Culture is the full range of learned human behaviour patterns. Culture is also the systems of values, beliefs and traditions which distinguish a specific society. It is unavoidable to have cultural conflicts between people when they are brought up in different cultures.
Last year, I had some bad encounters during my holiday in Beijing. I was queuing up for some local snacks with my group of friends when we had a bad encounter with one china lady. There was a long queue in front and we queued for about 15minutes. Just as when we were about to reach the first in line, a china lady squeezed her way through the crowd and queued in front of us. My friend Janice was very angry by her actions and said,” China people just don’t know what is queuing up!” To our surprise, the china lady actually turned back and replied Janice’s comment. She said, “Yes! We china people just don’t know what is queuing up!” We were all shocked by her replied and kept quiet.
I was actually very shocked by what she said as this was my first time travelling there with my friends. Although we are all Chinese, being brought up in different environments will cause our culture to differ. Being one of the world most populated countries, china people actually compete with one another since they were young. They compete for university places, jobs and even train tickets to go back home during New Year. It is a “dog-eat-dog” world for them so they have to behave like this in order to survive in their society. If they do not behave in such a manner, they will actually lose out to the rest of the people in their country. This results in a lack of graciousness in their society and some people possessing self-centred natures in china.
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ReplyDeleteHi Liyun!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that even though we are all chinese, the countries that we are brought up in plays a part in the differences in culture.
I think that the the lady is inconsiderate. Even with the competing culture in China that you had previously mentioned, it is quite evident that there is a queue and I believe that other locals are also queuing up. Hence, it is understandable that your friend is frustrated and angry since it is really unfair to the people who actually queued.
Your friend's words might be a little stinging for other locals since they are also born and raised in China. She might want to be a bit more careful next time.
Let's hope that there is no next time. :)
Munting
Hey Liyun,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that being brought up in different environment will cause our cultures to differ even though we are chinese. Perhaps with their competitive nature, it is inevitable for them to want to get first in almost everything. However, this might be a sweeping statement as I believe that there are still some local chinese who obey the "rules", just like other locals who really queue up for their turn.
In addition, I agree with Munting that your friend's words might be provocative to the other locals. Her callous remarks should be made more tactful so as to avoid any misunderstanding.
Cheers,
Wei Tian
Hello Liyun!
ReplyDeleteI actually had a very similar experience as well in China! I was in transit at Shanghai-Pudong Airport for a connecting flight to LA and we were queuing up to board the shuttle service to our plane. The queue was long and disorderly and just as we started moving, this lady had the cheek to blatantly cut in right in front of me!
I had been stuck in that airport for 8 hours transit so I was very weary and thus I let it go. Now it would be easy to make the conclusion that China people are like that but like Wei Tian said, that would be a sweeping statement.
Personally, I believe that culture is not to blame for the actions of such people. Competitiveness can be a good thing but it does not mean that you can step on other people's head! I think people who did those things are just plain rude and lacking manners.
I feel that we are just unlucky that in both our cases it happened to be a Chinese lady! In fact, maybe it's the same Chinese lady! Haha
Regards,
reza
Hello Liyun,
ReplyDeleteas China is a big country and as Chinese are migrating, it is no surprise that most of our classmates who commented on your post have had a bad experience with a Chinese. I, too, went to Shanghai and had bad experiences with Chinese people there. I believe that such behaviour is accepted among most of the Chinese there.
However, I feel that the lack of graciousness is probably not due to their upbringing. There are people all around the world that act in similar ways. Such behaviour boils down to the individual. This is not as much an issue of cultural difference as it is an issue of courtesy.
Courtesy in one country may not be the same as courtesy in another. E.g. In Muslim countries, tourists are advised not to wear shorts and revealing clothes although it is generally accepted in other countries.
I hope you never run into such a bad experience ever again.
Cheers,
Ariana
Dear all,
ReplyDeleteThanks for ur comments. =D
Li yun