I recently returned from an amazing (and inspiring) trip to Beiing. There are things that are common in China that may seem strange to 'Westerners'. What things do Chinese people find strange about the West?
我刚从北京回来，这次中国之行太棒了。有些在中国稀松寻常的事在“西方人”看来也许很奇葩。中国人觉得西方有什么奇葩之处呢？
Helen Qie
A native Chinese.Updated 4y
Originally Answered: What things do Chinese people find strange about the West?
Years ago when I went to London, I had a wonderful trip there. I lived with one of the host families. Since it was my first time abroad, it was quite a culture shock for me.
几年前我去了趟伦敦，还不错。我住在一个寄宿家庭里。因为我那时是第一次出国，我感受到了相当大的文化冲击。
1. Drinking tap water - I can’t believe that people can drink the water from taps directly! In China, there is no possibility for us to do that. Even when we need to wash fruits or something else we generally use the purified water. Every family has at least one water purifier (we have three). This is because the water pollution in our country is very serious. It cannot be denied.
1. 喝生水——我不敢相信那里的人居然直接喝水龙头里的水！我们在中国是不可能这样的。我们就连洗水果或其他东西，也通常会用纯净水来洗。每个家庭至少有一台净水器(我们家有三台)。这是因为我们这儿的水污染很严重。这是事实。
2. Going barefoot - The children of my host hardly wore shoes even when they played in the yard. I tried, but I gave up. It hurts a lot!
2. 打赤脚——我那个寄宿家庭的孩子就连在院子里玩耍也基本不穿鞋。我也试了试，但最后放弃了。因为那真的很疼
3. Friendliness - When I hung out, there were a lot of strangers saying ‘Hi’ to me. And most of them said it in Chinese. So sweet! In China, when we see foreigners, most of us feel shy to say ‘Hello’. But for once, I said ‘Hi’ to a foreigner at Starbucks and she smiled back at me. Not that weird actually.
3. 人们很友好——我出去玩的时候，看到很多陌生人冲我打招呼，而且很多人会用中文说你好。太暖了！我们在中国看到外国人时，基本上都不好意思说一声“你好”。不过我有一次在星巴克对着一个外国人说了声“嗨”，她回以我一个微笑。那感觉也挺好。
4. Weird Chinese on clothes - Sometimes I saw people wearing T-shirts with strange Chinese on them. I don’t know whether they knew the meaning…
4. 衣服上印着奇奇怪怪的汉字——我有时会看到人们穿着印有奇葩汉字的T恤。我不知道他们清楚那些汉字的意思吗……
（Love Sex Most）
（Testicle）
（Pervert)
(Son of a bitch)
(Shit）
（Chicken. In China which means whore)
（This stupid foreigner doesn’t understand Chinese.)
Yauming
Trader at Index TradingAuthor has 3.9K answers and 14.2M answer viewsUpdated 2y
Originally Answered: What things do Chinese people find strange about the West?
I’m a Chinese Singaporean. My ancestors migrated from China over one to two hundred years ago but we still consider ourselves Chinese. One thing that I find strange about the West is:
我是新加坡华人。我的祖上一两百多年前从中国移民到新加坡，但我们还把自己当做中国人。我觉得西方国家有件事很奇怪：
The tolerance of crime. This is one of the most baffling aspects of Western Society that I find really strange. Western government or society seem very reluctant to prosecute people who commit crime like in incidents such as the LA riots, London riots, Paris Riots, when mobs go around burning cars, looting shops and committing acts of vandalism.
All public transport in the Western world suffers from vandalism. If the vandals get caught, they often don’t get punished severely due to soft sentencing laws. Society (citizens who are working and paying their taxes) pick up the tab. Why??? In Singapore, criminals are treated harshly. Known gangsters can be jailed indefinitely without trial. The law is feared by criminals. In the West, its the other way around it seems.
