How China and the United States are different!

[Eric Sedletzky]

If we're such a crappy country, like so many would like to make it out to be, then why is everybody trying to come here any way they can?

 

[vladimir]

As an American who has lived and worked in China for the last 7 years, some thoughts:

China culture:
1. People do not have the "sense of entitlement" that exists in US, and nowhere near as whiny as people in US. The people in China come to work ready to work hard to improve themselves, and expect to work for what they get.
2. Because of the lack of a credit based society and minimal social safety nets for unemployment/disability/retirement, they are a nation of savers (and some of that savings ends up becoming ownership of other countries bonds and companies)
3. Much stronger family orientation, and because there is more limited acccess to education they actually value it more.
4. Individuals are far more entepreneurial than the US and much more likely to take risks of opening their own small business, although those businesses are not usually going to be very innovative technologically. A much larger percentage of businesses in China are small, family owned than in the US.
5. People are much more concerned about relationships,and much more polite towards those that they know/meet. Interestingly though they are much more rude in public (i.e. around others that they don't know); they will cut in any line, spit all over the place, refuse to use garbage cans, etc (in a country with that many people maybe it's "every man for himself")

I realize that Hong Kong is very different in many respects from the rest of China. I have also lived in Shanghai, but I defer to your greater experience. With those caveats, let me say that:

1. None of the ~35 people who worked for me in the States were "whiny." Their attendance was excellent, and their collective work ethic was excellent as well. They did demand higher pay, which may indicate a sense of entitlement. Personally, I think a sense of entitlement is not necessarily a bad thing; you are entitled to a fair share of the profits, commensurate with your contribution--if you're not getting it, move on. Otherwise you might find yourself working at Foxconn for a $1 a day, or whatever it is. The Chinese will develop that sense of entitlement very soon.

2. Good observation that is often missed. The Chinese are great savers because they have to be. The downside of a social safety net (besides the cost) is that people feel safe enough to squander their earnings on flat-screen TVs that they can't afford.

3. The filial bonds are a little like the savings--virtues born of necessity. Nobody can afford to leave home when they reach adulthood, there is no homestead act offering 40 acre plots, and small family farms and businesses need the labor of their offspring. How will the Chinese tradition of filial bonds survive affluence and urbanization? Take a look at Singapore--those traditions are fraying at the edges.

4. There are far fewer niches for small family businesses in the States unless they are technologically innovative. Unless you'd like to set up a hamburger stand next to McDonalds, or a grocery store next to Walmarts. Look back (or ahead) a generation or two and this difference evaporates.

5. Speaking of Hong Kong only, every relationship is transactional--they are quite polite and accommodating in most of my dealings with them--most of which represent profit opportunities for them. Hold a door open for a stranger? Haven't seen it happen in three years, and if you do see it, it's probably an expatriate Taiwanese holding the door. It seems they are polite when it suits their purpose, they are interested in relationships that may benefit them, and, as you say, otherwise it's "each man for himself."

If we're such a crappy country, like so many would like to make it out to be, then why is everybody trying to come here any way they can?

Who said or implied that the United States was a crappy country? I missed that.

 

[Gilldiver]

1) From this year on in China more people will retire than will come into the work population - this is a very big problem by 2030 and all that savings will be used up quickly
2) China has 750 million in the interior that have not made it to the coast and got rich(er)
3) Put 1 & 2 together and China is the first nation to get old before it got rich

 

[irishsquid]

As I read this eating General Tso's chicken with chop sticks, I wonder if our Chinese food is better than their American food.

In my experience, NOPE! I spent a few months in 2 different factories in Dalian and Wehai. The food served in the factory was much tastier than anything I've eaten in any Chinese restaurant here.
I ate some KFC while there and it brought a tear to my eye. It reminded me of the chicken I remember eating, that Colonel Sanders personally served me when he visited and opened the first KFC in Hardin Co., Ky back in the mid 60s. He would've been proud.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

It's a good question. As I think you know, General Tso's chicken will give you only the vaguest indication of what actual Chinese food tastes like. I expect my lunch from McSorley's any minute now, and it will taste just like the lunch I order from McSorley's when I'm in New York. But Hong Kong might not be the best indicator of what the other 1.4 billion Chinese get when they order American food.

I have never eaten American food in China. I did eat an American breakfast in Kaohsiung (south Taiwan) once ... and it was the worst meal I've ever eaten there. Beats the hell outta me how somebody can so badly mess up scrambled eggs, sausage and toast ... but it was awful.

I can tell you that American food is pretty popular in both Beijing and Taipei ... or more accurately, American fast food is popular with the young people. You see KFC, McD, Wendy's and Starbucks everywhere. But I haven't ever gone into one, so I can't say whether or not the food's the same.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I realize that Hong Kong is very different in many respects from the rest of China. I have also lived in Shanghai, but I defer to your greater experience.

I ate a lot of congee and yu tiao when I was in Hong Kong. Shanghai seemed to have more sticky rice recipes like zhongtze and siao mai.

But the ubiquitous streetside sausage vendor is the best ... just don't tell me what kind of meat it used to be ... :shocked2:

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[theduckguru]

This observation explains why the US borrows from China to pay for 2 religious wars.

Several years ago my company hired a young (age 23) lady directly out of graduate school who was from mainland China. She worked for us for four years and we were her introduction to American Culture. She later accepted a position in California and worked there for several years. She recently called to say that she was moving back to China but wanted to thank us for the opportunity we provided and she also wanted to share how she believed China and the United States were different and why she thought the United States was better for the average person (the commoner).


#1. As a culture Americans believe in God. According to her observations it does not matter if there is a God or not - our belief give us hope that our lives have value and that tomorow will be a better day. The Chinese people do not have that hope.

#2. We have credit cards. By that she meant that we have access to capital and if used properly we (the commoner) can finance our dreams. The Chinese people (the commoners) do not have this opportunity.

It was her opinion that these were the two things that allowed the United States to come out on top.

I thought this was insightful and that I would share.

 

[Rhone Man]

It is funny - I just got back from Beijing last night and whilst I was there I had dinner with a client. He was saying how people in China were always perplexed why Americans are so determined to see China as their enemy.

So I asked him how Chinese people see America, and he replied "like an ungrateful friend." Hmmm.

 

[vladimir]

It is funny - I just got back from Beijing last night and whilst I was there I had dinner with a client. He was saying how people in China were always perplexed why Americans are so determined to see China as their enemy.

I recall reading an article in The Economist a little while ago saying a generation of Chinese military officers had been trained to view the United States as the enemy.

I get what your client was saying, though. We have viewed China as the enemy ever since we dragged them out of isolation, seated them in the Security Council in lieu of a trusted ally, exported our manufacturing base and our technological base to them to save a few bucks an hour in wages (that we end up paying in welfare anyway), and served as their principal export market while a few hundred million of their citizens emerged from abject poverty. We really hate them.

So I asked him how Chinese people see America, and he replied "like an ungrateful friend." Hmmm.

As if the trillions of dollars in T-bills were purchased in the spirit of friendship, rather than to manipulate the exchange rate. And as if there were so many attractive reserve alternatives to the US Dollar.

If the reader comments in The Economist are any indication, the Chinese are at least as delusional as the most fervently nationalistic Americans.

 

[Gilldiver]

Watch all 9 segments, it may open some peoples eyes.

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