Self Serving customs and sayings

i have noticed in my long stay in china that china has alot of customs and sayings, almost anyone you talk to will say at some point in the conversation say” in china its a custom to….” or ” … its our custom to do that” i have come to realise there is a custom for everything probably most of the customs are thought of on the spot. also i figure a real custom must be old and have some sort of history. the other day i went to a wedding and i asked some people how much money should i give to the bride and groom and they all responded in china its a custom to give 200yuan if you are going alone or 500 yuan if you are bringing a date/partner. i’m wondering how long this exact amount has been an actual custom because for the local chinese person 500 yuan is alot of money nowdays its about 1/3 to 1/4 of their salary and i know about 10 years ago 500 yuan was a few months salary. i think what they should say is that giving money is a custom and if you ask how much should you give they should respond ” people usually give 200yuan” they can’t actually say 200 yuan is a custom because i know in a few years 200yuan will be almost worthless. and if you give that much you will be insulting their customs

another custom that i don’t understand is everyone says its a custom in china to buy a house before you get married, i don’t disagree with it but i do think its odd because not too long ago almost everyone lived in apartments and dormitories that their employer provided and many young people had to put their marriage plans on hold until their employer agreed to give them their own private apartment or at least their own room unless they wanted their co-workers to watching them rutting away. i personally think that would kill the romantic mood.

that bring me on to my next point, chinese sayings. i have heard hundreds of different chinese saying since i came to china if someone has big hands they will say ” in china if you have big hands its lucky” if they have small hands ” in china if you have small hands its lucky” and if you have uneven eyes ” in china if you have uneven eyes you will find lots of money” whatever special feature or cruel deformity someone has they will know a saying about it that is ” its lucky, it will bring them wealth, it will let them have a long life, it give them a high sperm count”

if you eat sweet food you will have a girl and if you eat sour food you will have a boy is another ones of the sayings one person we know ate lots of sour food and her husband ate lots of sour food so they would have a boy and when the mother got pregnant the woman knew in her heart it was a boy so she told all of her friends how lucky she was and how the saying works, however 9 months later out popped a baby girl so i guess the saying didn’t work quite how she wanted. and she was also terribly embarassed because she told all her friends it would be a boy because she ate the food. maybe someone should have told her a famous western saying ” don’t count your chickens before they hatch”

i would like to make a collection of the weirdest chinese customs and saying everyone has heard of so please send them to me

Posted in Life, Humor, Suzhou, My life