对犯罪的容忍度。这是西方社会最令人困惑的事情之一，令人难以理解。西方政府或社会好像非常不愿意起诉那些犯罪的人，比如洛杉矶骚乱，伦敦骚乱，巴黎骚乱，暴徒四处焚烧汽车，抢劫商店，大肆破坏。
公共交通遭受破坏。暴徒即使被抓，也不会受到严厉的惩罚，因为法律量刑非常宽松。全社会(辛劳工作纳税的公民)都为此买单。为什么? 在新加坡，罪犯会受到严厉的惩罚。证据确凿的歹徒未经审判就可以直接判处无限期监禁。所以罪犯对法律十分敬畏。但在西方社会，情况似乎正好相反。
The priority of the Western justice system is for the reformation and rehabilitation of violent offenders - terrorists, serial rapists, murderers etc.. over the safety and welfare of society. I find it really strange that the justice system’s priority is to reform and rehabilitate murderers, violent rapists, terrorists, violent offenders. Justice for the victims and protection for the society comes bottom last. It is the Western Government’s wish to reintegrate criminals back into society not punish them. They are even protected in prison in case some of the inmates attempt to beat them up.
西方司法系统的工作重心是改造暴力罪犯——恐 怖分子、连环强奸犯、杀人犯等，凌驾于社会安全和福祉之上。对此，我觉得很奇怪，他们把对受害者的正义和对社会的保护放到了最后。西方政府希望让罪犯重新融入社会，而不是惩罚他们。罪犯们甚至还能在监狱里得到保护，以免有些囚犯动手打人。
Minor stuff… Wearing shoes around your home or in your bed. When Westerners walk outside don’t they realize that their shoes will quite likely be soiled by dog feces, dirt, grime, bacteria etc..? Yet they still wear the shoes when they go back into their home, and even on their bed. I find this very strange.
还有个小事情，西方人在家里、甚至在床上还穿着鞋。西人们在室外行走的时候，难道不知道他们的鞋子很可能会被狗的粪便、尘土、细菌等污染吗？他们回家后还是穿着鞋，甚至还会穿鞋上床。这也太奇葩了。
The elevation of pets to the status formerly held by their own children. While I appreciate that pets have feelings and should be accorded love and affection, they aren’t humans. I find it bizarre that people from the West treat their pets as if they were their own kids. While I understand that dogs are loyal and will die protecting you, whats the deal with cats? They’re only around because you feed them. Postscript, after writing this, my flatmate brought this beautiful Bengal cat. Initially I didn’t like it. But I grew to like it, and the cat was kind enough to respect my own personal space. I can see why it might be easy to fall in love with a pet.
宠物在家中的地位直逼亲生子女。我也能理解，宠物是有感情的动物，主人应该疼爱它们，但它们毕竟不是人。我无法理解，西方人对待他们的宠物就像对自己的孩子一样。我明白狗很忠诚，为了保护你可以去死，但猫呢？猫会出现在你身边，只是因为你给它们喂了吃的。PS.答完这个提问后，我的室友带来了只漂亮的孟加拉猫。一开始我并不喜欢它，但我渐渐喜欢上了它。这只猫很友好，尊重我的私人空间。我开始明白为什么人们很容易爱上宠物了。
Miumiu Lee
Updated 6y
Originally Answered: What things do Chinese people find strange about the West?
I would like to talk about North America and Europe.
我想聊几句北美和欧洲的事：
Why do you guys love cold & ice water so much?
为什么你们这么喜欢冷水和冰水？
OMG, you can directly drink the tap water?!
苍天，你们居然喝生水？！
Prefer to take bath in the morning rather than at night?
晚上不洗澡，更喜欢拖到大早晨再洗？
Western women can recover so fast after giving birth. Most Chinese women have to stay at home for at least one month.
西方妇女生娃后就迅速恢复元气。大多数中国妇女必须在家休养一个月。
Grandparents don't help take care of grandchildren.
爷爷奶奶、外公外婆不会照顾孙辈。
Parents and children sign agreements when they borrow money from each other. For most Chinese parents and children, there is no “borrow”, but only “gift”.
父母子女互相借钱时要签订协议。而大多数中国父母和子女之间不存在借款一说，只有赠予。
Love leggings + UGG. If we wear leggings in China, others will be scared…it's like we forget to wear trousers
喜欢打底裤+UGG靴子。如果我们在中国穿打底裤，其他人会被吓到的…就好像我们是忘记穿裙子了。
Like to talk with strangers
喜欢跟陌生人聊天
People love thrift stores
人们喜欢逛二手商店
Westerners really love sunbath, especially in the UK and Canada. Chinese normally avoid strong sunshine in order to keep skin pale…
西方人对日光浴是真爱，尤其是英国人和加拿大人。中国人一般不喜欢大太阳，怕被晒黑…
Couples pay separately in restaurants and supermarkets.
