Japanese paper complains of foul manners from Chinese at Hong Kong Disneyland

Okay, I agree with you to a point, explain to me what significance pissing into a lake has? Because no Chinese can be rude at all, so pissing into a lake has to mean something.

It would appear that there is indeed a cultural component to Chinese urination and defecation habits…

This link:

http://www.andresgentry.com/thoughts/2003/10/instant_gratifi.html

talks a lot about it in better detail…most of the good stuff is too graphic to quote on CB…though I want to so badly for humor’s sake…It basically boils down to… they were never taught any better than satisfying an urge the instant the urge appears

However sarcastic I am, and have been…I must admit that I’ve learned about the Chinese culture today. I’m a better person for it!

P.S. Note to self...please scratch China of the list of places to visit before I die!

JRS who would promise to never write another sarcastic comment on CB again if he could just see a Chinaman walk into SFMM's guest service room and piss on the floor... :-)*** This post was edited by Jeffrey R Smith 12/7/2005 11:46:26 PM ***

And we were never taught any better than to speed whenever we feel like it...different sides of the same coin.

What cultural significance does pissing in a lake have? Probably about the same significance as speeding all the time - probably not some huge cultural clash deal but just the way things go.

I'm not saying there aren't rude Chinese people. I'm not saying it's okay for people to ignore the rules of the park. I do think it's completely ignorant to read this article and draw the conclusion: Chinese people don't respect other people, just as it would be ignorant to read an article in a Chinese newpaper about how Americans all speed and draw the conclusions that no American respect the law.

Being Chinese American and being right around the corner from my first Christmas with my (caucasian - Scottish originally) American fiance's family, I'm facing this very problem in my own life. In my family, it's rude to give large extravagant gifts on Christmas. In her family, it's rude not to. The only way we've reconciled this is by sitting down and for me to explain that in my family, gifts are a way to provide things for people you care about (get them gift cards to the gas station or grocery store not for special occasions, but whenever) and listening to her talk about her family in which gifts are a way to show that you appreciate a person and the relationship you have with them (get them something they really want but wouldn't go out and get by themselves for a special occasion).

Again, no great cosmic cultural significance, but just different ways people show their respect for each other and understand what it means to be respectful. Is either "wrong?" No. Is either better than the other? No. But if we don't stop and *understand* each other, we'd probably both end up pissed off and all offended come Christmas AND we'd probably end up thinking the other person had no respect.

(And I ended up getting her a season pass to Six Flags - something she was going to buy anyway so I could provide, but also a way for her to get something somewhat meaningful).

*** This post was edited by ApolloAndy 12/8/2005 1:38:44 AM ***

Interesting, the funny thing to me is that when I was in Japan last summer, some random Japanesse lady started conversating with me, eventually she asked me where I was from and I said from the U.S. She told me "NO YOU ARE NOT, AMERICANS ARE FAT AND LAZY" I guess I should have taken it as a compliment because I'm neither fat nor lazy, but I thought it was rude for her to generalize Americans the way she did. So i kinda understand where ApolloAndy was going with his post.

I personally can't believe that anyone would use cultural significance to justify Line jumping and urinating in lakes or fountains......... =/ Que-lines are common sense and pissing in a lake or fountain, well, that is just plain nasty, imagine fountains spraying pissy water into the air and a slight wind blows it on you, now you smell like someone elses pee. This is Disney we are talking about, so there has to be about a million toilets somewhere.

If this is such a Cultural thing which I don't believe it is, but if it is, then Disney is going to realize that they are alienating the very source that they depend on, tourist, and a lot of them happen to be from other countries. My final take is that this park just happen to not enforce the rules like their other established sister parks in other places which leads patrons to do and act as they will without respect and reguard for others who paid to enter Disney Land Hong Kong.
*** This post was edited by Magicmike 12/8/2005 5:42:06 PM ***

So by the logic I see in the previous posts, it would be okay for someone to walk into someone elses home in China and piss in the living room?

Nice.

"It really tied the room together, man!"

---

...now you smell like someone elses pee.

---

You've been to one of my parties! :)

That's nasty! =0

Re Skuph:

No, it wouldn't be okay to piss in someone's living room, but it is considered "okay" to piss in a public place. Just like it's not considered okay to go 30 MPH over the speed limit in America but it is consider okay to go 5 MPH over.

*** This post was edited by ApolloAndy 12/9/2005 1:34:38 PM ***

ApolloAndy, I'm trying to see your point, but you keep comparing pissing to driving over the speed limit. That comparison doesn't match up well.

