"Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new." (Thoreau, Walden, Penguin, 1983, p.68)

Critical thinker David Edwards pointed out the inherent absurdity of fashion and the way in which we blindly follow it, and as Thoreau pointed out in Walden, the same can be said of culture.

The immediacy of our experience and the inherent selfishness that is part and parcel of being human means that many of us fail to ever accept other cultures as being of equal currency to our own. Edwards elaborated on this point, noting that other cultures, “provide us with an entry point for investigating the nose-on-our-face problems, the nose-on-our-face mistakes, that bedevil us individually and as a society”

A lot of ink has been spilt on the peculiarities which face expats when they arrive in China. But how about the things that baffle Chinese people about foreigners – that make them laugh and or cry out?

1) Foreign bodies…they’re really weird!

One of the first things that both baffles and amuses Chinese people is the pure foreignness of foreigners’ bodies.

While most visit the hollowed cultural grounds of the Summer Palace to experience the glory of China’s past, it is also a great place to go if you want to see the incredible variety of the human race.  I’ve personally spent a whole afternoon just marvelling at how every shape and size from every corner of the world mingles along the shores of Kunming Lake. I can’t begin to imagine how strange this can be for the masses of Chinese tourists that for the most part are svelte, black haired and yellow skinned.

Watch them and they are quick to point out and giggle at the strange variety of foreigners around them. Yellow handle bar moustaches, plum-coloured perms, He-man men with muscles practically bursting through their shirts, skinny geeks, giant female amazons and tattoo covered hippies; what a contrast to the rather homogeneous looking Chinese tourist with matching coloured caps being led around by little waving flags.

If you want to experience this for yourself, then just hop on over to the nearest famous location frequented by foreigners and observe how the Chinese react.

2) It’s cold. Why are they wearing shorts!

As amusing as foreign bodies can be another thing that amazes Chinese people is how foreigners dress. It seems Chinese do not understand the foreign love of t-shirts and shorts. For them it is baffling when foreigners—in particular men—wear shorts and t-shirts as soon as there’s a small ray of sunlight. The sight of a large foreign man with hairy legs, sporting a pair of combat boots on a sunny but crisp spring morning, walking through the business district of a major Chinese city, is going to cause of chorus of giggles and endless insinuations that this foreigner might be crazy.

After all the Chinese concept of “chunwu qiudong”, roughly meaning let yourself be a little cold in autumn and stay wrapped up in the spring, is completely at odds with the Western idea of “soaking up the sun”.

3) Why are they so picky?

Going a little deeper, it’s time to look at the stomach, after all what can be more amusing to Chinese people than the odd things foreigners are willing to put in their bodies and how they put them there.

Many Chinese are baffled by certain Western eating habits. Despite Buddhism being one of China’s main traditional religions, the widespread practice of vegetarianism by Western people is something of a mystery for Chinese people. In China, children are commonly raised with the attitude ‘you should eat everything that you are fed and be grateful for it too’ so the ‘Bambi’ sentimentality of refraining from meat for ethical reasons or the foreign picky eater is really a conundrum to people in kitchens and restaurants across the Middle Kingdom.

Another form of amusement related to food is the relationship between chopsticks and foreigners in China. Fresh off the plane foreigners that fumble with their chopsticks and often revert to “stabbing” are sure to induce giggles while those that can pick up a peanut are sure to be met with a thunderous round of applause from their Chinese table guests.

4) Say What?

Non native speakers’ usage of Chinese language -given the tonal nature of Chinese- is an another infinite fountain of amusement for Chinese people. For example: An innocuous tonal fumble when asking directions for the internet cafe can be misconstrued as the speaker casting aspersions on somebody’s mother by a listener with an unforgiving ear. And this is just one example of an infinite variety of linguistic blunders which foreigners are setting themselves up for when trying to communicate in Chinese.

Sadly this fun soon wears thin for Chinese people; after all, it is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. But luckily, just like chopsticks, foreigners that use Chinese correctly are also a source of amusement. Correct, authentic use of traditional words and phrases such as ‘cheng yu’ by foreigners often illicit hilarity.

5) Why do they act that way?

Thanks to Hollywood fallacies, many Chinese people have a skewed idea of what foreign personalities are like in reality. Having said this, simple differences in social behaviour are a great source of amusement when confronted with foreigners.

Off-beat actions, impulsiveness, exhibitionism and gregarious personalities in foreign friends are all a source of raised eye brows, blank confused faces and chuckles from the average Chinese person who is much more likely to use a self effacing style of communication. 

Similarly the way that foreigners use their relationships is a source of confusion for many Chinese people in the fact that connections do not necessarily guarantee preferential treatment. For example a Chinese friend might be bemused if you tell him that you would not be able to ‘pull strings’ helping him acquire a visa despite having a diplomat for a close family friend.

Learning for the differences

The bottom line is that we all have our own way of doing things. Having such differences is one of the defining traits of being human; one that in the end, unites us. We all have things to learn about ourselves from taking a closer look at the unusual ways of other cultures. China is a perfect place to do just that.
 

Related Links
Turning Chinese: 8 Signs You're an Expat Veteran
6 Things Foreigners Often Get Wrong about Chinese People
Top 6 Misconceptions about Foreigners in China

Warning：The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.

Keywords: Strange foreigners in China cultural differences in China misunderstanding foreigners