BAD MANNERS IN CHINA

Mother and peeing child Chinese have a reputation for having bad manners: spitting in streets, making loud slurping noises when they eat, walking around in public without a shirt; cutting in line; urinating in public; jostling aggressively. This wasn’t always the case. In imperial times the Mandarin class in particular was known for its refined tastes and manners. Confucianism taught people to treat others with courtesy and respect.

Chinese tourists traveling outside of China have been warned not to embarrass China with uncouth behavior such as walking around in hotel lobbies in pajamas, tossing chicken bones on the floor of restaurants and talking loudly. Chinese state-supported travel agencies warn their customers that “spitting, slurping foods and jumping queues merely disgust people at home. But is intolerable in other countries.” Chinese tourists are also coached not to roll up their trouser legs and strip off their shirts to keep cool.

Overseas Chinese are among those who find mainland behavior to be the most uncouth. A Hong Kong newspaper ran a picture of a mainland mother helping her child pee on a wall at Hong Kong Disneyland and reported that many benches at the theme park were unusable because middle-aged Chinese men were sleeping on them. A Hong-Kong-born, London-based Chinese wrote a guidebook in which advised Chinese “Don’t ask foreign women how old they are” and “Don’t clean your ears in public.” Some mainlanders find mainlanders to be intolerably uncouth. In the essay the The Ugly Chinese writer and social critic Bo Yang criticized his countrymen for being too loud and too crass.

Georg Arit, a German sociologist who has studied Chinese tourists, told the Los Angeles Times, "Chinese are rude to people they don’t know. Unfortunately, when it comes to tourism, you don’t know most of the people you meet." He also said Chinese tourists were notorious for consciously breaking rules. “You’ll see people flouting ‘no smoking’ signs in luxury outlets, knowing few will complain when they’re spending $10,000. There’s also a feeling that ‘foreigners have been trampling on us for 200 years, and now it’s our turn.'”

Some blame China’s bad manners on Mao for setting a bad example. On Mao, Mao friend and writer Edgar Snow wrote, “Some people might have considered him coarse and vulgar” He then described how Mao liked to scratch himself and conduct meeting naked when it was hot. He also said Mao occasionally “absent-mindedly turned down the belt in his trousers and searched for some guest”—namely fleas and lice.

During the Cultural Revolution good manners were condemned as bourgeois and a means of inhibiting people and keeping them down. At that time it was considered a compliment to be call a dalacocu—“a big, rude guy. “

Deng Xiaoping, a notorious spitter, didn’t set a very good example either. He was not shy about hacking and spitting in public, and he often had a spittoon situated next to his chair when he met with world leaders.

Some people have said that the lack of civility in China has broken down a basic sense of trust and the only thing that seems to have replaced it is a love of money. An author of a book on Chinese etiquette told the Los Angeles Times, “You see people...overnight they’re millionaires. They have no education but the have money. They still forget to take a bath for three days."

Some blame the lack of manners on the quick pace of market economics. Sha Lianxiang, a sociology professor at Beijing’s People’s University, told the Los Angeles Times, “The problem is the market economy happened so suddenly that people got involved in the harsh competition....China didn’t have the time like Western countries to develop the civility that should go along with a developed economy.”

Etiquette Campaigns in China

The Chinese government is well aware of China’s reputation for bad manners. It has taken a number of measures to try and improve them. Slogans are painted on village walls urging farmers to do their part by participating in “courteous community” events. Universities hold etiquette contests.

In the late 1990s, the government under Jiang Zemin launched a “Spiritual Civilization” campaign in which people were encouraged to be more cultured and shed their bad habits. The airwaves were filled with moralizing lectures, billboards listed the "Nine Commandments" beginning with "Love Your Country." Husbands were told to help around the house and children were told cook "soft and mushy" meals for their elders. Some places even banned swearing and impolite behavior and created "civilized citizen" pledges.

