China Segment

It’s not what you think. I’m not talking about white pins and balls with holes in them.
Let me introduce a Chinese custom.
Guests are everything in China. If you’re lucky enough to be a guest at someone’s home for dinner, be prepared to be pampered and doted on. By the title ‘bowling’, I [...]

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A note before we begin: Hong Kong wins hands down. I am biased. I love Hong Kong unconditionally just as I love Europe. Shanghai and I, on the other hand, have a bit of a like-hate thing going. So here goes, in no particular order:
Girls: Shanghai seems to have the upper [...]

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Whenever a customer or potential customer walks into a store, restaurant, food court or other establishment in China, the local staff are instructed to say 欢迎光临 (huanying guanglin, welcome). Which naturally is a good, friendly way to greet people.
Or so it would seem.
Unfortunately, 欢迎光临 is one of the most awful sounding phrases I’ve ever heard. [...]

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Bit of a problem when we got into Bali. Our flight, with Shanghai Airlines, was fine. But waiting in customs at 11 at night (forever) we encountered the tour group from China that was on the same plane. They were cutting in line and line-surfing, quite the normal habit for Chinese. I was a bit [...]

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Nail clippers belong in the home.
Apparently, no one told the Shanghainese. Some are attached to key chains, dangling from the waists of middle-aged men. Some appear out of fake LV purses. Regardless of where they’re spotted, public appearance are many, and too often. Subways, buses, street corners, elevators, parks, magnetically elevated [...]

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Yes, I’m posting about ear wax… and its removal. I’ve been (un)lucky enough to witness this a few times, but never had a camera with me. My apologies, I will get a pic as soon as I can.
The thing is, sometimes there’s nothing else available, and since your hands might be dirty, you [...]

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Actually, just beware of chrysanthemums (菊花 jú huā) when in China. I remember about a year ago I bought some for my fiancee. I was trying to be Mr. Niceguy, but the flower store I went to didn’t have much for choices. I thought I’d try something different, not the usual white or pink lilies [...]

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