Was MIA in China; am back! Will take questions! (Read 882 times)

[sapphire475gs, aka Saphyr]

I've been internet-crippled for a while due to being in China... didn't even take the time to let you guys know! Surprisingly, it was more a matter of the fact that the wi-fi technology in their hotels SUCKS rather than the Great Firewall being the issue. Most college students in China find a way to make Facebook accounts and bypass the controls anyway, so that was a laugh to discover. Anyway, I was there for actual business... my university is going to be competing in an engineering competition over there and we needed to discuss things with the Chinese university students with whom we are going to cooperate.

If you have any questions about my trip or anything about Chinese culture I may or may not have discovered, feel free to ask away! I'll give it my best shot!

[Genichiro]

Welcome back! Meet any interesting people over there? Any random celebrities?

[Tewi's Husband]

Oh, wow! That sounds totally interesting!

How did you go with the language barrier? Did you manage to get what you wanted to say across? How was the food?

[Itlis]

Dammit, TH beat me with the universal question for China. How was the food there? xD
Eat any exotic things?

Welcome back, dude! Hope you enjoyed your trip.

[sapphire475gs, aka Saphyr]

Thanks everyone! Didn't find any random celebs, I'm afraid... I was housed in a relatively down-to-earth area where you'd never find them (I think...). I did meet with Chinese college students and was lightly acquainted with a professor there, but besides making a few pen pals, nothing out of the ordinary.

Language barriers are not as high for college students in China, as most of them learn English (being a universal business language and probably because if any of them decide to study abroad, it will invariably be a U.S. university). Talking was kinda slow, but they still made me look dumb for not even having a second language down. Most of the discussion went smoothly and would have been more so if it weren't for the fact that we visited in the middle of their finals week. ;_;

The food? Different from what they make outside. Back home, I like ordering a beef & broccoli dish with rice... over there, I am satisfied if there IS beef or some other meat on the plate. They make a few dishes of seafood (especially shrimp), several veggie dishes (a few I like a lot, actually), and even dessert items... an infamous one for my group (because we always used chopsticks) was a banana treat. The banana pieces are fried, dipped in a sweet sugary syrup, and then all placed together on a plate. They give you a water bowl to get rid of the sticky strings that inevitably develop when you try to remove a piece from the pile and contaminate every dish on the way to your plate and tangle everything in sugary strings! XD

Being in Beijing, I of course also tried the Peking Duck dish. Traditionally, they have a wrap and you put small vegetables such as cucumber in... the piece of duck you take to put in can be dipped in a dark sauce (don't recall hearing a name for it), and then you eat the entire tiny wrap. Provided you order enough, meals can be made to feed plenty... and it is relatively cheap when you consider then conversion rate of currency. My share for a full meal at a restaurant would total to 20 - 30 yuan, which is less than $5 USD. As far as exotic went, well... I once saw seahorse and live scorpion kabobs in the marketplace once. I DID NOT TRY ONE. Seafood seems kinda exotic to me in general, but I generally didn't try eating it except for a bit of cuttlefish that looked appetizing... then I discovered that the meal I was trying to have was mostly spine and bone... not a meat lover's friend. None of our group ever ordered pufferfish, but that's a course they apparently know how to make edible over there.

Thanks for the warm welcome back, everyone!

[Genichiro]

Seahorse and scorpion kabobs? I'd try at least one of each, just because. They wouldn't sell it if it was harmful, right?

[sapphire475gs, aka Saphyr]

Jun 5, 2012 22:09:23 GMT Genichiro said:

Seahorse and scorpion kabobs? I'd try at least one of each, just because. They wouldn't sell it if it was harmful, right?

It'd be an adventure, certainly, lol!

I'd have to keep a lot of water handy if I were to try one, though... and water is a necessity for foreigners over there... apparently their water has bacteria that Western folk can't handle well, so their tap water is not potable. Buying bottled water (as well as getting a few complimentary bottles from my hotel) was a common chore over there for us.

