I've been to "the prison of hospitality" many times,its so awkward - you just want to leave but food arrives and everyone expects you to eat it and sit down and relax when you rather be on your way and perhaps have limited time left...Happens in many places (im thinking colombia and turkey come to mind to begin with) ..great videos! want to visit China and am watching your videos with great interest !
Winston, I'm an introvert, and 'small talk' is actually quite agonizing for me. I felt your pain. Thank you for sharing your life with us. Hope you and yours are doing well. xo
You should play it smart. I would always go to visit my grandma whenever soap opera is on. Would eat it, help her with lunch after that, eat the lunch, and went home after 🤣🤣🤣
What You are telling about being a "hostage of hospitality" would happen pretty much also in Your family. I will never forget that everythime my grandma called me on phone, I knew I would loose at least on hour of replying "Hm" and "Yaya" by hearing same stuff for the 5000th time - I did not cut her off because she was lonely and I was living far away, meeting her only once a year. Long time ago, RIP. It is the downside of any kind of relation: in some way You become a hostage, which is good as long as You love it. But when that goes away, You have trouble to get out without insulting that person ...
My wife's family lives in this rural ara just like the one you showed. First couples of times there i thought i was going to pass away. It really tested my limit on how tolerant you can be when nothing is right, from the water to the toilets to the food it makes you SO irritable. You can't just tell them it's gross because it's insulting and they think it's perfectly normal eating this weird stuff but it makes my stomach turn upside down. And if my stomach aches and i can't get a break the toilets where it's actually colder than outside, and in the summer it's like being in an oven or a sauna. My wife would NOT be supportive because she thought i should accept her way of life or whatever. I felt trapped i can litterally not go out by myself they will follow me everywhere to "help" me which is actually a very nice way of treating people but i'm not chinese and constantly beng around people and wasting time drinking tea is not my idea of fun. This year was better i'm getting used to it a little bit and start to know the place so i found better food.
My brother in law as a diplomat in China nearly fainted when at a dinner a lid was lifted off a dish(for a colleague) and there was a cooked wolf pup, but with all its skin and face put back, " sleeping" on a bed of rice. I think I would have screamed and passed out all at once.
Haha! I love this because after just a year in China I know exactly what you are talking about. You are absolutely right. Chinese people are some of the kindest I have ever met. I always say this. But whenever a new Chinese friend invites me to their home I just mark off that day as done because I KNOW they will have me there all day. And we may be doing nothing for hours but the moment I say "Okay I'm gonna go" they start protesting about me leaving too soon. I couldn't understand it first but now I do, and I just accept it. It's their way and I really do love them :)
Yes， thank you for understanding,in fact ,you will used to it.If you really in hurry or have your own affairs.Just say that in a mild way，they just want to show their hospitallity ,normally,it's their way to treat guests.
I am Chinese American, I learn a great deal about China from your video, I took most everything as NORMAL until you pointed it out differently. You covered the ENTIRE China OBJECTIVELY. Great videos.
Winston is a "中国通",he knows China very very well. He is right, the guy was showing off or took advantage of Winston to bring him a "big face" or make him important in his village. This guy is called "土豪"， that means getting rich in one night. The reason he can get rich in one night because he is more aggressive than others. In the video, he showed too aggressive. He did not care what his guest---Winston's needs and Winston's feeling. He was generous, but he was impolite and he was using Winston as a token at the same time. But that guy doesn't represent most Chinese. Most Chinese are very generous and respect their guest very much as well. When they realize what their guests feel or need, as hosts they will adjust their arrangement as much as possible. They will never take their guests as "prisoners" to make them feel uncomfortable.
I do not why he goes there. Did not he know that there are different kinds of persons? Before you go deeper in the relationship, we should first to find if we two have similar personalities or if the person has some problems I cannot stand. I think he deserves the result. We Chinese actually will not meet some strangers, because we think we should first know each other and then be friend
Christopher Dixon some mainland chinese people have hard time adjusting what is common sense and what isn't. Takes another 30 years to catch-up to the standard outside...
+Yang Liu. I've been living in Chengdu for several years now. Please tell me... where is that 5000 years of culture and history? The great wall looks like shit in most places, ancient temples, monasteries and palaces torn down... In the center of Chengdu there used to be a palace from the Shu Kingdom. Now there is a statue of Mao. It seems to me that very few people in China actually care about culture and history...
Winston, I lived in China for about 7 years in the mid 90's and still travel there a couple times a year for business. I must say that I thoroughly enjoy your channel. Your content is exceptional and gives me the current perspective of how the times have changed. My family and I were just in Shenzhen and Hong Kong last weekend for vacation. Hopefully, we'll have the opportunity to grab a beer one day. Cheers and keep up the great work!
As a Chinese, I should say that I'm also not getting used to the rural way of hospitality and all the weird things regarding their face. For example, if you show them around in big cities and having a CLEAN meal, they will say: hey, well, the tall buildings in the city are crowded and the meal is not fresh so they are not as good as my village because what I have is always the best. BTW, cow stomach may be strange for westerners just like Escargot is strange for Chinese, though I like to challenge all kinds of food lol
I'm glad places like that still exist. It's a bummer when you visit someone in a different country, hoping to have a local, home cooked meal, and all they want is to take you to a japanese restaurant and talk about how they wish they lived somewhere else.
Yes, if the food is terrible than it's a problem. I am from Eastern Europe but thankfully my mom turns into a chef when my sister and her husband (who is from the city) shows up. Her food is not bad on daily basis anyways, but it always surprises me how much better and more diverse it becomes when they visit :D But yeah, I guess it depends on the person, how critical they are about their own home made food etc. My mom would never make something non-traditional that she has not done before and that has not gone through the extended family food criticism club.
I think the one thing I absolutely hate about Chinese hospitality is the "force feeding" part. They literally pick up food from plates with their own chopstick and put it in your bowl. The more you refuse their "help" the most they want to "help" you. One, I'm an adult so I can decide what I want to eat and how much to eat. Two, I don't want the dirty food that's touched your chopsticks to go anywhere near my plate.
Just tell them you are uncomfortable and don't want that, and explain it is not normal where you are from and that you appreciate the gestures and you are not being disrespectful. You must speak up for yourself in life.
OMG ! You are so right, highly appreciated the hospitality but sometimes it's too much. Here is an example I went to iran to visit some family memebers dude! I felt like I'm 5 years old kid. Cuz they control you by asking where you going or oh no we are not going there we will go somewhere else. Honestly If i was there and never had come to Canada i would have done the same to you lol sorry but its truth . Anyhow thank you for uploading such helpful videos . I'm sharing them with family and friends .
I experienced it this spring festival. It was new for me and I loved it. everything was fine except the home made white wine. It had very strong fragrance. I dont ever want to drink it again. I sipped it very slowly with my nose closed as it was making me wanna puke due to very hard fragrance. Later in evening I was again offered a different kind of alcohol and I couldn't refuse it. an hour later I puked all out and was drunk as hell but felt very ashamed and they were apologizing.
Very good video Winston. I like your channel, bro. I can relate. My wife is also Chinese from Shanghai and many times we have been invited to some restaurants to try some foods that I would rather not eat, but I have to show being grateful. I know the feeling brother.
Heya. I am a German National, living and having lived in China for 9 years now, previously visiting china for over 20 years. I have in the past watched several of your videos and enjoyed most of them. But as some other people pointed out, as of late it seems you are not happy in your situation. I understand that you do not enjoy the rural hospitality routine. But as I myself have gone through it many times, I can only say I enjoy it every single time. My Chinese is acceptable, enough for basic conversations about basic things, not good enough for technical or poetic items. This combined with the various accents in rural China makes these occasions very challenging. I remember 29 years ago, when I first saw the food preparation, the type of food and such, I was shocked. But over the years I have come to enjoy it. I personally find each and every visit thrilling. Every time I learn something new, every time I find another new custom or thing that I may have missed before or have never seen. Maybe the secret to enjoying it is wanting to know as much as possible, and thereby asking as many questions as possible yourself. The thing I regret at those times is that sometimes the communication, specially with very old rural Chinese is very very difficult, due to the previous mentioned dialects. Either way, since I have enjoyed your videos in the past, but as of late they do seem to be a bit darker, I hope you find a renewed sense of happiness to bring some of the optimism from earlier videos back into your life. Good Luck and Save Travels Andreas aka Fei Long.