Shanghai launched a "Seven Nos" campaign (no spitting, no jaywalking, no cursing, no destruction of greenery, no vandalism, no littering and no smoking). An effort was also made to clean up the city's public toilets. Businessmen encouraged their employees not to use phrases such as "Don't have it," "Can't you see I'm busy," and "Hurry up and pay." In Dalian, citizens were promised cash rewards for reporting rude taxi drivers; travelers were fined for spitting; scavengers were banned from bagging doves and pigeons in the central squares; and soccer fans were told to tone down their insults of players on opposing teams.

As part of it effort to win the 2008 Olympics and improve the manners after the bid was won, local authorities in Beijing have launched several etiquette campaigns. A book called Etiquette for Modern Chinese has been issued; courses on manners are run on television; and slogans are plastered on billboards See Civilization Campaigns Before the 2008 Olympics, Sports

The Spiritual Civilization Steering Committee of the Communist Party orchestrates the etiquette campaigns. According to researchers at Renmen University the residents of Beijing have become “more civilized” according to a “civic index” survey taken in February 2008 but still need some “fine tuning” to be ready for the Olympics.

An etiquette campaign launched in Shanghai called “Let’s Become Lovely Shanghaiese” produced a “Citizen’s Guide” that listed 100 ways that residents there could improve their manners in anticipation of the World Expo in 2010. Among the suggestions were: 1) “Don’t walk outside in pajamas or with a naked torso”; 2) “Trim your nostril hair short.” There was also advise on eating and politely using cell phones. The campaign was launched far in advance of the 2010 Expo in hopes that it would sink in by 2010. Shanghai has also passed law against swearing and smoking in public.

In January 2010, a low-income housing development in Guangzhou unveiled a point system to crack down on loutish behavior in which offenders who rack up 20 points within two years could have their home taken away. Spitting and urinating in public carries a fine of three points, which means that a person caught spitting seven times could have lose their home. Other point-earning infractions include chewing gum and tossing fruit peels.

Lines and Littering in China

Chinese are not big on waiting in lines. People often butt in line or try to bully their way to the front or use contacts to get special treatment. There is often a great deal of pushing and jostling around ticket booths and bank clerks, where "huddles" rather than lines tend to form.

The Beijing Spiritual Civilization office launched “Learn to Queue Day” aimed at doing something about the mobs that developed around stopped buses and subways. The campaign employed teams of volunteers to teach riders how to wait in line at bus stops and let people get off subways before the begin crowding in.

The Chinese are relavtively neat in the way they dress and organize their houses, but they are notorious litterers. There is a lot of litter at tourist sites. In a survey in Beijing in 2006, littering were ranked among the top five most disgusting habits.

Theroux once recorded the following items on the floor of train: duck bones, fish bones, peanut shells, cookie wrappers, sunflower seed husks, teacups, tumblers, thermoses, wine bottles, foot tins, spit, orange rinds, raw shells and used diapers.

Spitting in China

Chinese men hack and spit everywhere: on the streets, all over the sidewalks, in buildings, on the floor of trains, and even on the floors of restaurants and homes. Doctors and staff routinely spit on the hallway floors in hospitals. Be careful when walking past a bus full of Chinese. Passengers often spit out the window. Women also spit but not as much as the men.

In one survey, two thirds of all the adult Chinese asked admitted to spitting on a regular basis. If that figure is true around 900 million people in China are habitual spitters. Many men smoke and have hacking smoker’s coughs. The first thing many of them do when they leave their houses in morning is clear phlegm from their throats and spit. Some Chinese men spit on the wheel rims on their cars to see if the brakes are rubbing on the hub.

Spitting has been linked in the past with anti-foreigner sentiments. A banner raised during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 read: "Certainly foreign soldiers are a horde; but if each of our people spits once, they will drown." Up until fairly recently Chinese leaders had ceramic spittoons next to their chairs at ceremonies and banquets where they greeted royals, diplomats and foreign leaders. Mao had a spittoon at his feet when he met Nixon.

