China Fun Facts :)

Here are some fun (and funny) facts about China!

1. In Asia, when you are born you are ‘1’ years old. Than when a year passes from the time you are born, you are two. So when you go to China and meet a ‘sixteen’ year old boy, they are really ‘fifteen’ years old.
2. 1.3 billion people which are 20% of the world’s population! There are 55 ethnic minorities in China along with the 93% Chinese!
3. it is estimated that 200 million people in China live on less than $1.00 a day!
4. It is polite in Asian culture to smack loudly, slurp, and burp when eating your food.
5. Being humble is a super important part of Asian Culture. When you make a meal, you are expected to tell your guest that it’s the best you could do but that it wasn’t good. Even when one tells the host how good it is, the host should reply that it isn’t good at all, and that she is a bad cook.
6. China, the fourth largest country in the world, is big enough to have several time zones, but only has one.
7. In Hong Kong , cars are driven to the left side of the road, following the British way, but the rest of China drives on the right side.
8. One of the indelible images of China for foreigners is that of the cutie-pie baby wearing the pants with a giant hole on the bottom - known in Chinese "kaidangku" (literally "open-crotch pants"). I read in an article that children don’t wear them anymore, because it’s unhygienic, old fashion and gross, but boy, I see them all the time!!!
9. All the time on the bus, me and my friend Denise point out to each other the small children in front of the Chinese schools we pass just peeing in the bushes, revealing himself to everyone driving by! But you know, it’s not just the children! Even worker men do it when they are taking a tea-break.
10. Spitting is a rural practice around China and Chinese spit loudly! It is even considered a sport in rural Chinese areas.
11. Trouble in China is symbolized by 2 women living together under 1 roof .
12. 34 children are born every minute in China
13. Flights between Hong Kong and mainland China are classed as international flights
14. Some people in China work as apologizers, party guests, and brides maids
15. Toilet paper was invented in China in the late 1300s. It was for emperors only. Today many bathroom do not have toilet paper, so you have to buy some or bring your own!
16. It was customary for wealthy men and women in the late empire to grow the nails of their little fingers extremely long as a sign of their rank. Still today, many men and woman have a long fingernail or two to show that they are not farmers or factory workers.
17. China’s “one child” policy has contributed to female infanticide and has created a significant gender imbalance. There are currently 32 million more boys than girls in China. In the future, tens of millions of men will be unable to find wives, prompting some scholars to suggest that this imbalance could lead to a threat to world security.
18. “pigtails” were associated with a girl’s marital status. A young girl would wear two pigtails, and when she married, she would wear just one.
19. There are 4 tone marks that make one word have four different meanings. One rising, one falling, one falling than rising, and then a flat tone.
20. Chinese restaurants do not have fortune cookies :(

Hope you enjoyed these fun facts about China!

Allie

Osakaaaaa

Last week I had the pleasure of accompanying my Uncle on his business trip to Japan or Rìběn (Ur-bahn) as the Chinese say it. I got to stay three nights and two full days in Osaka.

The first reason that Japan is not like China, is that it’s CLEAN! Sure China, has some clean areas, and every city isn’t going to be perfect, but Japan…well that’s the first thing I noticed when I got to the airport…so that’s saying something! The public bathrooms are super nice, the streets are swept clean of dirt and trash, all the food is safe to eat, and the people are even clean looking! Anyways, enough about clean, the city was extremely nice.

Osaka has about 3 million people, so a relatively small city compared to the major cities in Asia. Still, with that many people, and so much history, Osaka has so much to do.

I had the awesome opportunity to spend my whole two days in Osaka with a Japanese couple named Toshi and Kimiko. They were probably in their 50s or 60s and so, so sweet. They have lived in Osaka for over 10 years, but are native Japanese. They knew so much history and tradition and really introduced me to the real Japan.

