What things do Chinese people find strange about the West?

西方哪些事物在中国人看来很奇怪？

获得30.8k好评的答案@Helen Qie

Years ago I went to London and had a super wonderful trip there. I lived in one of the host families. Since it was my first time abroad, it was a bit of culture shock for me.

几年前我去伦敦经历了一次超棒的旅行。我当时住在寄宿家庭里，鉴于这是我第一次出国，这次经历对我造成了不小的文化冲击。

The tap water - Can’t believe that we can drink the water from the tap directly! In China there is no possibility for us to do that. Even when we need to wash some fruit or something we will use the purified¹ water. Every family has at least one water purifier² (mine have three). This is because the water pollution in our country is very serious. It cannot be denied.

自来水——难以置信我们会直接喝水龙头流出来的水！在中国我们不可能那么做。就算我们要洗一些水果或是别的东西我们也会用纯净水。每个家庭至少有一台净水器（我们家有三台）。这是因为我们国家的水污染很严重。这是无法否认的。

Shoeless - The children from my host hardly wore shoes even when they played in the yard. I tried but gave up. It hurts a lot!!!

不穿鞋——接待家庭的孩子几乎不穿鞋，就算他们在院子里玩也不穿。我曾尝试过不穿鞋但是后来放弃了。太疼了！！！

Friendly - When I hung out, there were a lot of strangers saying ‘Hi’ to me. And most of them said it in Chinese. So sweet! In China, when we see foreigners, most of us feel shy to say ‘Hello’. But for once, I said ‘Hi’ to a foreigner at Starbucks and she smiled back at me. Not that weird³ actually.

亲切友好——我出门的时候，有很多陌生人会向我打招呼，而且大部分人都是用中文说。太贴心了！在中国，在看到陌生人时，我们大部分人会觉得害羞，不敢打招呼。不过有一次，我在星巴克跟一个外国人说了声“嗨”，她回了我一个微笑。实际上那感觉还不错。

Weird Chinese on clothes - Sometimes I saw the people wearing Tees with strange Chinese on them. I don’t know whether they knew the meaning or not...

衣服上的奇怪汉字——有时候我看见有人穿印着奇怪中文的T恤，我不懂他们到底知不知道上面的意思……

Actually I think the feeling that we have is same as that of western people when they see weird letters on our clothes. :D

其实我想这种感觉就像西方人看到我们衣服上印有奇怪字母时的一样。:D

获得2.3k好评的答案@Miumiu Lee

I would like to talk about North America and Europe.

我想说些有关北美和欧洲的事。

Why do you guys love cold & ice water so much?

为什么你们这么喜欢冷水和冰水？

OMG, you can directly drink the tap water ?!

我的天，你们会直接喝自来水？！

Prefer to take bath in the morning rather than at night?

比起晚上，更喜欢在早上洗澡？

Western women can recover so fast after giving birth. Most Chinese women have to stay at home for at least one month.

西方女性产后恢复如此之快，而大部分中国女性必须要在家休息至少一个月。

Grandparents don't help take care of grandchildren.

祖父母没有帮忙照顾孙辈。

Parents and children sign agreements when they borrow money from each other. For most Chinese parents and children, there is no "borrow", but only "gift".

父母和孩子从对方那里借钱的时候要签协议。对大部分中国父母和孩子来说，没有“借”，只有“赠与”。

Like to talk with strangers

喜欢向陌生人搭话。

People love thrift⁴ stores

大家喜欢二手店。

Westerners really love sunbath, especially in the UK and Canada. Chinese normally⁵ avoid strong sunshine in order to keep skin pale…

西方人真的很喜欢日光浴，尤其是在英国和加拿大。中国人基本上都会避免被强烈的阳光晒到，以保持皮肤白皙……

Couples pay separately in restaurants and supermarkets.

在饭店和超市里夫妻俩各付各的。

Giving birth to babies without marriage. (No offense⁶. We just think that marriage can give baby a more stable environment.)

没结婚就生小孩。（并没有冒犯，我们只是觉得婚姻能够给孩子一个更稳定的环境。）

A lot of birds and wild animals don't fear for humans. Drivers make way for them.

很多鸟和动物都不怕人，司机还给他们让路。

Political correctness. People incline⁷ to shift⁸ topic if you mention religion, race, and separatism. They would like to talk more if they're familiar with you, in secret.

政治正确。如果你提到宗教、种族和独立，大家倾向于转换话题，如果他们跟你比较熟的话，会私下里多讲一些。

The government promises separatists more benefit, and the rest of the country pay for it.

政府会许诺给独立派更多利益，然后让国内其他人来支付。

Party a lot…

很多派对······

Drugs are legal…

毒品合法······

Guns are legal…

枪支合法······

Prostitution is legal…

性交易合法······

Many Canadian shopping malls are full of the scent⁹ of cinnamon. They use cinnamon in many desserts, we only use it as medicine…

很多加拿大商场满是肉桂的气味，他们在很多甜点里都有用肉桂，我们只把它当药······

Beggars¹⁰ and bankers can happily talk in cafe. (Not strange, but amazing and impressive¹¹)

在咖啡馆里乞丐和银行家愉快地交谈。（这不奇怪，但我觉得很神奇，印象深刻）

Very….impressive Chinese tattoos…

非常······让人印象深刻的汉字纹身······

(No offence¹³. We normally don't tattoo¹² these words, so we feel strange when we see them on someone else's body.)

（并不是冒犯，我们一般不纹这些字，所以我们在别人的身上看到时会觉得奇怪。）