Today I'm going to share with you several of the insights that I have had into the differences between Chinese and Western culture. These points are based on my own personal experience living in Taiwan and being married into a Taiwanese family. Enjoy and share your experiences below!
1. Children live with their parents for much longer…even after they're married!
2. Western people are more "in touch" with their feelings and talk about them, Chinese people keep them bottled up inside.
3. Food is eaten family style, with everyone sharing dishes.
4. Activities are often dictated by religious belief and the lunar calendar, such as, "when is a good time to open a business?"
5. Families will have an altar in their home for them to make offerings and pray at.
6. Grocery shopping is still commonly done in outdoor markets, with different people selling meat, vegetables, etc. if you want something, you often need to go to a store that sells that thing specifically(but not always).
7. People are warm with family and friends, but somewhat cold to strangers. People often bump into you In a crowd and move along like it never happened, and they don't hold the door for people.
8. Whereas people in America(especially women) want to have nice, tan skin, Chinese people would rather have pale, white skin.
9. Alcohol is sold 24 hours a day, and people can drink in public as much as they like as long as they behave themselves.
10. When someone gives you a red envelope at your wedding, you will count the money out and write it down(often in front of them!) so you know how thankful to be(someone will have this specific job delegated to them).
P.S. I wanted to remind you guys about the group Chinese webinars that I alluded to recently, stay tuned for a BIG update on this over the next week!