He's ungrateful... If it's something different from his beliefs his brain automatically declares it as wrong... Why live there in the first place, it's a case of "when in Rome"... I understand he is in the States now, I hope he is finally happy... This time he better keep his rants to himself...
I’m enjoying his series. I used to be like him I always wore suits or dress wear. I live with a bunch of med students from China in Chicago and told them I was telling them I am interested in traveling to northern China. They recommended southern China and how northern China was cold and wet like Chicago
9:30 as a chinese person i think this is one of the main reasons. Hospitality also plays a part but they wouldn't do the same things for a black guy (sad but true) being around westerners (Whites) makes them feel important.
Some people like attention. If you see it for what it is and it doesn't harm then it wouldn't really matter right? Being a token white guy has its benefits.
I am a black British and had exactly the same. Presentation is a big part of perception. Earlier this year, I visited Yantai, I virtually did not pay for anything because people were so nice that in fact, they were prepared to fight me if I stopped them from paying for things i needed to pay for. Even the hotel I stayed was not paid for by me. Maybe I was lucky then but I've had same hospitality in other cities too. I'm currently planning my third travel back to china this year.
@@johnpineapple3329 Absolutely not. There is a lot more to my answer but I will leave it at that. Just curious tho, what made you decide you wanted to cook with a kettle in a Chinese hotel?
@tink86 L for the location you went, I will be of the opinion that they would be quite genuine when giving compliments. Other location such as Guangzhou will be quite different. And you should know this...Chinese people act different to one another depending on where in china they are from, you will also find sometimes friends who will go through anything to stick up for you even against other Chinese.
Been following your work with c milk for a while now.. your videos keep getting better bro. About 10 years ago I wanted to work in China, life lead me to California instead. So hearing your stories is like indulging in a parallel reality that I could’ve experienced.
Previous time I visited her, I tried to keep it short and leave when I've drunk my coffee, but then that old rat gave a present to me and my girlfriend and we couldn't leave right after receiving a present.
I think you explained perfectly....they will never accept or understand that we dont eat intestines .... they think it`s delicious and that is the end of it
Yeah, we eat all of that stuff here too. The only difference is that all the scraps of a carcass and the innards are usually grounded up and used in different things, especially prepared food and fast-food, like sausage, nuggets, ground meat, burgers, beef/chicken flavoring, etc.
No. mate, its called tripe and it was common in England, and probably USofA once, until we became too 'genteel' and 'refined' - or in other words, started to turn up our noses at what was seen to be 'common' or 'peasant' food. Truth is, intestines or stomach can be quite tasty, and not too bad if properly cooked (otherwise too chewy as often happens)
We used to eat offal in the west and offal is eaten in most places around the world it is just the west have become removed from certain cultures namely our rural heritage and instead opted for vacuum packed chicken breasts with pasta as we sit by our computers at the office. Offal is more nutritious than normal meat and it is a delicacy that should be enjoyed sparingly to suppliment our diets, especially in colder climates.
+ 3nien Don't forget 'black pudding' which is really a sausage made from blood. Very popular in the north of England once. The Germans call it blotwurst I think
same here in Vietnam, but you can get out of the trap by being firm and using a number of ready made polite sentences. You'll get the formalities required by observing and asking locals. Here you are allowed to dislike something, it wont offend them, and it's part of their entertainment to see how you'll react. They know their food is shocking, and that's why they brought you here, and they'll understand if you refuse because even local kids would refuse such kind of food that that takes a long time to get accustomed to (matured eggs, silk worm larvae, dog meat, super strong alcohol....). 1) they have to understand clearly the purpose of your visit (tourism, making videos, exploring etc...) 2) you can establish your schedule with them given the priorities you laid out in (1) You could simply have said you came here for sight seeing and would like to get out taking pics of their beautiful village instead of drinking tea. It would have made them proud all the same.
He just trying to be nice in his way, they are not well educated person. He treated you like you are new comer. Same way he will do to chinese people even to a relatives. This is the culture of elders people in downtown city. He was just too excited to meet a foreigners which he never going to have chance to do the hospitality again
Did you listen to the video? This is exactly what he says. He spends literally half of the video saying exactly what you just said. He gives a full appreciation of the generosity, but says it is double-sided, which it clearly is.
That's the drawback to being honest, but if you were really honest with yourself, this wouldn't happen. Being kind is not always being honest, and I suppose the reverse is true.
I dont think C-milk does it to show off, i think he does it so he can experience something completely different from normal. Thats why i try weird shit. Not specifically to say i did it, but so I experience something that very few westerners have. And a side effect of that is of course bragging rights.
I agree, C-milks expression when eating different delicacies seems genuine, he doesn't seem like the person who would lie about it. He's pretty straight forward so if he truly disliked the food, he would probably tell it straight just like all his other videos, he doesn't sugar coat anything and he just tells it as it is.
I have a pretty strong stomach, I could not handle the beefhide, Onions, Bloody goose, Mixed random Greens. and Bamboo shoots. Alls it was missing was three dicks!
As a person who has traveled the world I know what you mean. Only difference is I wasn't there for 10 years and I can see how that would get really irritating. As unpleasant as it was to watch and listen to you explain it to us, it's a VERY important piece of information people should be aware of and expect when traveling, not just in China but in any foreign country. Thank you so much for sharing it with us Winston. Best Wishes n Blessings. Keith Noneya
I think it would irritate me no matter what. The 'face' thing is such a weird concept, it doesn't matter if you respectfully decline they will be upset with you anyway. They kinda force you to do what they want and because you're foreign you dont want to be disrespectful, it might actually get you into trouble if you ignore it. Talking about respecting eachother's boundaries.
@@joanrobijn4118 As it's said in the movie, "We're not in Kansas anymore". Traveling the world definitely opened my eyes to other cultural expectations and why many foreign countries don't like American, U.S. Citizens. We tend to go around and expect other people of the world to have our values, and we do, been there done that. It's a matter of upbringing per each culture of how we're programed when we're little. Heck even in ancient Rome a parent could kill a child that brought shame to the family name, as long as they weren't married. By our standards we can murder a child still in the womb and call it birth control and it's perfectly legal but for most of the country is reprehensible. Yet those same parents that would kill a child in the womb if they wanted the child and it was accidentally killed would drag you into court for murder. So we do have our own quirks in our society. In closing I am aggravated by the "Face" concept myself. Best Wishes & Blessings. Keith Noneya
+sunny zhao Westerners talk shit about their own countries a lot, especially Americans. The rest of the world isn't as insecure about their country as some of the Chinese seem to be. Ease off on the nationalism, it's silly.
You can always say "thanks, but no thanks". I grew up in a very Chinese city just outside of Los Angeles. I spent my entire young adulthood eating and doing things I didn't like. Finally, I snapped and started to just say no thanks. The whole hospitality thing gets way old, especially when you seriously don't want to eat something that's fucking gross. Sure, it's weird at first, but it's better than constantly being someone's bitch and being too afraid to be yourself.
This chap makes great videos, doesn’t hype them up over the top, very informative. Stumbled on them by chance. I’ve no intention of visiting China but they’re still great viewing. 👍👍
Just subscribed to your channel Serpentza. I have to know more about my ancestors the Chinese race & I find your information really really good! Thank you Winston! 😄👏🏽👍🏽
Honesty used to be considered a positive trait yet the hateful comments would lead one to believe otherwise. I completely understand what he's talking about, my wife refused in advance numerous times to go out due to the obligation of 'returning the favor' that would be expected, not because were cheap, merely because it can become extremely time consuming. What was hard for me, was that it seemed to be always about 'try this' rather than "what does your husband like" so I went through a lot of napkins and appeared to have a small bladder to those around me :-) Like Winston, the hospitality was always appreciated however at times all I could think about was the phrase "to much of a good thing" and would find myself extremely bored if it dragged out. Christ, even here in BC, I only accept going to her brothers on occasion for tea due to it being a 3-4hr commitment. Am I implying that I don't appreciate his hospitality, hell no, it only implies that I would prefer it to be a 30min-1hr visit instead. Do your thing Winston, fk the haters....but lay off C-milk or I'll tell his boyfriend (Prozzie) to kick your ass. Who am I kidding, Prozzie's got no game and C-milks out of his league. Just kidding guys, Proz "ohhhh Canadaaaa", just busting your balls bud, cheers
Been in China for 2 years and over the past two years I've gotten a bit sick of the traditional hospitalities. Especially the feeling of being trapped and are forced to eat (Being forced to eat is torture). I'm quite like CMilk, love trying all the weird foods too, however my stomach can only hold so much food.
