Beijing spitting
 

Hi

My wife and I went to China a couple of years ago (see http://gardkarlsen.com/china_beijing.htm) and one of the things we noticed was the constant spitting. I guess I can't blame the people because there was a lot of dust in the air...I won't go into detailed how it looked when I blew my nose after walking around in Beijing all day :-) . I read in the paper yesterday that the Chinese authoreties are trying to get people to stop spitting everywhere in connection with the Olympics and people will be fined about 7 $ if they spit and get caught. Instead they will get little bags to spit in.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Hi

Found an article about it by the way: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/...8G2OUEO0.shtml

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Now if we can just get baseball players in this country to stop spitting! I can`t see that it serves any useful purpose, and the air certainly isn`t dusty! People in this country don`t walk around spitting, so what`s with these baseball players? Yuk!

Gard: Is spitting perhaps a more basic cultural thing in China more so than a dust-in-the-air thing? My husband was involved in a Chinese-American cultural society once and we had some Chinese over for dinner. There were a lot of new cultural experiences for me during that meal, slurping, etc. Maybe spitting is the same type of cultural thing?

I do see men in the U.S. spitting. Not on the streets, but interestingly they (fathers) seem to do it a lot at my son's baseball games (from little league on up).

I will say that the spitting seems to be less in Beijing already then in some other areas...and there's nothing that quite prepares you for hearing that enormous throat-clearing hock and turning around to see that it emanated from a tiny, delicate-looking lady. From what I've read, it is considered somewhat of a, for want of a better term, "hick" thing to do.

Hi

Yes, the throat-clearing sounds was also quite an experience :-) My wife hates it when people do that and we got to hear it quite a lot in Beijing.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Paul Theroux's Riding the Iron Rooster had a fantastic description of Chinese spitting.

As manners preparation for the Olympic games, stiff penalties for spitting are going to be (or have just been) imposed.

Its bad enough we have to listen to them eat!

spitting isn't a cultural thing in the same regard as slurping or burping at a meal (in some cultures). Its a cultural thing in the same regard as they let their kids defecate on the street. YOu ahve to understand that basically the city was built up around them. they aren't folk in the way we would think of it so in one sense the "hick" reference isn;t too far askew.

I thought the fine was a hell of a lot more than $7 though.

You get it in Thailand too, that noisy throat clearing. Also blowing out the nostrils one by one in the street. Actually several Asians have told me they find it disgusting that farangs blow their noses into a piece of cloth and then put it back in their pocket and carry it around with them.

What about squatting? Like when waiting for the bus?

I think to many visitors to the Olympics Games, that's as disgusting as spitting.

"...they aren't folk in the way we would think of it.."

Could you clarify that comment, please, bhuty?

I find spitting to be totally repulsive. When I see people do it in NY, such as onto the subway tracks, I want to throw up. Oddly enough, I don't recall seeing it too much in China when I was there 5 years ago.

It's funny you should mention blowing one's nose. When I went to Japan, I had read that the Japanese find that to be disgusting, so every time I had to blow mine, I would run and find a ladies room so I wouldn't insult anyone's sensibilities.

The constant spitting by both men and women (but mostly men) was very noticable and very disgusting. The thing that got me was that the spitting was not just outdoors but indoor as well, in fact EVERYWHERE...trains, shops...I was dumbfounded by that.

I don't think the dust has anything to do with it though. India is probably more dustu and I didn't see constant spitting (insstead I saw frequent publication urination).

I know they're trying to curb the spitting because when I was there about 3 years ago, they had signs all of the place that said 'no spitting'...hahah that was too funny.

Maybe I meant "they aren't CITY folk"

and askew isn't the right word either

i was going to mention riding the iron rooster too. texas slim!! it never fails to make me laugh. also, at the beginning of the book he mentions a chinese proverb about how if all the chinese in the world (or is it china ?) were to spit, we would be able to drown our enemies!!

i dont know why the chinese have to spit so much. as we interact with more people outside our culture, it becomes less acceptable. but squatting is offensive to some?! why? a lot of asia squats. i dont do it in public but i dont find it offensive when i see it.

Well, at least the editors deleted that troll post - but trolls aside, am I the only one here who feels this thread is starting to take on a Chinese-bashing air? How about a few comments on the (many) good characteristics of the Chinese people?

I recall reading that some Mongoloid races have a skull structure that limits operation of the sinuses, and this can lead to problems with mucus.

I think many visitors will find that the younger generation of Chinese, who live in the more affluent large coastal cities, will have the best manner. In fact, when my dad (age 71) gets on a bus in many cities, young people will often give him their seat. That's very surprising, as my dad's very fit, and doesn't get seats offered to him in Hong Kong, Europe or elsewhere. [Well, he doesn't use the bus here in Houston, but I do, and I'm like the only person who will offer seats to the elderly, pregnant women, or people with young kids.]

Anyways, public manners of Chinese people have improved a lot in the last 20 years. I remember that it was impossible for me to get on any bus when I was a kid; or getting any service at a restaurant.

But the improvement isn't universal. People will still cut into your line, say, if you're buying a ticket for the Beijing subway. Or that people everywhere still talk very loud. And I mean everywhere.

This is my first time on this forum, but I think it's going to be as informative about tourists/visitors to China as it is about China. It still amazes me that we insist on viewing the world through our own cultural/ ethnic set of goggles without understanding that that's what is happening. Truth would seem to be subjective afterall. Spitting is not as acceptable by "polite" company in China as it would seem to be from the high level of occurrence. You won't find it happening in Taiwan too often, or the more commercial areas of Hong Kong, and Singapore. Spitting to the Chinese is just lower on the cultural totem pole of concerns. It's become an acceptable bad habit encouraged by pollution. The Chinese are increasingly aware of the hazards of unsanitary spitting and air pollution. Hopefully, both will be minimalized in the future. It'll all go the way of the rickshaw and then you'll all be sorry. I also find little credence in the anthropologic theory that the race is simply more prone to sinus problems. That's like saying my next door Caucasian neighbor with the huge brow and deep-set eyes sees in perpetual dim shade. And as for squatting... hey, have you tried it while waiting? Kids squat all over the world. Why? 'Cause it's more comfortable than standing and waiting. As we grew up in this society, we were taught not to squat because (for whatever reason) it's deemed unseemly. As adults, most of us have lost the flexibility and the musculature to squat comfortably. So you all can stand there shifting from foot to foot bearing the discomfort. I'm just plain jealous I can't squat comfortably while waiting.

At first I was outraged when people blatantly cut into my queue (line), but after a while I noticed that locals didn't seem to worry about it. Why that was, I never worked out, but I decided there was no point getting my blood pressure up about it. I also had to admit that unless our cabbies cut in on other traffic we'd never have got anywhere. Actually we were impressed by the fatalism of Chinese drivers and the absence of road rage.

Another habit that can be disconcerting to foreigners is the use of mobile phones in the middle of a theatrical performance or concert. I assumed that this was a hangover from the behaviour of audiences at traditional opera performances, which apparently was pretty much the same as 16th-17th century English theatregoers.

I think its hilarious when you see some guy holding one nostril and blowing mucus out the other. Just seeing the horror of on-lookers is priceless

I had ignored this post, thinking it was one of those troll posts. I read many years ago that the origin of the frequency of spitting in China had to do with a traditional belief that spirits in the back of the throat (apparently manifest as phlegm) caused disease and had to be gotten rid of by spitting. I have no idea whether this is true or not. Any Chinese on the board care to comment?

By the way, the worst spitting I've seen was in Kathmandu.