The Chinese, wrote Theroux, "spat all the time...With their cheeks alone they made the sunctioning: hhggaarrkh! And then they ground and positioned their teeth, and they leaned. You expected them to propel it about five yards, like a Laramie stockman sitting over a fence. But no they never gave it any force. They seldom spat more than a few inches from where they stood. They did not spit out, they spit down."

"Chinese spitting is not half as bad as throat clearing," Theroux wrote, "the hoick can be heard for fifty yards...They cleared their throats so loudly they could drown out conversation—they could sound like a Rota-Rooter or someone clearing a storm drain, or the last gallon leaving a Jacuzzi ...After that, the spitting itself was rather an anticlimax."

Reasons for Spitting and Anti-Spitting Campaigns in China

Many Chinese who spit say they do so for health reasons. Many Chinese have phlegm in their throats as a result of chronic bronchitis, colds that never get better and respiratory problems caused by heavy smoking, air pollution, and cold weather.

The hacking and spitting is merely a way of clearing the lungs and throats and respiratory system of phlegm and other nasty things that have accumulated in them. According to Chinese beliefs, phlegm is considered a manifestation of natural imbalances in the body and getting rid of it is regarded as a healthy act. Some people claim that chronic spitting spreads disease and helps create the problem it is trying to solve.

Spitting is much less common than it once was. Twenty years ago spit was all over the place. Now it is just all over some places. Many Chinese are embarrassed by the spitting habit of some of their countrymen. They view it as a sign of ignorance and backwardness. According to one survey 80 percent of Chinese disapprove of public spitting. In another survey, in Beijing, spitting was ranked among the top five most disgusting habits.

The omnipresent anti-spitting posters, which are seen throughout China, don't discourage people from spitting but rather encourage them to spit in spittoons. Most anti-spitting campaigns are launched before important events or the arrival of foreign VIPs—such as the committee which selected where the Olympics would be held. Most campaigns—including one linking spitting with the spread of AIDS—have had limited effectiveness.

In Beijing, the fine for spitting is around $6.60, less than fine for failing to dispose of dog excrement ($25) and hanging laundry facing major roads ($25). Volunteers there with the word “mucus” printed on them give out small white plastic bags in parks, shopping malls and other places for people to spit in. Uniformed inspectors patrol places like Tiananmen Square looking for spitters and litterers. When a spitter is caught in the act he is forced to bend over and clean up his mess. After a small crowd has gathered he is lectured by the inspector on the consequences of spiting: spreading diseases, causing pollution and embarrassing China.

History of Anti-Spitting Campaigns in China

Disgust over spitting is nothing new. Before the Communists came to power in 1949, Chiang Kai-shek ordered troops onto the streets of Beijing to stop people from spitting. In the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping launched a massive campaign against "this unhealthy practice" and enlisted a force of 200,000 health inspectors to levy fines on spitters in Beijing alone. One thousand anti-spitting centers were set up around the city; posters displaying bacteria found in spit were plastered around town; and banners were hung with slogans like "Keep fit. Don't spit." One newspaper intoned: "Efforts to eliminate spitting will not only clear the capital ground of phlegm, but purify minds and raise the nation's moral standards."

In the 1990s, when more and more Chinese began traveling abroad, the government published a booklet on proper behavior. It advised, "Do not spit in public. If you must...spit in your palm." Perhaps the most serious anti-spitting campaign was launched during he SARS outbreak in 2003, when spitting was considered a health hazard as well as a nasty habit. As part of the “Directive on Launching Activities to Transform Vile Habits” launched by the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee’s Spiritual Civilization Office, stiff fines were imposed, newspapers were filled with anti-spitting stories and street committees were told on the look for spitters. There were even reports of old women spraying sidewalk spit spots with disinfectant.

In the campaign to win the 2008 Olympics an effort was made to get Chinese to stop spitting. The argument was made that Chinese will lose face and foreigners will look down on them unless they curb the habit. A book called Etiquette for Modern Chinese exhorted readers not to spit if China was to be perceived as an advanced nation.