My take from life experiences is that MANY will take advantage of you, your time, politeness, generosity, money, what you know, with their selfish agendas and PUSH and TEST your boundary. Your lesson in life is to learn yours, say no when it’s pushing against your limit.
I love your older videos! It just feels like I’m watching another time😂fragments of a different time and part of your life…I also just love the driving talking videos I’ve watched a few now and they are awesome
Being window dressing gets old very quickly so after 10 years I'm sure the smiles take tons of effort. As far as hygiene and sanitary standards it's tough when we are accustomed to 1st world living. Your perceived cool life has heaps of behind the scenes work , sacrifice and compromise from what I can see. Its awesome to vicariously experience from my lazyboy air conditioned abode , sipping on a quality beer out of a clean glass. Thanks.
Hi Winston:. Is it my eyes or you are indeed driving pretty fast. Thank you so much for your 10 year awesome experiences in China . G-d bless you. Your Chinese car seems to respond great to your exceeded driving. Have a safe journey Winston. Greetings from Catalonia Spain
I had a friend who was a middle manager in a utilities firm in China , she kept inviting me to company dinners and her boss was always there . He was a bit domineering towards me in front of everyone....I went to three or more such dinners before I figured I was being used for ‘face’ whether by my friend or her boss I don’t know for sure
Sounds like touring through the Middle East. A friend was touring through the back roads and hinterlands of Palestine and Lebanon and many courteous people invited him in their homes. They all lavished him with tea loaded with so much sugar that you can see a lot settling in the bottom of the glass. Nobody believed him when he said he does not like sweet tea, but prefers it straight. Kind of like touring through Mississippi and telling the people there you do not like sweet tea; they just don't believe you and they try to push that swill on you.
I had meals cooked for me when I worked in China with the Chinese Armed Police Force [aka zhonguo wu jing]. We worked in the country side and I was given pig stomach once or twice a day, every day for a solid month. When I finally grew tired of eating it, I complained and said I'd eat anything else but pig stomach. Lol. I got goat stomach the very next meal. I'd rather eat the pig stomach. I eventually got use to eating it and after a year started enjoying it. But I totally understand and relate to what Winston is talking about in this video. And Archie Wei is right about being able to refuse hospitality....you just need a believable excuse so as your host doesn't come off as "losing face"
In 2004 /05, I was managing a small gold exploration program on Hainan Island for a joint venture between a small Vancouver based junior mining company and the Armed Police Force which used to call itself the "Golden Army". They are a group of former army personel and Chinese geologists that essentially do most of the small scale gold mining throughout China and other small Asian nations such as Miramar. China is not really a communist country but more of a military dictatorship. China doesn't have a military; rather the military belongs to and answer to the communist party and not to the people. Most people in China do not consider themselves communists.
I also made mistake of saying I liked pig trotters, so with one friend he only brings me to restaurant with pig , and always orders it for me , sometimes 2 dishes worth, He doesnt understand why I dont eat 5 lbs of feet
Hey Winston, Im Philip from Germany and in the past weeks I watched loads of your videos. This one made me cry with laughter. You do a great job man. Especially when you have to get rid of some emotions makes your videos superauthentic and a pleasure to watch. Keep it up :)
@@anonimato1987 i think they can. Because historically before CCP they were buddhists and knew hinduists well, and some branches (denominations?) of both of these religions preach vegetarianism.
To avoid all those foods you can claim being vegetarian, although, in my experience, it might be difficult to explain the concept of being vegetarian to them as well.
I am addicted to your videos. Please keep them coming. Your insight is appreciated! You crack me up sometimes as I also hate sitting still in one place for too long!
Heh heh. I got a different question. I went to the symphony. And we were hanging around in the lobby waiting to go in. And the guest conductor happened to be from Germany. Now, he looked *NOTHING* like me. But I kept getting asked if I was the conductor.
Fantastic video Winston. Frankly watching your videos is much better than any travel videos out there commercially. I have visited China a number of times for business at the Canton Fair. I have also been in Hong Kong for many trade shows. I am learning alot from you for my next trip.
I stumbled on your vids by accident. They’re great. I’ve never been to China and do not want to go. But I’ve been to Sapporo, Japan a few times and their hospitality is great. The people I met have never tried to “best” me. They’re proud of what they do/have but also ask a ton of questions about me, family, England. They show genuine interest. Give me Japan ANYDAY!!!!
I lived in Nanning, Guangxi for three years and now back in the states. During my stay there I can honestly say that they were the nicest people I've even run across. They go out of their way to be hospitable and help you if you need it.
It's interesting that you are sort of trapped in these situations where you're forced to accept their hospitality. It reminds me of situations where you visit far away family that you don't know, but are obligated to visit during a reunion and their way of life is so different and even unappealing. (My family is not like that but I have friends and past girlfriends that dragged me into these situations). My question is, is there no formal, polite expression or tradition the Chinese have that allows to to expedite or even forgo the pleasantries on a pretense of some critical, time sensitive objective ? They are a culture steeped in tradition and ceremony so there must be some expression or imperative that would allow you to politely but absolutely excuse you from the hospitalities. "you must excuse us, your hospitality is greatly appreciated but we have urgent business to attend to" it something along those lines ?
these videos got me through a really rough time while i was very sick. looking at them now is just blasting me with a nostalgia feeling, even though they were shitty times.
My wife is Chinese and I've been to China many times, everytime I get off the plane I think who's grilling? Then I remember that it's going to smell that way the whole time I'm there, and then you smell the water from the taps and realize it's not proper to piss in, public bathrooms smell from 100 yards away, it took me an hour once to find a toilet that I didn't have to squat to use which I never did and always got sick, 11 hour plane ride after puking and shitting through the eye of a needle at the same time for hours makes me remember why I haven't been back and hopefully never have to, my wife's family is upper middle class and thankfully we only ate at top notch vip room restaurants and hotels, where the food was actually really good strange some times but good, but even so I always got food poisoning.
Imagine your family invites your friend's daughter and her expat husband and friends out of hospitality. You share coffee and cookies and because you're genuinely interested you ask a bunch of questions to the expat because you have never met someone from abroad before. Then you go and invite everyone to eat at the best local restaurant, not only to be generous, but also because you want to show something about your culture that you're proud of. Then after your guests have left and you talk with your family about what an amazing experience it was to meet an expat living in your country, you log on to the internet and you find that this guy just made a 20 minute long video ranting in another language about how awful it was to meet you and your family.
i absolutley love your honesty as some people lie in these videos showing their point of view from a forced positive perspective to make things seem better than they are where as you just give your point of view without covering things up
The word "prisoner" is a precise description. I have been to that kind of situation which really awkward. I was thinking like just get rid of them, because that wasn't hospitality at all.
Cow stomach is delicious. It's midnight and this video has made me hanker for some pepper tripe soup. Totally get it, about the hospitality thing, tho'. In Malaysia, we try to push durian on you.
"Cow stomache isn't european food". Nope, cow stomache is one of traditional foods in Poland and around in neighborn countries, for example in Lithuania.
In brazil is tge same thing, "white" people when come to brazil have to try feijoada (beans with all parts of the pig) and if is the rural style most dont like.
