared of having pictures taken of me now because of this very issue. I'm actually currently on vacation, and she's pointed the camera at me multiple times. I've walked away or hidden my face every time. I don't usually care what I look like, but something about seeing a publicly posted picture of myself that looks different than how I thought I looked is just embarrassing. Just ASK before posting pictures of people. :(
Chinese / family habits: Wash your chopsticks with hot water in local restaurants, peel off layer of baos, clean tea bags before putting in your cup, make sure other cups are always full with tea, do not eat outdoor, do not sit on warm chairs,...
In Sweden the norm is that you work mon-friday. Free on saturday and sunday. We have many holidays so free days is included within those. Also you are allowed to choose four weeks off your work in the year. For the last one we also get payed. But I so want to move to china :-(
We also have this in Hungary (匈牙利)Not in every workplace, but the official places do work on Saturdays, when we have a holiday during the next week, to kinda working it off :)
1. That's really amazing, in Russia many girls do makeup even if they go shopping, when I was in China nobody cared about my clothes, really pleasant feeling ❤ 2. In my opinion Chinese beauty apps make european face look like an alien; Turning to the main point: I think we must ask a person before share his/her photos, it's a common courtesy; 3. Russia also 调休 4. Pain! The main point is there are a few public toilets in Moscow, so, 多喝热水 is a problem, really weird, isn't it? I usually have a pack of wet and dry wipes, not a big deal, several times shared with classmates in China, they somehow knew I always has wipes in my bag. 5. Being an introvert I feel weird, hate small-talks, but accustomed chinese say "hello" to me. I suppose they want foreigners to feel more comfortable, foreigners look alike, so no way. I just tell myself they don't have any bad intentions
Dress up on the wedding in a must too in Indonesia. During my wedding with my wife, my wife’s girl friends were creating a group in WeChat what to wear, in order to “win” in dressing themselves with Indonesian’s guests, but in the end, they still couldn’t compete the overly dressed Indonesian guests.
The only thing about chinese culture I dislike is the chinese attitude towards work. 调休 is a good example for that, but also stuff like staying longer at work than you have to in order to not appear lazy
🐥:Has Shu Shu ever lived in Japan or visited for sightseeing? The background photo is Mt. Fuji, a symbol of Japan that straddles Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures in Japan.
Since you Said you’re a linguistic nerd would you also make some videos about Chinese linguistics or explain some structures in a linguistic point of view
In germany its normal to greet strangers in certain Situations and can even be considered rude if you don't, especially in smaller cities. Also it's quite common to start making small talk with random strangers in certain Situations, for example when the Train is very late and both parties start complaining about that🤣 especially old people like to talk to you nearly any time... As for the 调休,we have very strict laws about this Kind of stuff so we dont have it... 🤣
Many Finnish software companies have flexible work hours, so I can 调休 whenever I feel the need - provided that I do not wreck any critical project by doing so.
It reminds me of during the Communist era in Russia how people were afraid to say the wrong thing in public. And if you asked someone how they were doing, the favorite reply was “nichevo” which means “nothing.”
调休 makes no sense to me at all. Thankfully my company doesn't apply it often. If you're trading one day for another, exactly what benefit are you getting? It's like something Scrooge would create.
Now I know why I got scared when strangers did small talk to me eventho I'm not from China.. Cause ma ancestor was Chinese.. It still run in ma blood XD
Also in ITALY they like that, but when you always see those P-ed pictures on the socials and the you meet the person, you just jump scared to see the difference 😆😄
俺寧不放假,不要上補辦!老闆,還我千金的週末! Perhaps it's cause I'm Swedish, but I think Chinese are extremely willing to chat up strangers, I'm often the one feeling very uncomfortable with people trying to talk to me....
I've been to mainland China and notice some of the statements you made is true, but haven't seen the statements where is it true or not. However, toilet paper is a very true statement in China where you bring your own as well as having a hole on the floor in standard places.
I would rather not go to a wedding at all than go to one in a set of clothes I would not even dare to wear to the office. I don’t get it: If the bride and groom and official wedding party is dressed up but everybody else looks like they’re going to KFC, doesn’t that create a kind of ‘theatre stage’ atmosphere, instead of an actual social event?
I'm pretty sure that talking to a stranger should be so uncomfortable, but being honest, it's the most effective way to learn about culture, language and society. Don't do that, it's like watching through a window.
Your videos are useful and insightful and I mean no offence by saying that there some unconscious degree of toxicity involved in the "usual behaviours" you are describing. Also, I must address the fact that whilst it is logic to expect that a foreign person adjusted her/his behaviour according to the local customs, I find that many Chinese people have a very hard time applying the same rule once abroad. I wonder why is that so.
Well, as for the topic of adjusting to different behaviors when aboard, I am a Chinese myself I want to express my opinion: Due to the Great Firewall, Chinese people can't access to the major social media platforms in the west without VPNs, so we are somehow isolated by a unseen wall, people can't be exposed to many cultures and people around the global. In addition, here in China the major foreign languages students trend to learn are English (for university), Korean (kdrama) and Japanese (anime), so we know less about other countries and cultures because of language barrier. besides many older generation people are not very well educated for example my mom don't even know how to pronounce ABC. The last but not least, China isn't a developed country, only some of us can afford to travel aboard, so the ones who you encountered probably went aboard for the first time. For the reasons above, Chinese will naturally think all people around world do the same things and think in our way, which is not the truth. You can argue that Chinese people are ignorant or we just don't get used to the fact that people around the world do and think differently. I think we are learning how to integrate with the world and respect different cultures, and we will make progress in the near future.
Come on, guys, I live in China now and almost everyone wants to know where I’m from. They see a foreigner and not shy at all to start a small talk. People here think that asking am I married or how much rent do I pay it’s normal question. Annoying as hell
hi shou laoshi! i see lots of abbreviations like the one in the video, p which stands photoshopped, I guess on wechat or weibo but I don't understand many of them. did you or will you make a video about it??