User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: Where is the Supermarket?

@miantiao

Thanks for the term 杂货店 - I know exactly what you mean, I've seen them all over.  It just occurs to me though that I can't remember one in my daily sojourns here.  I wonder if the 超市 has killed them off as they did of course in Australia and elsewhere in the West.  To be replaced by that invention loved by business schools the 24 hr convenience store chain.  here the family run business seems to be specialized - fruit & vegetables; bakery; hardware; smokes & alcohol; tea; phones; newsagent; etc.  My favourite is the hardware - goods stacked floor to ceiling in a space like a garage.  I'd like to ask for something from the bottom (eg. piece of hose pipe) - they would say come back in a week, we'll have it ready for you?  But there are numerous small 超市 - chain stores.  Food on one side, non-food on the other.  Some are now getting into selling cooked food.

Posted on: To Tip or Not to Tip

This lesson raised lots of interesting cultural differences - West versus East.  (Although I was raised in Australia where it is still not expected to tip.)  Tipping is slightly incongruous in our Australian wage system in any case.  It presumably works in the US where it is so entrenched but I am still unclear as to whether it is a reward for service - can it be withheld for bad service?

Anyway there are times when I feel like tipping in China but I live in a part of China where it is not only incongruous, it seems to be insulting, or at the very least confusing.    

There is a strange 'reverse' tip where I live - you argue and debate a price, beat them down, they agree on a price ... sometimes grumpily.. and then they invariably change the deal right at the end in your favour, without discussion.  What is going on there??

Posted on: Where is the Supermarket?

@jzd101

Culturally this is a strange concept because the whole shopping experience is expected to be 方便 fāngbiàn (convenient).  You are more likely to hear someone complaining that something is 不方便 (not convenient) - if it is not convenient.  

Of course this is a kind of myth because lots of things are inconvenient in China.  But whatever you think should be in a corner store in the West you will find somewhere close by in a city in China.  I think that the equivalent term in China is .. 超市

Posted on: Where is the Supermarket?

@barbs

你介绍家乐福， 谢谢你。ni jieshao jialefu, xiexie ni (Thanks for the background on Carrefour supermarkets).

它叫'hypermarket'，不是'supermarket'， 我还不知道。 ta jiao hypermarket, bushi supermarket, wo hai bu zhidao (I didn't realise that they are actually 'hypermarkets' not 'supermarkets'.)

现在我知道为什么在家乐福我呼吸困难， 还有点头晕。 xianzai wo zhidao weishenme zai jailefu wo huxi yin nan, hai hou dian tou yun (That possibly explains why in 家乐福 I cannot breathe properly and I feel dizzy.)

Posted on: Where is the Supermarket?

Foreigners often seek out the 'Western' supermarkets.. here are a couple of chains:  

麦德龙 màidélóng (Metro) 

家乐福 jiālèfú (Carrefour) 

These supermarkets usually have a small section selling imported goods - but most of the product is the same as what you find in a Chinese supermarket.  The prices are similar to those found in Chinese supermarkets (except the imported goods.)  

Posted on: National Day

我早已把大阅兵DVD买了。 DVD1有1949年-1999年13次大阅兵， DVD2有2009年国庆60周年大阅兵。 

They don't waste any time. And yes, the women marchers are featured on the front cover, but sadly not the red skirts and white boots.   

Posted on: Express Train or High-speed Train?

@brianhz

Thanks for the update on the fast SH-HZ train - so I presume that it is the same rolling stock, but new track?  

As for the red buses, yes I know the theory - it just doesn't work in practice.  You frequently see the red buses jammed in the same lanes as the regular buses - but I guess you know that.

I was just noting in the city today how uncomplaining the Chinese people are (typically) about transport failings; it is true in other areas of consumption too.  There is a lot more put down to (bad) luck than in Western society. It's a fundamental difference in culture.      

Posted on: Long Time No See (original)

下次来上海旅游给我打电话。 (Next time you come to Shanghai on holidays give me a call.) 

你住在上海住了多久？ (How long have you been living in Shanghai?)  

Posted on: Morning Hygiene

@chiongzibide

Thanks for keeping an eye on our hygiene .. 

I like the explanation above about keeping the bed clothes clean .. it fits with the habit of removing your shoes when you come inside.  The most consistent explanation that I have for this is that 'China is so dirty outside', you need to remove your shoes to keep the house clean. (I subscribe to this approach.) It seems to extend to showering at night.  The Chinese seem to be more consistent about this than Westerners who, as you point out, might shower at any time.  Perhaps that is due to the tradition of hot water being limited to certain hours.  i have also written elsewhere at length about how I think that Chinese bathe/shower more thoroughly than we do (again this might have something to do with the outside environment, and traditionally dirty agricultural work.)  

Another behaviour that seems unusual to me is that many Chinese people I have encountered wear the same outfit of clothes for a week straight. In the West we seem to take pains to change daily and even avoid any impression that we wear any item of clothing two days running.   

Posted on: National Day

@Joachim,youyi

Is it possible that the two photos above are both of the same model?  When I watched the parade I thought that the front said 1950s and the back said maybe 1990s.  I had a ride in an old 红旗 taxi in Xi'an. Yeh, they don't handle like my motorbike.  

@youyi

你能区分小资产阶级和资产阶级吗？