I'm totally with you on this, serpent. You don't hear it much anymore, but when I first came to Taiwan I would be greeted with "have you eaten?" (That's poor people's thinking). If I ever honestly said "no", there would be a flurry of activity with everyone wanting to show off as the "provider", and buy me a bento box of rice with flavorless veg and meat on top (or usually sweet). People often ask me "Why did you want to come to Taiwan?" About one out of three times I'm interrupted with "It's because the food is so good, isn't it?" SHUT UP!!!! NO Westerner is going to come to Taiwan to get hot water with noodles in it or rice with something on top. Then (paradoxically) they say "Do you dare eat bad-smelling tofu or chicken feet?" (etc.) How can you assume that I might fear certain foods but also assume that I came to Asia "for the good food"???? I always say that chicken feet is too much work for too little food and I didn't grow up poor enough to want to eat that. (The word "poor" is scary to them. Taiwan is also "new money" and many people's greatest fear is to be called "poor" by a Westerner.) The drinking tea thing has cost me time on motorcycle trips, too. I'm probably more bold than you are to say I have to go. I tell people "I'm full, and don't want to eat any more." They say "but it's good". I say "I believe you, but I'm full." Similarly, if I really DO try something, people will ask me if it's good or not when I've picked it up and not even put it in my mouth yet. "Succeeding in getting you to try something" is their only goal. They don't give a crap about whether you have eaten it yet or not. One time a Canadian friend's aboriginal wife told me to try the soup (made by a Philippine friend) about ten times after I told them I was full. They wouldn't stop. I told my Canadian friend "Tell your wife if she asks me again, I'm going to smash her to death with this (nearby object)." He got the point and passed it on. I guess you're a really nice guy, Winston!!!
Totally agree with you!!!! I can't even stand the hospitality from my parents' friends, most of the time it really feels like what you said, struggling between being polite and trying to be free
I can relate to all of this. I went to China in 2017 and I loved the hospitality but did feel like a little trophy for them to showoff since I was a foreigner
LMAO on the raw meat restaurant. All I can say is that the Chinese in China have a lot to learn from Koreans and Japanese as far as civility. Part of the problem is that China is such a close society and there is a lack of cultural exchange with the outside, even with their neighbor countries. Similar to Iran and North Korea, whenever a country closes itself from the outside, it develops a lot of social faux pas from the international perspective. And this is what makes it sometimes seem hilarious and ridiculous to the outside. Good job on enduring through the whole ordeal.
I stayed with a homestay family in China when I was 14 for two days. On the first day I was ill with a really terrible stomach bug, on the second day my homestay family treated me to a feast at a genuine South Chinese restaurant. Of course they bought half the menu so I stepped up, at copious amounts of very spicy chicken feet among other things, and dealt with the ramifications the following day. Good times 😂
This video showed a great deal of his character. He could have just left but he chose to pretend polite and back stab everyone later who were just trying to be nice... They are not his race/people and naturally they are different but he made them look like bad people in this video... He didn't even bother blurring their faces... Poor host, he invited a moron into his house...
Hi Winston, I'm new to your videos and have recently become one of your subscribers. I've been living in Asia for over 18 years. You're spot on with this video. My days of being their prisoner are over. I refuse their invites and gifts. I do have a question though. If you're South African why do you say you're from England?
+Beyond Vegan you try explain a history lesson as to why you're not black to every single person you meet and you'll know why it's easier to just say I'm from England, plus my parents are British anyway so it's not far from the mark
I had this 'friend' that if she did something for you, she'd expect you to drop whatever you were doing even if you had plans and help her with whatever it was she needed because she helped you. I cannot stand anyone like this.
I've been to "the prison of hospitality" many times,its so awkward - you just want to leave but food arrives and everyone expects you to eat it and sit down and relax when you rather be on your way and perhaps have limited time left...Happens in many places (im thinking colombia and turkey come to mind to begin with) ..great videos! want to visit China and am watching your videos with great interest !
Here you have the hospitality .i. asshole what about the famous food of southafrica ... nobody there likes you...
You know hospitality has gone too far, when it makes someone with a UK flag headrest groan at the thought of drinking tea.
He's not from the UK though
@@MissCookieMonster102 I think he knows that mate. All the best
There's a difference between tea and English tea.
@@TheRealEnglishTeacherIf you’re talking about the setting, then yes. But English tea originates from China.
Yes but china's standards for tea could be 50% grass for the extra fiber lol
Winston, I'm an introvert, and 'small talk' is actually quite agonizing for me. I felt your pain. Thank you for sharing your life with us. Hope you and yours are doing well. xo
ur not introvert if u actally wished to be able to enjoy that, you are just untrained in social interactions.
Im an introvert also and deff felt his pain lol
Same! Small talk is cruel and unusual punishment
So basically, Chinese hospitality is the same as lonely-grandparents hospitality -- "Thank you for visiting, now you must entertain me."
:(
You should play it smart. I would always go to visit my grandma whenever soap opera is on. Would eat it, help her with lunch after that, eat the lunch, and went home after 🤣🤣🤣
Good example
In other words, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
that actually genius
What You are telling about being a "hostage of hospitality" would happen pretty much also in Your family. I will never forget that everythime my grandma called me on phone, I knew I would loose at least on hour of replying "Hm" and "Yaya" by hearing same stuff for the 5000th time - I did not cut her off because she was lonely and I was living far away, meeting her only once a year. Long time ago, RIP. It is the downside of any kind of relation: in some way You become a hostage, which is good as long as You love it. But when that goes away, You have trouble to get out without insulting that person ...
You'll be old someday. Maybe with no one to talk to. Good luck. You'll deserve it.
My wife's family lives in this rural ara just like the one you showed. First couples of times there i thought i was going to pass away. It really tested my limit on how tolerant you can be when nothing is right, from the water to the toilets to the food it makes you SO irritable. You can't just tell them it's gross because it's insulting and they think it's perfectly normal eating this weird stuff but it makes my stomach turn upside down. And if my stomach aches and i can't get a break the toilets where it's actually colder than outside, and in the summer it's like being in an oven or a sauna. My wife would NOT be supportive because she thought i should accept her way of life or whatever. I felt trapped i can litterally not go out by myself they will follow me everywhere to "help" me which is actually a very nice way of treating people but i'm not chinese and constantly beng around people and wasting time drinking tea is not my idea of fun. This year was better i'm getting used to it a little bit and start to know the place so i found better food.
you sound like a prisoner who gave up the fight for freedom
I recommend that you get divorced ass soon ass possible . Save your own ass Bro 😢
You must have yellow fever. No normal person would put themselves through this
Why move to China and marry a Chinese women if you have such a major problem with their culture and way of life?
Sounds like a real hoot... not, 😂😅
My brother in law as a diplomat in China nearly fainted when at a dinner a lid was lifted off a dish(for a colleague) and there was a cooked wolf pup, but with all its skin and face put back, " sleeping" on a bed of rice. I think I would have screamed and passed out all at once.
LOL WTF! 😳😁
I'll better stay with my beef roulade with red cabbage and dumplings and a big mug of Augustiner beer. Cheers and Greetings from Germany. :-D
Beatrix..extremely brutal.
I think I wouldve thrown up on the spot.
F*ck! I wouldn’t eat it. Isn’t it just a cooked animal with nothing added inside? Lol
Haha! I love this because after just a year in China I know exactly what you are talking about. You are absolutely right. Chinese people are some of the kindest I have ever met. I always say this. But whenever a new Chinese friend invites me to their home I just mark off that day as done because I KNOW they will have me there all day. And we may be doing nothing for hours but the moment I say "Okay I'm gonna go" they start protesting about me leaving too soon. I couldn't understand it first but now I do, and I just accept it. It's their way and I really do love them :)
Yes， thank you for understanding,in fact ,you will used to it.If you really in hurry or have your own affairs.Just say that in a mild way，they just want to show their hospitallity ,normally,it's their way to treat guests.
They are 'Great'...., are they not..?
*Good to know that. I though they're hospitality on for white ppl*
Rhonda B
You tell a good story. Had similar experience in Cambodia. Trapped and truly torurous!
I am Chinese American, I learn a great deal about China from your video, I took most everything as NORMAL until you pointed it out differently. You covered the ENTIRE China OBJECTIVELY. Great videos.
