When I first planned to come to China, it was to visit my brother, and in the process I booked a private three week tour of central and southern China. When I asked the Shanghai based Chinese company for relevant and necessary cultural information useful for foreigners visiting China I was told that:

• I must not wear shorts
• I must wear long sleeve shirts
• I must not have shirt buttons undone
• China is a very strictly moral society and my behaviour must be 'upright' at all times.

You can imagine my reaction, then, to:

• Seeing men on the main streets, washing cars, while wearing nothing but brief underwear.
• Seeing old women walking down the street wearing nothing on the upper part of their bodies.
• Seeing hundreds of boys in their wet briefs standing on the banks of rivers.
• Seeing naked boys (of all ages) sitting on river banks.
• Seeing brothel after brothel after brothel along the main road.

But what of Chinese "friendliness?" Chinese people are all very friendly and polite, right? "Do you think Chinese people are friendly?" is a frequent question one encounters here. "Of course they are," you say. But the flip side is that, like any other country, many people find the presence of foreigners repugnant.(I thought I was going to have a punch up with the security guard down the road the other day, after he screamed at me because I smiled and nodded my head to him).

Did you know?

• Did you know that Foreigners steal Chinese Children?
• Did you know Foreigners BUY Chinese babies so they can harvest their body organs?
• Did you know Chinese cook and eat unwanted babies?
• Did you know that America is an imperialist nation that wants to conquer China?
• Did you know that Everyone in America is a millionaire?
• Did you know that Americans keep Chinese people as slaves and servants?
• Did you know that Australia is full of sheep?
• Did you know that Australia is a tropical country?
• Did you know that Australia is ruled by President John Howard?
• Did you know that Australia is a colony and BELONGS to England?
• Did you know that all Westerners are white, speak English, are Christian, rich and American?
• Did you know that, in China, secret police follow foreigners around all day and night?
• Did you know that it is unsafe to walk in the streets in China, after dark?
• Did you know that all Chinese will cheat or steal from foreigners?
• Did you know that Chinese people are all poor?
• Did you know that there is no poverty in America?
• Did you know that Chinese people can only have one child?
• Did you know that Chinese people get rid of their female children in favour of boys?
• Did you know that Foreigners all have many, many children?
• Did you know that Chinese people are communists?
• Did you know that Americans hate Chinese people?
• Did you know that Chinese people think Mao was the best thing since sliced bread?
• Did you know that China is a peace loving nation?
• Did you know that armed police patrol the streets in China?
• Did you know that Foreign students go to school only 6 hours a day and have no homework?
• Did you know that Chinese society is a sober, law abiding society?
• Did you know that Chinese men regularly beat their wives?
• Did you know that Chinese people have no 'rights'?
• Did you know that there are more regulatory laws in America than in China? (True)
• Did you know that per capita, there are more prisoners in America than in China? (True)
• Did you know that the English bathe only once a month? (Actually the average is 3 weeks).
• Did you know that American beaches are full of naked women?
• Did you know that Australian women often wear no tops at the beach? (True)
• Did you know that American men are all gay?
• Did you know that American men come to China to find wives because American women are not good wives? (mmm??)
• Did you know that American's are not interested in marriage, and those that are, get married many many times?
• Did you know that Michael Jackson is in trouble because he had sex with little girls? (how do you explain to a nation in which males hold hands, hug, and share the same bed, that Michael Jackson is in trouble for doing exactly this?)

It used to be that we liked honesty and hardwork. Now it seems we like gossip and propaganda.

R.P.Bendedek

Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com

Note: Because of the recent Server change, some links may not work. This file was amended September 2007.
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R.P.BenDedek is the pseudonym of the Author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' (www.kingscalendar.com), and is a guest columnist at Magic City Morning Star News. An Australian, he currently teaches Conversational English in China. King's Calendar Social Commentaries may be found at: http://www.kingscalendar.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=viewnews&id=331

"The King's Calendar" is a chronological study of the historical books of the Bible (Kings and Chronicles), Josephus, Seder Olam Rabbah, and the (Essene) Damascus Document of The Dead Sea Scrolls.