The first place we went was a town called Kyoto, an old town about 45 minutes outside of Osaka. We took the subway part of the way there, but the train the rest of the way. We went to the Shrine of the Fox, and saw many religious traditions that Kimiko and Toshi were able to explain to me. One of the things that I found quite funny was a rock. It was placed on a kind of pedestal and there was a sign next to it. The sign said in Japanese, that “if you life the rock, and it feels light, than you will have good luck”. I feel that strong people have a lot of good luck with this rock :P Anyways they insisted I try, and then asked, half-jokingly, if it felt light to me, but it didn’t L too bad!

One of the things I really embraced about being about to be with Japanese people is that I got to try lots of food that I know I wouldn’t have known about/had the guts to try. They introduced to me to what they called ‘typical’ Japanese food, and let me tell you, it’s much different that Peter’s Sushi over by Chickfila :P

One of the most memorable food that I tried was my first meal. We sat down and they discussed in Japanese what we were going to order. I told them I wasn’t picky and I wanted them to show me what real Japanese food was like. They order some sushi, chicken, soup, and also *gasp* eel! They showed me the typical red pepper and green powder that you put on Japanese food and also which powders to put on which foods. Red pepper = almost anything and everything. Green powder = sea food, aka eel! I tried the eel, to be polite, but I ended up not minding it! I also tried a small glass of Japanese Beer *gasp* oh no *gasp under age drinking :D), and it was good I suppose. It’s called Asahi.

Afterwards, we walked outside and I saw the eel that I had just eat grilling on a grill, with the head on… YUCK!

Good thing I didn’t see that before I eat it! To think they probably had a tank in the back, and had just skinned it and grilled it and served it to me… L Then two little children came out of the restaurant and both reached out to this little bowl that was sitting there with a sign next to it. I assumed it was like some kind of after-meal snack, similar to mints that are in the bowl next to the check out. Toshi told me to try on. They were weird shaped, but nonetheless, the children were eating them, so I gave it my trust. As I crunched down on the kind of tough and salty item, Toshi said, ‘Yeah, that’s eel spine.’ Come on!!! Why didn’t he tell me that AFTER I had swallowed it. Oh well though. It wasn’t fishy or repulsive, so I finished my bit. EEK!

Another restaurant that I went we had a chicken dish. It wasn’t just grilled chicken though… it had different PARTS of the chicken! They told me which parts were the breast, wing, liver, cartilage, and skin. Again, to be polite and a bit adventurous, I tried EVERYTHING! And you know what? The cartilage wasn’t half bad if you didn’t think about it for too long. I also tried this Japanese liquor called Sake. It’s pure alcohol made from rice. It was SO gross!!!! It’s Toshi’s favorite drink too, so he poured me two different shots. I could hardly manage one! BLEH! Anyways, I guess it’s all part of the experience.

There is so much about Japan that I liked. The fashion styles certainly are really colorful and wild. I saw more than one girl in her twenties who was wearing the following: cowboy boots, yellow tights, ruffle skirt, t-shirt, blue-jean vest, false eyelashes, and a huge bow in the middle of her head. It was funky, but so many ladies wore clothing combinations like this that it was considered almost normal I suppose! It would be cool to live in Japan and be able to experiment with over-the-top outfits! Even in China, I get to be a little out of my comfort zone. I’ve developed some Europeans and Chinese like fashion styles, that hopefully aren’t too crazy so that I can bring them back to the States without looking like a retard!

I have so much more to say about Japan. It’s such a lovely, beautiful, historically rich place (not to mention expensive!) to see! I wish I could write for a whole day about my short two days of site seeing, all the things I tried, saw, and experience! If you have heard any stories from me that I didn’t talk about, or any questions, please please comments on my blog and let me know! I’d love to write it into this post!

Hope you guys in Tennessee stayed dry and safe. Spring is in full swing here, and the blue skies are more frequent. Also, Shanghai is being cleaned up and lots of fake markets are being hidden due to the World Expo! It’s funny to the Shanghai making an effort now that we have countries from around the world in our huge city in China. I’m hoping to be able to see some of this former World Fair expos when my sister and mom come to visit in June!

I’ll type soon, and really really try to keep up with my blog, as I still have so much that I would love to share with you guys! Keep well!!!

Allie