Great comment
Winston is a "中国通",he knows China very very well. He is right, the guy was showing off or took advantage of Winston to bring him a "big face" or make him important in his village. This guy is called "土豪"， that means getting rich in one night. The reason he can get rich in one night because he is more aggressive than others. In the video, he showed too aggressive. He did not care what his guest---Winston's needs and Winston's feeling. He was generous, but he was impolite and he was using Winston as a token at the same time.
But that guy doesn't represent most Chinese. Most Chinese are very generous and respect their guest very much as well. When they realize what their guests feel or need, as hosts they will adjust their arrangement as much as possible. They will never take their guests as "prisoners" to make them feel uncomfortable.
I do not why he goes there. Did not he know that there are different kinds of persons? Before you go deeper in the relationship, we should first to find if we two have similar personalities or if the person has some problems I cannot stand.
I think he deserves the result.
We Chinese actually will not meet some strangers, because we think we should first know each other and then be friend
Mingju Zhu how can you get to know someone if you won’t talk to them nonetheless show empathy and compassion towards them!
@sweetfreedom ca -u idiot! 😜🙄
I appreciate that he shows the positives and negatives from his experiences . Keep it up dude!
mostly negative just watch his other videos
Christopher Dixon some mainland chinese people have hard time adjusting what is common sense and what isn't. Takes another 30 years to catch-up to the standard outside...
+Yang Liu. Well done for proving his point.
+Yang Liu. I've been living in Chengdu for several years now. Please tell me... where is that 5000 years of culture and history? The great wall looks like shit in most places, ancient temples, monasteries and palaces torn down... In the center of Chengdu there used to be a palace from the Shu Kingdom. Now there is a statue of Mao. It seems to me that very few people in China actually care about culture and history...
David
fuck off western spy can't squat properly like real slav and asian lol jk
You really nailed it in this video. Great points.
Winston, I lived in China for about 7 years in the mid 90's and still travel there a couple times a year for business. I must say that I thoroughly enjoy your channel. Your content is exceptional and gives me the current perspective of how the times have changed. My family and I were just in Shenzhen and Hong Kong last weekend for vacation. Hopefully, we'll have the opportunity to grab a beer one day. Cheers and keep up the great work!
Just got back from China and this made me laugh with how spot on it is
"They get to brag about you for weeks, months or years really" lmfao
As a Chinese, I should say that I'm also not getting used to the rural way of hospitality and all the weird things regarding their face. For example, if you show them around in big cities and having a CLEAN meal, they will say: hey, well, the tall buildings in the city are crowded and the meal is not fresh so they are not as good as my village because what I have is always the best. BTW, cow stomach may be strange for westerners just like Escargot is strange for Chinese, though I like to challenge all kinds of food lol
I'm glad places like that still exist. It's a bummer when you visit someone in a different country, hoping to have a local, home cooked meal, and all they want is to take you to a japanese restaurant and talk about how they wish they lived somewhere else.
Yes, if the food is terrible than it's a problem. I am from Eastern Europe but thankfully my mom turns into a chef when my sister and her husband (who is from the city) shows up. Her food is not bad on daily basis anyways, but it always surprises me how much better and more diverse it becomes when they visit :D
But yeah, I guess it depends on the person, how critical they are about their own home made food etc. My mom would never make something non-traditional that she has not done before and that has not gone through the extended family food criticism club.
+John Holmes1 good is always a relative words!
The thing is Escargot is weird for westerners too! Lol. But I agree I like to try everything once.
Cow stomach isn't strange at all in France or Italy... "Westerners" don't really exist.
I think the one thing I absolutely hate about Chinese hospitality is the "force feeding" part. They literally pick up food from plates with their own chopstick and put it in your bowl. The more you refuse their "help" the most they want to "help" you. One, I'm an adult so I can decide what I want to eat and how much to eat. Two, I don't want the dirty food that's touched your chopsticks to go anywhere near my plate.
Yes, that's something that urks me too
Just tell them you are uncomfortable and don't want that, and explain it is not normal where you are from and that you appreciate the gestures and you are not being disrespectful. You must speak up for yourself in life.
OMG ! You are so right, highly appreciated the hospitality but sometimes it's too much. Here is an example I went to iran to visit some family memebers dude! I felt like I'm 5 years old kid. Cuz they control you by asking where you going or oh no we are not going there we will go somewhere else.
Honestly If i was there and never had come to Canada i would have done the same to you lol sorry but its truth . Anyhow thank you for uploading such helpful videos . I'm sharing them with family and friends .
🙄
Why do so many canadians go to Iran?
@@idontcare9797 they are making the biggest mistake of their life
That sort of hospitality was probably much more fun when everyone was hooked on opium.
agreed
Everything is much more fun when you're on opium
@@sd-wc9ep until you're eating your own shit thinking it's chocolate pudding
You got the British narco-state to thank for that!
Who’s your opium guy ?
Hey Winston, this is something I can relate to, even though I am Chinese. City born, city bred, I am not used to the rural hospitality sometimes...
changying jushi Yes agreed!
I experienced it this spring festival. It was new for me and I loved it. everything was fine except the home made white wine. It had very strong fragrance. I dont ever want to drink it again. I sipped it very slowly with my nose closed as it was making me wanna puke due to very hard fragrance. Later in evening I was again offered a different kind of alcohol and I couldn't refuse it. an hour later I puked all out and was drunk as hell but felt very ashamed and they were apologizing.
It's the same everywhere in the world. Rural areas are like that, no matter the country. Accept it, and adapt you to it.
+Changying Jushi That's because you are a nouveau rich who thinks he's better than the villagers.
do city Chinese consider a plate of fried pure fat a delicacy too?
Very good video Winston. I like your channel, bro. I can relate. My wife is also Chinese from Shanghai and many times we have been invited to some restaurants to try some foods that I would rather not eat, but I have to show being grateful. I know the feeling brother.
Heya. I am a German National, living and having lived in China for 9 years now, previously visiting china for over 20 years. I have in the past watched several of your videos and enjoyed most of them. But as some other people pointed out, as of late it seems you are not happy in your situation.
I understand that you do not enjoy the rural hospitality routine. But as I myself have gone through it many times, I can only say I enjoy it every single time. My Chinese is acceptable, enough for basic conversations about basic things, not good enough for technical or poetic items. This combined with the various accents in rural China makes these occasions very challenging. I remember 29 years ago, when I first saw the food preparation, the type of food and such, I was shocked. But over the years I have come to enjoy it. I personally find each and every visit thrilling. Every time I learn something new, every time I find another new custom or thing that I may have missed before or have never seen. Maybe the secret to enjoying it is wanting to know as much as possible, and thereby asking as many questions as possible yourself. The thing I regret at those times is that sometimes the communication, specially with very old rural Chinese is very very difficult, due to the previous mentioned dialects.
Either way, since I have enjoyed your videos in the past, but as of late they do seem to be a bit darker, I hope you find a renewed sense of happiness to bring some of the optimism from earlier videos back into your life.
Good Luck and Save Travels
Andreas aka Fei Long.
He's ungrateful... If it's something different from his beliefs his brain automatically declares it as wrong... Why live there in the first place, it's a case of "when in Rome"... I understand he is in the States now, I hope he is finally happy... This time he better keep his rants to himself...
Welcome to another video, always gets me and that music too.
damn you :D
I’m enjoying his series. I used to be like him I always wore suits or dress wear. I live with a bunch of med students from China in Chicago and told them I was telling them I am interested in traveling to northern China.
They recommended southern China and how northern China was cold and wet like Chicago
It happened to me too in a remote part of Guangdong. Swim bladder of a fish....yes, I ate one. Tasteless and rubbery, but at least I was polite :).
Damn, you hit the Murphy's Law of Hospitality jackpot.
9:30 as a chinese person i think this is one of the main reasons. Hospitality also plays a part but they wouldn't do the same things for a black guy (sad but true) being around westerners (Whites) makes them feel important.
Some people like attention. If you see it for what it is and it doesn't harm then it wouldn't really matter right?