[Itlis]

I actually have tried duck before... Nasty!
Never again will I eat one.

You gotta be careful when eating pufferfish. But, I'm sure you already knew that.
Don't let any inexperienced person handle your pufferfish.

[Genichiro]

Jun 5, 2012 22:49:43 GMT sapphire475gs, aka Saphyr said:

Jun 5, 2012 22:09:23 GMT Genichiro said:

Seahorse and scorpion kabobs? I'd try at least one of each, just because. They wouldn't sell it if it was harmful, right?

It'd be an adventure, certainly, lol!

I'd have to keep a lot of water handy if I were to try one, though... and water is a necessity for foreigners over there... apparently their water has bacteria that Western folk can't handle well, so their tap water is not potable. Buying bottled water (as well as getting a few complimentary bottles from my hotel) was a common chore over there for us.

Huh. I'm not surprised about the water thing, for some reason. Perhaps it's similar to how the Spanish conquistadors brought European diseases to the Americas? I'm sure it must has been quite the chore, given how important water is.

[captnowen]

I don't really have to say much. Welcome back, Saph-san and enjoy your time here again.

Owen and out.

[rumia]

Hey, the wi-fi here sucks too!
Anyways, welcome back! ;D

[thetreedude]

*lurking.. lurking.. !! Interested..*

Hm~ When I left for China back then I remember only being able to get onto LR through the Hong Kong Airport's wifi.

The wrap for the Peking Duck is apparently called mandarin pancake in English.

Jun 5, 2012 22:09:23 GMT Genichiro said:

Seahorse and scorpion kabobs? I'd try at least one of each, just because. They wouldn't sell it if it was harmful, right?

It's fine, probably. You might not even be able to tell it's scorpions sometimes. That said, I only ate the kabobs of the small birds you'll see flying everywhere.

---

Hm. I'm a bit curious at the area you stayed in, but it doesn't seem like you visited any of the more rundown places I think. So I assume you had no problems with the public restrooms there?

[overl33t]

I feel the need to add in this as this is not something the Chinese in PRC are allowed to tell you.

The Chinese actually have no culture at all. Their ability to adapt to society and be part of it shows among the immigrants. For example: A Malaysian Chinese can call himself a Malaysian, claim that Malaysia is the best country and even claim that he would rather die in Malaysia than any other place. He can even adopt the Malay language as his primary language and outphase the whatever Chinese dialect he has been using. However, when he immigrates to Australia and obtains permanent residence, all thought of Malaysian nationalism is thrown out of the window and Australian nationalism kicks in.

During the days of the British Empire, most of the Chinese who went to SEA to find work did not send money back to mainland China. Instead, they chose to settle in SEA and married locals. This tradition carried on until WW2 when the Chinese sent a lot of money to mainland China to help fight the Japs in the Sino-Japanese front.

If you want me to brief you on how the Chinese are so 'Asian', I can do that too.

[Tewi's Husband]

Jun 10, 2012 2:23:31 GMT overl33t said:

The Chinese actually have no culture at all.

Uh... how could you say that? The Chinese have one of the oldest cultures on Earth! They have their own unique literature, music, arts, mythology, cuisine and Martial arts. Their literature dates back to the Xia Dynasty (2100 - 1600BC) with works such as 'Records Of A Grand Historian'.

They have their own beliefs and mythology, originally focused on the god Shang Di, which has led to many holidays and celebrations now acknowledged wordwide.

China also had a developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty (1122BCE - 256BCE). By the Tang Dynasty, the guqin had been developed. China has also developed many other instruments, such as the Zheng, Sheng, xiao, erhu and pipa.

China gave birth to the now well known Kung Fu and Wushu, which have been well indoctrinated into other societies.
China also have some of the most intricate and unique clothing, traditionally known as hanfu, that most people would readily recognise as of Chinese culture.