去餐厅吃饭，逛超市，情侣之间也会分开买单。
Giving birth to babies without marriage. (No offense. We just think that marriage can give baby a more stable environment)
不结婚就生孩子。（我没有别的意思，我们只是觉得结了婚再生孩子，能给孩子提供更稳定的环境）
A lot of birds and wild animals don't fear for humans. Drivers make way for them.
很多鸟类和野生动物不怕人类。司机反而要给动物让路。
Many vegetarians
很多人吃素。
Political correctness. People incline to shift topic if you mention religion, race. They would like to talk more if they're familiar with you, in secret.
政治正确。如果谈到宗教、种族等话题，大家会赶紧打岔。要等到跟你更熟一些后才会私下多聊几句。
Party a lot…
派对不断
Drugs are legal…
毒品合法
Guns are legal…
枪支合法
Prostitution is legal…
卖淫合法
Many Canadian shop malls are full of the scent of cinnamon. They use cinnamon in many desserts, we only use it as medicine…
很多加拿大商场里到处闻得到肉桂的味道。他们很多甜品中都会加肉桂，而我们把肉桂当中药…
Beggars and bankers can happily talk in cafe. (Not strange, but amazing and impressive)
乞丐和银行家可以在咖啡厅开心地闲聊。（这个不奇葩，但让人吃惊，印象深刻）
Very….impressive Chinese tattoos…
汉字纹身让人印象深刻
(No offence. We normally don't tattoo these words, so we feel strange when we see them on someone else's body)
（我没别的意思。我们纹身通常不会刺那些汉字，所以我们在别人身上看到就会觉得奇怪）
Prentiss Chen
MarketingUpdated 5y
Originally Answered: What things do Chinese people find strange about the West?
I was born and grew up in China, and I’ve been to USA, New Zealand and Australia. So I do have some experience here.
我在中国出生，在中国长大，去过美国、新西兰和澳大利亚。所以我确实有些体会。
1. Lockless of doors. In western countries, the doors to the bedrooms normally have no locks. In China, all the bedroom doors i experienced are with locks. Anyway all those American TV shows I watched in the past that teenage kids doing some nasty things in their bedrooms and their parents suddenly opened their doors and caught the scene make sense to me now, i was always wondering why didn’t they lock their doors!
1.没有锁的门。在西方国家，卧室的门通常没有锁。而我在中国看到的所有卧室门都有锁。我看过很多美剧，十几岁的孩子在卧室里瞎搞八搞，他们的父母突然推门而入，抓个现行，我就纳闷了，他们为什么不锁门呢！
2.Shoeless: You can see people wearing no shoes walking on the street or driving cars in the Western countries, including kids. This would barely happen in China.
2.打赤脚：在西方国家，你会看到人们打赤脚走路或开车，孩子也一样。中国人基本不这样。
3.Eating fruits/vegetables without washing them first. These happen a lot on my western friends, they buy some fruits or vegetables from the supermarket and eat right way. In China, we wash them before eating.
3.吃水果/蔬菜前不清洗。我的西方朋友们经常这么干，他们从超市买回水果蔬菜就直接开吃。在中国，我们一定要先洗洗再吃。
4.Females need to change their surnames after marriage. Chinese don’t. This is rather inconvenience, changing surname means replace a new ID, a new driver’s license, a new passport, etc, and if get divorced or remarried, need to change around all over again.
4. 女性结婚后得改姓。中国没有这个规定。这也太麻烦了，改姓意味着要换新的身份证，新的驾照，新的护照等等等等，如果这人离婚或再婚，又得重新换一遍。
5.Wearing shorts in winter. Many westerners wear shorts even in winter time, sometime you can see people wearing down jacket with short, I don’t quite get it, if you feel cold that you even wear a down jacket to keep warm, why would you leave your legs uncovered? In China during winter time, many people wear long johns to keep their legs warm. Legs come first.
5. 大冬天穿短裤。很多西方人大冬天也穿着短裤，有时你会看到有人穿着羽绒服搭配短裤，我是不理解的，既然觉得冷，都穿上羽绒服来保暖了，为什么还非要露出光光的腿呢？很多中国人冬天还会加穿秋裤来保暖。腿老金贵了。
6.No savings. Young people with jobs tend to spend all their earnings in the west, a lot of my western friends have no savings, or when they have some, they go for traveling, or buy a car or whatever they been saving for. In China, majority young professionals save part of their salaries, and use the other part for traveling or buying things. When Chinese people say i don’t have money for that expensive bag, i can’t afford that car, it probably means they may have that certain amount of money but they don’t think they are rich enough to spend their savings for those things; when a western people say i can’t afford that bag, it literally means he/she has no such money to buy.