Being a token white guy has its benefits.
I am a black British and had exactly the same. Presentation is a big part of perception. Earlier this year, I visited Yantai, I virtually did not pay for anything because people were so nice that in fact, they were prepared to fight me if I stopped them from paying for things i needed to pay for. Even the hotel I stayed was not paid for by me. Maybe I was lucky then but I've had same hospitality in other cities too. I'm currently planning my third travel back to china this year.
I’m sure you are a victim in some other way?@@Smacktee
@@johnpineapple3329 Absolutely not. There is a lot more to my answer but I will leave it at that. Just curious tho, what made you decide you wanted to cook with a kettle in a Chinese hotel?
@tink86 L for the location you went, I will be of the opinion that they would be quite genuine when giving compliments. Other location such as Guangzhou will be quite different. And you should know this...Chinese people act different to one another depending on where in china they are from, you will also find sometimes friends who will go through anything to stick up for you even against other Chinese.
Hello Winston, I’ve been living in Rongjiang, Guizhou and I understand! You’ve nailed my thoughts exactly! Love your videos!
Glad you understand
Been following your work with c milk for a while now.. your videos keep getting better bro. About 10 years ago I wanted to work in China, life lead me to California instead. So hearing your stories is like indulging in a parallel reality that I could’ve experienced.
Having lived in Taiwan for 16 years, I completely understand and can relate to your video. BTW...At least you didn't have to eat testicle soup.
He probably ate that too many times already!
Seems like being stuck at grandma
Showsky sounds exactly like it 😂😂
Except your grandma loves you. i doubt the Chinese host loves Winston ;-)
Was thinking sort of the same thing
Previous time I visited her, I tried to keep it short and leave when I've drunk my coffee, but then that old rat gave a present to me and my girlfriend and we couldn't leave right after receiving a present.
z ahio Goddamn, no love for gran-gran? 😂
I think you explained perfectly....they will never accept or understand that we dont eat intestines .... they think it`s delicious and that is the end of it
Yeah, we eat all of that stuff here too. The only difference is that all the scraps of a carcass and the innards are usually grounded up and used in different things, especially prepared food and fast-food, like sausage, nuggets, ground meat, burgers, beef/chicken flavoring, etc.
Most hot dogs etc. use cellulose casings.
No. mate, its called tripe and it was common in England, and probably USofA once, until we became too 'genteel' and 'refined' - or in other words, started to turn up our noses at what was seen to be 'common' or 'peasant' food.
Truth is, intestines or stomach can be quite tasty, and not too bad if properly cooked (otherwise too chewy as often happens)
We used to eat offal in the west and offal is eaten in most places around the world it is just the west have become removed from certain cultures namely our rural heritage and instead opted for vacuum packed chicken breasts with pasta as we sit by our computers at the office. Offal is more nutritious than normal meat and it is a delicacy that should be enjoyed sparingly to suppliment our diets, especially in colder climates.
+ 3nien Don't forget 'black pudding' which is really a sausage made from blood. Very popular in the north of England once. The Germans call it blotwurst I think
same here in Vietnam, but you can get out of the trap by being firm and using a number of ready made polite sentences. You'll get the formalities required by observing and asking locals. Here you are allowed to dislike something, it wont offend them, and it's part of their entertainment to see how you'll react. They know their food is shocking, and that's why they brought you here, and they'll understand if you refuse because even local kids would refuse such kind of food that that takes a long time to get accustomed to (matured eggs, silk worm larvae, dog meat, super strong alcohol....).
1) they have to understand clearly the purpose of your visit (tourism, making videos, exploring etc...)
2) you can establish your schedule with them given the priorities you laid out in (1)
You could simply have said you came here for sight seeing and would like to get out taking pics of their beautiful village instead of drinking tea. It would have made them proud all the same.
He just trying to be nice in his way, they are not well educated person. He treated you like you are new comer. Same way he will do to chinese people even to a relatives. This is the culture of elders people in downtown city. He was just too excited to meet a foreigners which he never going to have chance to do the hospitality again
Did you listen to the video? This is exactly what he says. He spends literally half of the video saying exactly what you just said.
He gives a full appreciation of the generosity, but says it is double-sided, which it clearly is.
What do you mean downtown city?
Why are you trying to explain this. He was extremely nice to Winston who DOES NOT deserve it.
Being nice is not a problem. There must be a line. Cut-off point .
That's the drawback to being honest, but if you were really honest with yourself, this wouldn't happen.
Being kind is not always being honest, and I suppose the reverse is true.
I dont think C-milk does it to show off, i think he does it so he can experience something completely different from normal. Thats why i try weird shit. Not specifically to say i did it, but so I experience something that very few westerners have. And a side effect of that is of course bragging rights.
I agree, C-milks expression when eating different delicacies seems genuine, he doesn't seem like the person who would lie about it.
He's pretty straight forward so if he truly disliked the food, he would probably tell it straight just like all his other videos, he doesn't sugar coat anything and he just tells it as it is.
Cmilk is a masochist !!
+Paulius Zenevičius I think it's the bragging rights he's really after haha, but yeah let's see if he responds to the challenge :)
serpentza
C-milk don't DISAPPOINT us !!
I have a pretty strong stomach, I could not handle the beefhide, Onions, Bloody goose, Mixed random Greens. and Bamboo shoots. Alls it was missing was three dicks!
It's a great TH-cam channel, you do a great job and I appreciate your window into real China.
"i just rather go and eat a bloody kfc" that's me in China, every time
As a person who has traveled the world I know what you mean. Only difference is I wasn't there for 10 years and I can see how that would get really irritating. As unpleasant as it was to watch and listen to you explain it to us, it's a VERY important piece of information people should be aware of and expect when traveling, not just in China but in any foreign country. Thank you so much for sharing it with us Winston. Best Wishes n Blessings. Keith Noneya
I think it would irritate me no matter what. The 'face' thing is such a weird concept, it doesn't matter if you respectfully decline they will be upset with you anyway. They kinda force you to do what they want and because you're foreign you dont want to be disrespectful, it might actually get you into trouble if you ignore it. Talking about respecting eachother's boundaries.
@@joanrobijn4118 As it's said in the movie, "We're not in Kansas anymore". Traveling the world definitely opened my eyes to other cultural expectations and why many foreign countries don't like American, U.S. Citizens. We tend to go around and expect other people of the world to have our values, and we do, been there done that. It's a matter of upbringing per each culture of how we're programed when we're little. Heck even in ancient Rome a parent could kill a child that brought shame to the family name, as long as they weren't married. By our standards we can murder a child still in the womb and call it birth control and it's perfectly legal but for most of the country is reprehensible. Yet those same parents that would kill a child in the womb if they wanted the child and it was accidentally killed would drag you into court for murder. So we do have our own quirks in our society. In closing I am aggravated by the "Face" concept myself. Best Wishes & Blessings. Keith Noneya
Makes you come off as very ungrateful, but at the same time very honest. I can see how it would get old, especially when you're in a hurry.
+ James Wang: It's funny. What about Chinese talking shit about America to Americans in the U.S.? And how would Americans treat Chinese then?
It doesn't. And it's better to see the bad truth than the sweet lies
Andrew Ihle South Africans are very honest in their opinion.
+sunny zhao
Westerners talk shit about their own countries a lot, especially Americans. The rest of the world isn't as insecure about their country as some of the Chinese seem to be. Ease off on the nationalism, it's silly.
+sunny zhao would say they'd treat you better than a chinese person a lot of the time if you did the same.
You can refuse you know, just say what you there for, tell them you have a schedule.
you dont get it, you have to be here
Just tell them "No Wei" ??
tell them i m sorry，i want to 。。。
+Stephen Mortimer LOL
thats considered extremely rude
You can always say "thanks, but no thanks". I grew up in a very Chinese city just outside of Los Angeles. I spent my entire young adulthood eating and doing things I didn't like. Finally, I snapped and started to just say no thanks. The whole hospitality thing gets way old, especially when you seriously don't want to eat something that's fucking gross. Sure, it's weird at first, but it's better than constantly being someone's bitch and being too afraid to be yourself.
