Did You Know That You're Weird In China?

Allow me to elaborate on just how weird you are in the great nation of Zhongguo aka China or how I like to refer to it as >>> C-land :D

Language barrier

If you’re not speaking Mandarin or any other Chinese dialect, you’re surely going to turn heads because you’re disturbing the balance with your other-world language. The average person in public won’t understand what you’re talking about. However C-locals are intrigued in hearing you speak mystic word combos fly out of your mouth.

You look strange

Do you have any of the following?

1.Blonde hair?
2.Blue, green, or grey eyes?
3.Dark skin
4.A Mohawk, afro or dreadlocks?
5.A man with shoulder length hair or longer

Brace yourself, these appearances aren’t the norm. Only some young Chinese women ever so often dye their hair a different color. Wearing colored contacts aren’t as popular either. Black people in China, make a very low portion of an already scarse foreign population. To some of the locals you are an oddity that warrants staring. They most capture the sight of you with a desperate photo op… it’s now or never.

Cologne and perfume are hated

In other parts of the world, there’s nothing wrong with a quick spritz of body spray to entice the opposite sex or to simply cover yourself with a pleasant smell, whether it is cologne, perfumes, scented oils or scented lotions. Usually no one doesn’t mind a cologne scent as long as you don’t douse yourself with it. On the flip side colognes and perfumes are not as accepted in C-land. How is that possible? Doesn’t anyone like a high-end fragrance? Apparently not. If you dare use axe body spray and walk in your classroom or office in China, your fellow Chinese colleagues might act as if you committed murder. Even one spray might be too much for the co-worker/classmate sitting next to you. The same reaction is also similar for air fresheners. I have not seen air fresheners used often in China, people will more likely use incense instead. I’ve tried using an air freshener spray only to be nagged out by Chinese friends/family that this is a midst of sweet-smelling toxic hell.

You’re too direct

Social communication is a tricky one in China. Some things takes experience to pick up what message is being conveyed and what someone means vs what someone wants. If you ask some Chinese people “What you want to do?” or “What do you want to eat?” be prepared to have this question thrown back at you without them even answering it. Just say what is ever on your mind. I’ve learned that this is there way of saying “I don’t know...” In other points of conversation, expats seem to get to the point quicker than our Chinese counterparts. Some of whom are not used to this. One famous example is to ask someone multiple times when offering them something because it is customary to deny your offer multiple times before accepting whatever it is.

Your actions are mysterious

Anything you do might be strange to locals. If it’s not Chinese and not the Chinese way, it gives off a mysterious vibe. It can be anything from cooking, pulling out your passport, speaking another language, or writing Chinese, It is simply stimulating to see a foreigner in the flesh, live and in action.

You drink cold water

One thing Chinese people can't fathom is why anyone would want to drink cold water or a dreaded glass of chilling ice-water. In a vice-versed world, other people would think the opposite. Although not each country is a big fan of ice water, drinking a cup of scalding hot water is far from anything ordinary. This is evident to the number of drink coolers you'll discover that are not turned on. Drink cooling refrigerators are merely used as shelves most of the time. Not only is hot/warm water preferred for serving, it is touted as a cure-all magic elixir for stomachaches, high blood pressure, diabetes or broken bones. I'm exaggerating about the previous sentence, but the point is that drinking hot water is deemed as more beneficial than cold water and it is a do-it-all medical treatment. Where as cold water is believed to give you headaches and bad for women on their menstrual cycle. If you try to give someone in China a cup of ice water, you might get a terrified reaction.