In 2006, Beijing stepped up its anti-spitting campaign in an effort to eliminate the habit by the start of the 2008 Olympics. The effort involved setting up trash boxes every 100 meters on major streets and providing sanitary bags for people to spit into on buses, taxis and in public areas.

Puking, Urinating, Going Shirtless and Blowing One's Nose in China

Blowing your nose in public is considered highly offensive. If you have the sniffles or are stuffed up, it is best to excuse yourself and blow your nose in a rest room. Even so Some Chinese blow their noses into their fingers and on curtains. Yawning loudly and chewing gum in public are also considered rude. A guidebook for Chinese advised them: “Don’t clean your ears in public.”

On hot summer days in Beijing and other places, it is a common sight to see men running around without shirts or with their shirts rolled up under their armpits exposing their bellies. They hang around, play cards, drink tea, stroll on the sidewalks without their shirts, exposing their less than ideal bodies. Flabby tummies and spares tires are the norm, not rippling abs. They also like to pull up their trousers past their belly button, with the legs rolled up. One Chinese academic told the Los Angeles Times, “Foreigners who visit always ask why are there so many half-naked men in Beijing."

As part of the sprucing campaign to win the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing men were encouraged to cover up. The Beijing Youth Daily launched a drive to shame offenders by featuring their photographs in the paper.

Although less common than it once was, public urination and public puking for men is no big deal. According to Theroux the Chinese have a "prayerful way" of puking, "softy and slowly vomiting, with their heads down and their hands folded."

Wearing Pajamas in Public in China

Especially in Shanghai it is not uncommon to see men in pajamas and women in nightgowns at busy markets or walking around in the street or in hotel lobbies. Some people slip into their pajamas when they come home from work and go shopping. Others get comfortable on long distance train rides by wearing pajamas.

In Shanghai, wearing pajamas in public began in the early 1990s, when people traded in their Mao suits for more comfortable and fashionable clothes. One Shanghai resident told AP, “Only people in the cities can afford clothes like this. In farming villages, they still have to wear old work clothes to bed.” A 17-year-old high school who likes to wear a pink nightgown with a kitten face said, “Pajamas look and feel good. Everyone wears them outside. No one would laugh.”

Shouting, Noise and Laughing in China

The Chinese like to shout and make noise and can be quite loud and boisterous.. What sounds like a bitter argument is often just a normal conversation, especially in southern China. What sounds like a loud party is often just an ordinary get together.

According to the Lonely Planet guide of China, "there seems to be a competition for who can speak the loudest, turn the radio or TV up to the highest volume and detonate the most firecrackers." Many scenic and otherwise serene spots in China are embellished with loud crackly music blaring from speakers nailed onto temples and trees. Chinese vitality is sometimes described with the word renao, meaning “hot and noisy.”

The Chinese, Theroux wrote "talked very loudly in that deaf, nagging and interrupting way, as if no one ever listened to them and they had to shout to be heard. The radios and televisions were always tuned too loud, too, the volume at maximum. Why? Was there a national deafness, or was it just a rather unfortunate habit?" [Source: "Riding the Iron Rooster" by Paul Theroux]

Chinese often cackle when they laugh. "The Chinese laugh," wrote Theroux, "is seldom a response to something funny—it is usually Ha-ha, we're in deep shit or Ha-ha, I wish you hadn't said that or Ha-ha, I've never felt so miserable in my life."

Even though Chinese can be loud and physical themselves they often frown upon Western-style loudness and boisterousness. Screaming and yelling by a foreigner rarely helps them achieve their objectives. Expressions of emotion are often considered ridiculous and uncouth. Plus, Chinese consider it a loss of face to give in to an argumentative tourist. The best strategy for foreigners in a touchy situation is to be patient and wait it out for a "compromise." The Lonely Planet guide advises: "it is pointless to steer a collision course toward these barriers, but it is often possible to manipulate your way around them."

Image Sources: 1) urinating child, USA Today; 2) shirtless men BBC; 3) spitting sign flumesday blog

Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.