6. 月光光，不存钱。西方国家有工作的年轻人更愿意把他们的收入都花光光，我有很多西方朋友是一点存款都没有，就算有了存款，他们也会去旅游，去买车，或者完成他们存钱的目标。多数的中国年轻人会把一部分工资存起来，剩下的再拿来旅游购物。如果你听到中国人说，那个包好贵我买不起，那辆车我买不起，其实他们可能手头有点钱，但他们觉得他们还不够格消费那些好东西；如果你听到西方人说那个包我买不起时，可能就是字面意思：他/她没有那么多钱可以支付。
7.Most westerners know nothing about China, their impression of China is either China in 50 years’ ago, or very poor country, or full of people on the street, or smog or eating dogs...
7. 大多数西方人对中国一无所知，他们对中国的印象要么还停留在50年前，要么觉得中国是个非常贫困的国家，要么觉得中国满大街都是人，要么中国雾霾严重，要么中国人居然吃狗肉……
8.Drinking cold water with ice. Westerners always drink cold water, or even water with ice no matter it is summer or winter. Every time I go to a restaurant or a friends’, I need to remind myself to remind them that I do not need cold water, or most importantly, no ice please, cold water is acceptable in winter time, but cold water with ice? Absolutely no no for me.
8. 喝加冰的冷水。不管是夏天还是冬天，西方人只喝冷水，甚至是加冰的冷水。每次去餐厅或朋友家，我都要提醒自己别忘了告诉他们我不喝冷水，或者最关键的是请不要加冰，在冬天喝冷水还能勉强接受，但是加冰的冷水我是绝对喝不了的，绝对不行。
9.Construction take ages. In China, you can see a road, or a building being built shortly within few months or even weeks and yes, we do have problem of their qualities but that was in the past, nowadays, you can barely see poor quality new roads or buildings, cause the legal consequences are heavy, and still it takes very reasonable short of period to complete the whole construction projects with good quality. While in many western countries, it takes ages to finish. It took 2 years to finish re-building the short road outside my friends’ office, and it took 3 years to finish a new highway with certain distance. In China, most people would be surprised by the time spent.
9. 建筑速度好似蜗牛爬。在中国，一条道路，一栋建筑物，只需几个月甚至几周时间就能快速建成，是的，确实发生过建筑质量问题，但那已经老黄历了，现在几乎找不到豆腐渣工程了，因为法律后果太严重了。现在的工程修建时间又短，建筑质量又高。但在很多西方国家，工程建设要花费很长时间。我朋友办公室外那条短短的路建了2年时间，一条不长的新高速公路也用了3年时间。这要是在中国，大家肯定会觉得大跌眼镜的。
10.Waiting in queues to see a doctor when with bleeding wound . My friend got his forehead broken and was bleeding, wasn’t serious but still he was bleeding. He was sent to the hospital shortly and he had to wait in queues for ages with no doctors came to look after him. Though it was not a matter of life, but my friend was super worry and anxous and wanted to have someone to bind up his wound ASAP. Unfortunately he waited for quite a long time and a nurse passed by, and he and his friends begged for help, and finally that kind nurse gave him some medical alcohol & cloth for a simple treatment. And asked him to go home. In China, same situation, when you arrive in the hospital, you would have a doctor to help you shortly and get your wound treated shortly, surprising, right?
10. 伤口出血看医生还要排队。我的朋友摔破了额头，血流不止，虽然不是很严重，但毕竟是在流血呀。他很快就被送到了医院，但排了很长时间的队，期间没有医生来关照一下。虽然危不及生命，但我的朋友非常担心，很紧张，希望有人能尽快帮他包扎伤口。但没办法，他等了很久，只有一个护士路过，他和朋友们向护士求助，最后好心的护士给了他一些医用酒精和纱布进行简单的包扎，让他回家去。在中国，如果遇到同样的情况，你入院后就会有医生赶紧帮你处理伤口，是不是不敢相信?
11.Brothel in some western countries are legal. You will be held in custody if caught going whoring /prostitution in China.
11. 在有些西方国家，妓院是合法存在的。但如果在中国，嫖娼被抓是会被拘留的。
TangLong
Students in China.Updated 6y
Originally Answered: What things do Chinese people find strange about the West?