Pissing out in the open is plain nasty, really indecent, and potentially can kill Disney tourist wise in that region.
Driving over the speed limit doesn't have the same effect, you are not going to stop hopping on the highway due to some old fart Driving 90 mph (I live in California and old people drive fast here) Absolutely not, you are going to either drive just as fast or move out of the way. I'm not going to pee in a fountain just because the locals do it. You don't have to pay to get on the freeway with the exception of toll booths but you do have to pay to enter that Disney park. As a tourist, the last place I want to pay for is some place where it's okay for people to jump in front of me because they don't want to wait like everyone else and piss in decorative fountains and lakes. That's just not the place for me.*** This post was edited by Magicmike 12/12/2005 6:51:00 PM ***

Why is it culturally acceptable to piss in a public place? Simply because it's someone else's property? I compare this to tagging. Just like taggers wouldn't want someone coming up to their house and painting graffiti all over it, I'm sure the people in China wouldn't want someone pissing on the side of their house.

People need to learn respect for other people's property no matter what country they live in. Just because you don't own someplace, doesn't mean it's okay to piss or spray paint all over it.

Although they can be quite irritating and slow, the Chinese tourists that I always encounter at Disneyland never cut in line or piss in the castle moat. I have a feeling they are doing it in Hong Kong because they really just don't care and they can get away with the 'cultural differences' thing. They are just playing dumb and since the Americans are outnumbered at the HK park, they can get away with it.

But it's not just "the Americans" who object to it. Funny, I would have thought living under a communist regime for 50 years, the Chinese would know all about lining up and waiting. And by that I mean what the "self" wants is not so much a priority as other social obligations. Isn't that what everyone bashes about Americans? Our individuality and the fact we seem to do what we want when and where we want? This urination and sleeping on the benches bit seems to be wanton self-indulgence.

RGB, who wonders how many bodies of water in amusement parks Apollo Andy has pissed in (after speeding to get there)? :)

Who knows, he seems to be adement on defending it, like it happens on a normal basis in all china public places. And to add to this topic, this from personal experience with different cultures in different countries, (especially Asian countries) could be the locals way of showing how much they appreciate the U.S trying to Americanize that region. I hardly believe that this just happen to be a cultral issue, not to say that it truely can't be.

MagicMike:

What I think you're saying (correct me if I'm wrong) is that people speeding doesn't really affect people who aren't speeding. Sure, I'm not going to stop getting on the highway just cuz some fool thinks driving 90 MPH is a great idea, but that's because it's a part of my culture. However, sometimes it does scare the crap out of me for someone to go whizzing by at 30 MPH more than I am.

I would imagine that, if there were a place where everyone obeyed the speed limit, a visitor from there to here would not want to be on the road and would draw the conclusion that Americans don't respect the law.

In any case, my point was less about pissing in a public place and more about the same thing you encountered in Japan - gross overgeneralization about an entire country is really just ignorance in disguise (and not very well, I might add).

*** This post was edited by ApolloAndy 12/13/2005 2:07:41 AM ***

Re: Headhunter

Or maybe it's because the ones who can afford to go the Disneyland in the US understand US social practices and the ones who can only afford to go to DLHK don't.

Maybe but,

There has to be some degree of common sanity floating around there. Toilets are for people to relive themeselves, I know they understand that in Hong Kong because I've been there. No one in the hotels I've stayed in Pee'd in any of the fountains, everyone seemed very classy and very sure of themselves. That can't be labled as U.S social practice more than a Modern Social Practice. Hong Kong is one of the better places that I've visited in that region and I must say they are very modern.

Old thread but lol... This "ApolloAndy" can attempt to spin, articulate and split hairs all he wants.

The plain fact being reported by many cultures from Japan to the U.K. is that much of Chinese behavior is plain rude. These folks are spitting, pissing and walking around barefoot in themeparks. Trying to justify this in some manner as "cultural differences" is laughable at best.

Instead of automatically trying to defend against such behavior, I would suggest "Apollo Andy" concentrate his efforts on educating his asian collegues on basic manners, because when people see "Apollo Andy" they might assume he is no different. Right or wrong, this is "how things work."

I am also confident that if speeding is considered rude, it is not a behavior particular to Americans but many cultures, including Asians. Whereas SPITTING, URINATING and walking around barefoot in public places is usually reserved for the homeless and mentally ill.

*** This post was edited by BetterByDesign 4/19/2006 11:52:57 AM ***