This chap makes great videos, doesn’t hype them up over the top, very informative. Stumbled on them by chance. I’ve no intention of visiting China but they’re still great viewing. 👍👍
Just subscribed to your channel Serpentza. I have to know more about my ancestors the Chinese race & I find your information really really good! Thank you Winston! 😄👏🏽👍🏽
Honesty used to be considered a positive trait yet the hateful comments would lead one to believe otherwise. I completely understand what he's talking about, my wife refused in advance numerous times to go out due to the obligation of 'returning the favor' that would be expected, not because were cheap, merely because it can become extremely time consuming. What was hard for me, was that it seemed to be always about 'try this' rather than "what does your husband like" so I went through a lot of napkins and appeared to have a small bladder to those around me :-) Like Winston, the hospitality was always appreciated however at times all I could think about was the phrase "to much of a good thing" and would find myself extremely bored if it dragged out. Christ, even here in BC, I only accept going to her brothers on occasion for tea due to it being a 3-4hr commitment. Am I implying that I don't appreciate his hospitality, hell no, it only implies that I would prefer it to be a 30min-1hr visit instead.
Do your thing Winston, fk the haters....but lay off C-milk or I'll tell his boyfriend (Prozzie) to kick your ass. Who am I kidding, Prozzie's got no game and C-milks out of his league.
Just kidding guys, Proz "ohhhh Canadaaaa", just busting your balls bud, cheers
Thank you for understanding mate!
Been in China for 2 years and over the past two years I've gotten a bit sick of the traditional hospitalities. Especially the feeling of being trapped and are forced to eat (Being forced to eat is torture). I'm quite like CMilk, love trying all the weird foods too, however my stomach can only hold so much food.
Regardless of the subject matter I could listen to your soothing voice all day
My take from life experiences is that MANY will take advantage of you, your time, politeness, generosity, money, what you know, with their selfish agendas and PUSH and TEST your boundary. Your lesson in life is to learn yours, say no when it’s pushing against your limit.
I love your older videos! It just feels like I’m watching another time😂fragments of a different time and part of your life…I also just love the driving talking videos I’ve watched a few now and they are awesome
Being window dressing gets old very quickly so after 10 years I'm sure the smiles take tons of effort.
As far as hygiene and sanitary standards it's tough when we are accustomed to 1st world living.
Your perceived cool life has heaps of behind the scenes work , sacrifice and compromise from what I can see.
Its awesome to vicariously experience from my lazyboy air conditioned abode , sipping on a quality beer out of a clean glass.
Thanks.
+Master Q thanks mate, I'm glad you understand!
soulless concrete houses? I've never thought of it that way and my father came from a village from China. It is true! Good description!
Hi Winston:. Is it my eyes or you are indeed driving pretty fast. Thank you so much for your 10 year awesome experiences in China . G-d bless you. Your Chinese car seems to respond great to your exceeded driving. Have a safe journey Winston. Greetings from Catalonia Spain
In Germany we consider this speed as snail's pace. :-D
One of the best vids. Can hear the passion
I had a friend who was a middle manager in a utilities firm in China , she kept inviting me to company dinners and her boss was always there . He was a bit domineering towards me in front of everyone....I went to three or more such dinners before I figured I was being used for ‘face’ whether by my friend or her boss I don’t know for sure
I lost it at sand peanuts lmao xD
Sounds like touring through the Middle East. A friend was touring through the back roads and hinterlands of Palestine and Lebanon and many courteous people invited him in their homes. They all lavished him with tea loaded with so much sugar that you can see a lot settling in the bottom of the glass. Nobody believed him when he said he does not like sweet tea, but prefers it straight. Kind of like touring through Mississippi and telling the people there you do not like sweet tea; they just don't believe you and they try to push that swill on you.
Middle Eastern culture can be a bit stifling lol
I had meals cooked for me when I worked in China with the Chinese Armed Police Force [aka zhonguo wu jing]. We worked in the country side and I was given pig stomach once or twice a day, every day for a solid month. When I finally grew tired of eating it, I complained and said I'd eat anything else but pig stomach. Lol. I got goat stomach the very next meal. I'd rather eat the pig stomach. I eventually got use to eating it and after a year started enjoying it. But I totally understand and relate to what Winston is talking about in this video. And Archie Wei is right about being able to refuse hospitality....you just need a believable excuse so as your host doesn't come off as "losing face"
for real you develop a taste to the food. i eat blood now like its not even a thing. some things i still would steer clear of though.
In 2004 /05, I was managing a small gold exploration program on Hainan Island for a joint venture between a small Vancouver based junior mining company and the Armed Police Force which used to call itself the "Golden Army". They are a group of former army personel and Chinese geologists that essentially do most of the small scale gold mining throughout China and other small Asian nations such as Miramar. China is not really a communist country but more of a military dictatorship. China doesn't have a military; rather the military belongs to and answer to the communist party and not to the people. Most people in China do not consider themselves communists.
Mike Jerema.. well china never acts really like a communist state in the 21st century in real life to be honest..
Mike Jerema.. the military acts the same anywhere else on earth.. it is to back up the government most of the time
Mike Jerema .. even if you were offered disgusting food (in your opinion)..you always have the chance to pack your own meal for work
I also made mistake of saying I liked pig trotters, so with one friend he only brings me to restaurant with pig , and always orders it for me , sometimes 2 dishes worth, He doesnt understand why I dont eat 5 lbs of feet
Hey Winston,
Im Philip from Germany and in the past weeks I watched loads of your videos. This one made me cry with laughter. You do a great job man. Especially when you have to get rid of some emotions makes your videos superauthentic and a pleasure to watch.
Keep it up :)
"They want to show you their good hospitality and this is what you'll get every time" LMAO
Oh have you had yak milk tea yet? It’s more of a Tibetan thing but if you love drinking butter you should try it.
"oh sorry, i'm vegetarian", whew dodged a bullet.
I don't think Chinese people know or can even imagine some one not eating meat haha
@@anonimato1987 i think they can. Because historically before CCP they were buddhists and knew hinduists well, and some branches (denominations?) of both of these religions preach vegetarianism.
this guy is so honest, i love it
+b0r3d0n1ine glad you like the vids mate
Not only does he have ONE window open on the HIGHWAY, but it’s also RAINING outside
Their dumplings are one of my favorite Chinese foods, especially homemade.
To avoid all those foods you can claim being vegetarian, although, in my experience, it might be difficult to explain the concept of being vegetarian to them as well.
Just show them Earthlings and Dominion. Then they will understand.
Yeah, tried to explain that in Hong Kong, got served chicken ..... “Chicken?” .... “Yes”, the waiter said “vegetable”!
I kept wanting to say "But Winston, how do you REALLY feel about the food?" :)
I am addicted to your videos. Please keep them coming. Your insight is appreciated! You crack me up sometimes as I also hate sitting still in one place for too long!
Enjoying your show bro. Thanks for sharing your insights on China. Fascinating.
+david gimber glad you like the vids
what's the positive of their hospitality? the saying good bye part?
What are the same 20 questions that are asked?
do you like chinese GURL?
Heh heh. I got a different question. I went to the symphony. And we were hanging around in the lobby waiting to go in. And the guest conductor happened to be from Germany. Now, he looked *NOTHING* like me. But I kept getting asked if I was the conductor.
how much money you make?
Who did 9/11
puppetsock: You only live once, should've said yes and hit the stage
Even this video bored me. I can't even imagine the excruciatingly long day you guys had.
Fantastic video Winston. Frankly watching your videos is much better than any travel videos out there commercially. I have visited China a number of times for business at the Canton Fair. I have also been in Hong Kong for many trade shows. I am learning alot from you for my next trip.
I stumbled on your vids by accident. They’re great. I’ve never been to China and do not want to go. But I’ve been to Sapporo, Japan a few times and their hospitality is great. The people I met have never tried to “best” me. They’re proud of what they do/have but also ask a ton of questions about me, family, England. They show genuine interest.
Give me Japan ANYDAY!!!!