The strangest phenomenon is why, every time Americans elect a new president, they enjoy defacing China—and the stories never change; they seem to drag through the mud on when China will receive American people’s votes and positive response
最奇葩的事是，每次美国人选举新总统总喜欢诋毁中国——而且诋毁中国的说法总是千篇一律，好像抹黑中国才能获到美国人民的投票和积极回应。
This happens in Europe as well, frequently in the press: defacing China can attract more TV viewers! Sometimes we Chinese will oppose western countries, but we never look down on you; we prefer to modestly learn from the West on how to improve ourselves. We know only too well how poor and weak our country is by comparison, so we study from the West with peace and an open mind. We live and strive for peace and have suffered from painfully from wars ever.
So I do hope that westerners would not view China as an enemy, but take on a genuine friendship with us.
欧洲也这样，媒体上总能看到抹黑中国的报道，这些诋毁可以吸引更多的电视观众！我们中国人有时候也会反对西方国家的做法，但我们从来不会看不起你们；我们更愿意谦虚地向西方学习，努力提高自己。相比之下，我们非常清楚我们中国还很穷很弱，所以我们带着和平和开放的心态向西方学习。我们为和平而生，为和平而奋斗，也尝过战争之苦。
所以我希望西方人不要把中国视为敌人，跟我们做真朋友吧。
Richard McMahon
This is what China looks like from EuropeAuthor has 99 answers and 259.2K answer views6y
Originally Answered: What things do Chinese people find strange about the West?
I’m a Westerner and I have to give you my theory about why so many people answering here think we wear perfume all the time. It’s not perfume! It’s deodorant! Our sweat really stinks after just a few hours. Kids don’t really smell, but just about all adult Westerners have to put on deodorant after we shower (in the morning!). A genetic quirk means that East Asians don’t really have this problem. I suppose that why I found it hard to find deodorant in China. In Europe, you can get it anywhere that sells toothpaste or condoms.
And the thing about the warm and cold water? Cultures differ enormously in how they believe health works. I need fresh air in my bedroom or I wake up groggy with a headache, but Romanians believe any movement of air within their bedrooms can be fatal.
我是一个西方人，对于为什么这里这么多人提到我们一直用香水，我想说两句。我们用的不是香水！是除臭剂！只要我们一流汗，几个小时就会发臭。孩子们还OK，但基本上所有成年人洗澡后(早晨)都要喷点除臭剂。这是基因问题，东亚人就没有这个问题。我想这也是我在中国很难买到除臭剂的原因。在欧洲，随便哪个卖牙膏卖避孕套的地方都能买得到。
至于温水和冷水？不同的文化背景对健康的看法也存在巨大差异。我的卧室里一定要有新鲜空气，不然睡醒就会头昏脑涨，但罗马尼亚人认为卧室里的空气流动会要了他们的命。
David Barry
Lived in East Asia for Many Years. Now in Europe.Author has 3.8K answers and 8M answer views1y
Related
Do people from China like to look down on the West?
I lived in China for eleven years and many Chinese people are relatively well informed about the “west”. Many have been. I would say that there is respect where it is due. However the recent behaviour of western leaders and the media lies fabricated have not help Chinese people remain respectful As Chinese people are decent and good western visitor to China will be treated very well. There is no need to judge people. This also demonstrates the superiority of Chinese culture to many western cultures. I think that the most corrupt and evil parts of the west are in the US and UK and Australia. Not all the west is so bad.
These days China looks up to the world, especially in Asia. The West is not so important anymore. Historically the west has been inferior to Asia until the last couple of centuries. Now its time for Asia to dominate again.
我在中国生活了11年，很多中国人对“西方”都很了解。我想说，该尊重就得尊重。但西方领导人最近的行为和媒体编造的谎言真的配不上中国人的尊重。中国人讲究体面，谦和的西方游客在中国得到了礼遇。我们没必要对别人评头论足。这也证明了中国文化相对于许多西方文化的优越性。我认为西方最腐 败、最邪 恶的国家就是美国、英国和澳大利亚。其他西方国家也不全是败类。
如今，中国傲视全球，尤其是亚洲。西方的尊贵地位难再维系。在历史长河中，西方一直不如亚洲，直到最近几个世纪才赶超亚洲。现在是亚洲再次称霸的时候了。
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