Chinese architecture has always been a strong point for the culture. It has even influenced the designs of neighbours countries like Korea and Japan. It focuses on symmetry and balance, which is incorporated in every (traditional) building. This clashes with chinese gardens, which tend to be asymmetrical.

Chinese cuisine has developed many unique foods and customs, many of are used within other cultures. Chopsticks are believed to originate from China.

So, can you really say China has no culture?

And what you said about the immigrants, they aren't all the same.
Most NEED to adapt in order to fit in with their surroundings, most people do this when they are in a foreign place for long enough. Some may feel they need to latch onto another country, and thus plead their allegiance to it. If they later go against that plead, perhaps things didn't work out so nicely for them in that country.

The fact that you said 'The Chinese have no culture' confounds me still.

[overl33t]

Jun 10, 2012 3:48:41 GMT Tewi's Husband said:

Jun 10, 2012 2:23:31 GMT overl33t said:

The Chinese actually have no culture at all.

Uh... how could you say that? The Chinese have one of the oldest cultures on Earth! They have their own unique literature, music, arts, mythology, cuisine and Martial arts. Their literature dates back to the Xia Dynasty (2100 - 1600BC) with works such as 'Records Of A Grand Historian'.

They have their own beliefs and mythology, originally focused on the god Shang Di, which has led to many holidays and celebrations now acknowledged wordwide.

China also had a developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty (1122BCE - 256BCE). By the Tang Dynasty, the guqin had been developed. China has also developed many other instruments, such as the Zheng, Sheng, xiao, erhu and pipa.

China gave birth to the now well known Kung Fu and Wushu, which have been well indoctrinated into other societies.
China also have some of the most intricate and unique clothing, traditionally known as hanfu, that most people would readily recognise as of Chinese culture.

Chinese architecture has always been a strong point for the culture. It has even influenced the designs of neighbours countries like Korea and Japan. It focuses on symmetry and balance, which is incorporated in every (traditional) building. This clashes with chinese gardens, which tend to be asymmetrical.

Chinese cuisine has developed many unique foods and customs, many of are used within other cultures. Chopsticks are believed to originate from China.

So, can you really say China has no culture?

And what you said about the immigrants, they aren't all the same.
Most NEED to adapt in order to fit in with their surroundings, most people do this when they are in a foreign place for long enough. Some may feel they need to latch onto another country, and thus plead their allegiance to it. If they later go against that plead, perhaps things didn't work out so nicely for them in that country.

The fact that you said 'The Chinese have no culture' confounds me still.

That is history. Other than the festivals and a few minor exceptions, the only tradition present in majority of the Chinese today is the 'survival of the fittest' system which allowed the Chinese to become so adept at adapting to almost any foreign society. Why do you think PRC's government want to demolish traditional buildings like temple and older houses from time to time in favour of uncontrolled development?

You can see that in China today, you have a whole bunch of idiots who are disgusted by the fact that they have daughters along with the cheapskate businesses(Milk powder crisis anyone?) and the taboo on Taoism, thanks to the CCCP's will of banning religion itself(Unless that changed when I wasn't looking). Even the Chinese language got reinvented into what we know as Simplified Chinese.

In the past, a Chinese would wear traditional Chinese clothing like QiPao and those funny little red robes on Chinese New Year. Today, they just wear casual, red clothes. In the past, a Chinese would practice Kung Fu as a norm but the number of Chinese learning Wushu today is decreasing rapidly.

In the past, you had all those pointy little architecture featured on buildings which placed emphasis on balance but today's Chinese architecture leans more towards modern Western architecture.

In the past, the Chinese would put up firecrackers whenever they set up shop but that is not the case in today's Chinese culture. Traditional Chinese music is also being replaced by western pop. Artists like Jay Chou and SHE are proof of that.



tl;dr: A lot of Chinese traditions are not practiced by the Chinese themselves in today's Chinese society.

And this is coming from a Chinese.



And about the immigrants part, in most cases, you would still care about what happens in your own country and still be loyal to it to a certain extent. That is not the case with the Chinese.