Chinese hospitality , A freeloaders Dream! I love this guys vids :)
I lived in Nanning, Guangxi for three years and now back in the states. During my stay there I can honestly say that they were the nicest people I've even run across. They go out of their way to be hospitable and help you if you need it.
I agree Nanninig people are great and fun,I went 3 times there before and miss it!
bob jones
It's interesting that you are sort of trapped in these situations where you're forced to accept their hospitality. It reminds me of situations where you visit far away family that you don't know, but are obligated to visit during a reunion and their way of life is so different and even unappealing. (My family is not like that but I have friends and past girlfriends that dragged me into these situations). My question is, is there no formal, polite expression or tradition the Chinese have that allows to to expedite or even forgo the pleasantries on a pretense of some critical, time sensitive objective ? They are a culture steeped in tradition and ceremony so there must be some expression or imperative that would allow you to politely but absolutely excuse you from the hospitalities. "you must excuse us, your hospitality is greatly appreciated but we have urgent business to attend to" it something along those lines ?
these videos got me through a really rough time while i was very sick. looking at them now is just blasting me with a nostalgia feeling, even though they were shitty times.
My wife is Chinese and I've been to China many times, everytime I get off the plane I think who's grilling? Then I remember that it's going to smell that way the whole time I'm there, and then you smell the water from the taps and realize it's not proper to piss in, public bathrooms smell from 100 yards away, it took me an hour once to find a toilet that I didn't have to squat to use which I never did and always got sick, 11 hour plane ride after puking and shitting through the eye of a needle at the same time for hours makes me remember why I haven't been back and hopefully never have to, my wife's family is upper middle class and thankfully we only ate at top notch vip room restaurants and hotels, where the food was actually really good strange some times but good, but even so I always got food poisoning.
Hearing sand peanuts makes me drools 🤤 bcus in my hometown we roast peanuts w volcanic sand 😋 they're fresh
International connection-- you are so honest 😂
Imagine your family invites your friend's daughter and her expat husband and friends out of hospitality. You share coffee and cookies and because you're genuinely interested you ask a bunch of questions to the expat because you have never met someone from abroad before. Then you go and invite everyone to eat at the best local restaurant, not only to be generous, but also because you want to show something about your culture that you're proud of. Then after your guests have left and you talk with your family about what an amazing experience it was to meet an expat living in your country, you log on to the internet and you find that this guy just made a 20 minute long video ranting in another language about how awful it was to meet you and your family.
he built frustration because he didnt dare express his preference of food and schedule to them in time.
i absolutley love your honesty as some people lie in these videos showing their point of view from a forced positive perspective to make things seem better than they are where as you just give your point of view without covering things up
The word "prisoner" is a precise description.
I have been to that kind of situation which really awkward. I was thinking like just get rid of them, because that wasn't hospitality at all.
Cow stomach is delicious. It's midnight and this video has made me hanker for some pepper tripe soup.
Totally get it, about the hospitality thing, tho'. In Malaysia, we try to push durian on you.
"Cow stomache isn't european food". Nope, cow stomache is one of traditional foods in Poland and around in neighborn countries, for example in Lithuania.
@@antanasruzgas3996 I'm from Poland and I didn't Heard about that XD
@@strawberryshortcake2134 nawet o flaki? XD
In brazil is tge same thing, "white" people when come to brazil have to try feijoada (beans with all parts of the pig) and if is the rural style most dont like.
Seems like after 10 years there you are having trouble “staying awesome “ 😂
I'm totally with you on this, serpent. You don't hear it much anymore, but when I first came to Taiwan I would be greeted with "have you eaten?" (That's poor people's thinking). If I ever honestly said "no", there would be a flurry of activity with everyone wanting to show off as the "provider", and buy me a bento box of rice with flavorless veg and meat on top (or usually sweet).
People often ask me "Why did you want to come to Taiwan?" About one out of three times I'm interrupted with "It's because the food is so good, isn't it?" SHUT UP!!!! NO Westerner is going to come to Taiwan to get hot water with noodles in it or rice with something on top. Then (paradoxically) they say "Do you dare eat bad-smelling tofu or chicken feet?" (etc.) How can you assume that I might fear certain foods but also assume that I came to Asia "for the good food"???? I always say that chicken feet is too much work for too little food and I didn't grow up poor enough to want to eat that. (The word "poor" is scary to them. Taiwan is also "new money" and many people's greatest fear is to be called "poor" by a Westerner.)
The drinking tea thing has cost me time on motorcycle trips, too. I'm probably more bold than you are to say I have to go.
I tell people "I'm full, and don't want to eat any more." They say "but it's good". I say "I believe you, but I'm full." Similarly, if I really DO try something, people will ask me if it's good or not when I've picked it up and not even put it in my mouth yet. "Succeeding in getting you to try something" is their only goal. They don't give a crap about whether you have eaten it yet or not. One time a Canadian friend's aboriginal wife told me to try the soup (made by a Philippine friend) about ten times after I told them I was full. They wouldn't stop. I told my Canadian friend "Tell your wife if she asks me again, I'm going to smash her to death with this (nearby object)." He got the point and passed it on.
I guess you're a really nice guy, Winston!!!
I like you, a straight shooter. telling it it like it is.
Totally agree with you!!!! I can't even stand the hospitality from my parents' friends, most of the time it really feels like what you said, struggling between being polite and trying to be free
I can relate to all of this. I went to China in 2017 and I loved the hospitality but did feel like a little trophy for them to showoff since I was a foreigner
I'm entertained hearing about but sympathies of the ordeal.
Come to North Carolina and will treat you right. Good food and good hospitality.
You are making me nervous!! Don’t record and drive in China! You’ve shown us how reckless the driving is there.
LMAO on the raw meat restaurant. All I can say is that the Chinese in China have a lot to learn from Koreans and Japanese as far as civility. Part of the problem is that China is such a close society and there is a lack of cultural exchange with the outside, even with their neighbor countries. Similar to Iran and North Korea, whenever a country closes itself from the outside, it develops a lot of social faux pas from the international perspective. And this is what makes it sometimes seem hilarious and ridiculous to the outside. Good job on enduring through the whole ordeal.
I stayed with a homestay family in China when I was 14 for two days. On the first day I was ill with a really terrible stomach bug, on the second day my homestay family treated me to a feast at a genuine South Chinese restaurant. Of course they bought half the menu so I stepped up, at copious amounts of very spicy chicken feet among other things, and dealt with the ramifications the following day. Good times 😂
Zero chance that I will ever invite this guy for tea and peanuts. Ungrateful!
This video showed a great deal of his character. He could have just left but he chose to pretend polite and back stab everyone later who were just trying to be nice... They are not his race/people and naturally they are different but he made them look like bad people in this video... He didn't even bother blurring their faces... Poor host, he invited a moron into his house...
Hi Winston, I'm new to your videos and have recently become one of your subscribers. I've been living in Asia for over 18 years. You're spot on with this video. My days of being their prisoner are over. I refuse their invites and gifts. I do have a question though. If you're South African why do you say you're from England?
+Beyond Vegan you try explain a history lesson as to why you're not black to every single person you meet and you'll know why it's easier to just say I'm from England, plus my parents are British anyway so it's not far from the mark
Oh, cow stomach in dim sum lunch is really good !
***** i said "some" white people while you just say 'yellow' people, and i am the racist? pretty obvious who's the delusional one here.
Vernie Hmusic_video Welrcum to a nadda veedee-o
Trust me. That think stomach wall of a cow is very chewy and juicy. It must be in some A1 source in order to taste good !!!
Cow stomach shouldn't be over-steamed or the texture could be gone. It must be chewy. Enjoy !
Rod 1984 he's really not being racist just a bit ignorant while you on the other hand referred to him as "yellow people"
how fast are you driving!¡? lol!!!!! it looks so fast.. is that just the camera doing that?
I had this 'friend' that if she did something for you, she'd expect you to drop whatever you were doing even if you had plans and help her with whatever it was she needed because she helped you. I cannot stand anyone like this.
I found out your channel today. I'm so sorry wasted. I have huge hangover and I cannot stop watching this your videos :-). Good luck