中国人与西方人不同五大生活理念

中国人与西方人不同五大生活理念

Different Strokes for Different Folks: 5 Chinese Lifestyle Differences

When you first come to China you can almost imagine that it isn’t really that different from home. It certainly isn’t the old China that you see in the movies – women walking around in Qipao, Shaolin monks roaming the streets, temples and pagodas on every corner. In fact, many Chinese cities physically resemble their counterparts abroad, and it can be easy when you first step off the plane to feel like, aside from the funny signs in a different language, not that much is different. But the differences between China and the West are often more subtle and include differences in lifestyle and ways that might not stand out immediately when you take your first forays onto Chinese soil; but you will notice them, in time. Here we look at ways that Chinese lives are different from ours back home.

1) No Car Culture

Although car ownership is becoming more common in China, you are just as likely to see people walking or riding bikes as you are to see them behind the wheel. Aside from the obvious health benefits to walking and bike riding, the lack of a car culture in China has a larger effect on Chinese lifestyles than you might first realise. There are almost no

drive-through fast food restaurants, for starters, which means that while fast food is popular in China it is not so convenient as to have become a daily part of most people’s routines. Because most Chinese people are not car owners, Chinese cities have extremely well developed public transportation. Lack of car ownership also means less urban sprawl, with most city dwellers concentrated in urban areas near the city center. Although these features of Chinese life are changing, we doubt that cars will completely overtake other forms of transportation anytime soon.

2) On Being a Teen

Chinese culture does not indulge in the idea that kids will be kids or that teenagers are bound to get up to no good. You won’t hear tales from Chinese teenagers about the keggers they went to after homecoming or the joints they smoked under the bleachers. There is no high school football team and no cheerleaders, no yearbook, no senior prom. Instead, young Chinese people spend hours upon relentless hours prepping for their college entrance exams. They are often not allowed to date and while of course teenage puppy love exists, open displays of affection can be grounds for serious punishment or even expulsion in some Chinese high schools. In the West our stories of our wild and crazy youth are a huge part of our collective consciousness, so much so that the topic has spawned countless movies, songs, and T.V. shows, and has shaped how we ourselves view the boundaries between childhood and adulthood. In China, teenagers are still very much children and are expected to do as they are told, get good grades and not disappoint their families.