Did you know...? Part 1

Red is a very lucky color. It’s used in weddings, during labor, infancy, and basically any other time you need luck.

The number 4 is unlucky. The pronunciation of 4 is the same as the pronunciation for death. However, other numbers such as 6, 8 and I think 9 are considered lucky.

Everyone is your ‘sister’ or ‘brother’. This can become quite confusing. For example: I thought I went to visit a Chinese friend’s sister. She kept calling her jiejie, which means older sister in Chinese. Later I come to find out she’s actually her cousin. She just uses sister because it implies a greater familiarity. It’s the same with friends. An older friend is your jiejie or a younger female friend is your meimei. And then you have the same with guys.

The Chinese character for good fortune, fu, is everywhere. However a lot of times you’ll find it’s upside down. At first I thought someone was being mean and put it upside down but there’s actually a reason. Evidently the character for ‘to arrive’ and ‘turn upside down’ have the same pronunciation. So by turning the character for good fortune upside down it means good fortune will arrive.

Don’t wear a green hat or dye your hair green! This means your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse is cheating on you. And everyone will laugh at you.

There are constantly fireworks going off everywhere, although usually the kind that just makes noise but doesn’t light up. These are done at ceremonies, particularly weddings. Since I live in a hotel, I have the “pleasure” of constant fireworks. Luckily people don’t usually get married early in the morning.

My students told me that it is common for parents to forbid their children to date while in the university. However, some said they did it anyways and just didn’t tell their parents. Dating is forbidden because dating takes away from your studies and competition for jobs is very competitive.

Boys and girls aren’t friends in China like they are in the US. My students told me they thought at first I was dating some of the other foreign teachers because I would be seen walking and talking with just them. As it was explained to me, you can be friends with the opposite sex but you usually don’t hang out one on one or people will wonder.

And dating… the majority of Chinese people date with the intention of marriage. They don’t do casual dating. Evidently if you’re dating someone it’s fairly serious.