Things that are the same:
Keeping up with the Joneses – Everyone in China is always comparing themselves to the neighbors. How much do you make? Where do you live? What do you do for fun? Where do you eat dinner? What brands of clothing do you where? What kind of car do you drive? These questions are all asked/thought/discussed on a regular basis. Just like America.
Vanity – I am pretty sure this is the same anywhere on the globe. The only difference is the manner in which an "acceptable appearance" is achieved. While many American's will grind out an hour a day on a treadmill, most Chinese would prefer to only eat once a day for a month. I don't consider that a difference though. Just a different means to an end.
Opinions – "Opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one and everyone thinks everyone else's stinks." I think that pretty well sums it up. You might think Chinese people are not allowed to have opinions because of the limited free speech in China. You would be wrong. They all have strong opinions. They just have to share them with you in print.
Things that appear the same, but are very different:
Superstitions – American's have some stupid superstitions. So do the Chinese. The difference is that most Chinese structure their lives around their superstitions. Most often because someone told their forefathers a long time ago that it was what you had to do. For example, women don't get out of bed or wash their hair for 40 days after child birth. Apparently this is to make sure their bodies fully recover from childbirth. No one can explain why they don't wash their hair. Gross.
Capitalism – The Chinese will tell you that they have a capitalistic society. I agree with them, to an extent. I also think that they are much more "capitalistic" in many ways. For example, they don't really believe in intellectual property rights. In free-market capitalism supply and demand reach a point of equilibrium naturally. Thus, trademarks and IP (which are government mechanisms for altering the natural point of equilibrium) aren't really a concept that fits. The Chinese agree and the "stuff that fell off the truck" that I can buy for a fraction of the price of the retail stores are a great example.
Elevators – An elevator is an elevator, right? Well, not in China. They have programmed these things to be death traps. You will never see a Chinese person stick their hand between doors that are closing for fear of losing their hand. You won't see me do it anymore either.
Alcohol – This should serve a warning to anyone travelling to China. Just because the bottle says it is a 30-year-old Macallan, doesn't mean it is. The Chinese have no problem refilling bottles of good liquor with something they cooked up in the basement. Rule of thumb: if it is too good to be true, then it probably isn't true. This isn't limited to liquor. Rumors abound of resold high-end wine and even bottled beer.
Pets – American's love their pets. Chinese love their pets. Same, right? Not exactly. Most American's treat their pets pretty well. The live indoors, get fed well, sleep on comfortable beds, get walks, etc. In China, pets are treated like accessories. Not like the stupid little toy dogs that idiotic women put in purses and carry to the mall or on a plane. Chinese people dye their dogs to look like other things. Pandas: check. Tigers: Check. Circus Clowns: Check. Turtles: Check. Olympic Rings: Check. Google Image search "dyed dogs" for a full image listing. I haven't seen a Tiger or a Turtle on the streets yet, but I have seen a Panda and a circus clown. Ridiculous. Strangely enough, "pets" also include street dogs that people take care of. These dogs sleep on the streets, but come to their "owners" to get fed and washed. The Chinese consider them "their dogs". Although, I am pretty sure if I was a dog I would rather live on the streets, get feed well and get an occasional bath than have someone color my coat like a circus clown.
Refer to every other blog post for other examples of things that are different. This list is much too long and not the point of this post.
