Culture of China When Visiting a Home
Story's time...
A funny story, an Asian lady friend and I were on our way to visit an American friend. On the way, I asked if she'd like to stop and get a drink somewhere. She replied that she would wait until we get to our friend's house. When we got there, I totally forgot about it.
In America if you are thirsty all you have to do is ask for a drink and go to the fridge yourself. Well, she didn't know. The poor girl sat there for an hour with nothing to drink.
Two hours later we went to a restaurant and right off the bat she finished 3 drinks of water. The look on her face when she was drinking was priceless.
My American friend thought that it was some sort of a custom the Chinese people do before a meal. As a good sport, he finished four drinks himself (1 beer and 3 quality H2Os). We had not even started eating yet. Ha, how funny is that.
As you enter the house, do provide a compliment about the person's home. The people will be modest, so just give another compliment if they do so. However, do not give an advice on how to make the house look better. In an extreme case, the Chinese people may consider this to be an insult.
In China, sexual freedom is stricter than in the West. When a single man invites a woman to his house, this act is considered as sexually forward if she accepts the invitation. In other words, if you are a woman and are invited to a bachelor pad, then he may want to be more than just a friend.
Never go alone if you don't want sexual attention. You should invite a friend to come along with you as well. This will protect you from any wrong ideas.
Please, do consider this very seriously if you are a Western woman. There are a lot of stereotypes of Western women being easy. If you want somebody to blame it on, you should blame the TV.
If you are a man who would like to invite a lady friend to come over, then when inviting her you should try to invite her friend as well. The reason for doing this is you try to protect her name as well as to protect her from rumor.
Thank you for stopping by. I did not think it was going to be this long. I just want to say…
Ev'rywhere you go;
Take a look in the five-and-ten, glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow..."
Come on, let's sing along, everybody. From where I am and wherever you are, have a warm holiday and good luck. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.
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