Hello ! Voici en avant-première exclusive pour vous chers weblecteurs, la partie étonnement de mon rapport de mission à l'étranger. Désolé pour les non-anglophones, je n'ai pas eu le temps de faire de traduction.

I.                  Chinese particularities

A.                How they welcomed me

• As I am their guest, they have invited me everywhere: karaoke, bar, restaurant. However, some people are very traditional and because of my position of student they do not speak with me.
• There are few foreigners in the city. Then, when I walk in the street everybody looks at me with a surprised glance.

B.                Everyday life

1.                In the morning

• After forty, many people take more care of their health, so they get up early (6am or earlier) in order to exercise. Different types of exercises are: dancing, playing badminton, doing gymnastics. Yet there are some strange exercises such as hitting themselves with a wood branch or whipping a kind of can that rotates like a spinning top.
• In restaurants, lunch or dinner consists in a large number of dishes (about 2 per person). People sit around a round table. The dishes are placed on a turntable on the table. People pick up food with their chopsticks in the dishes they want.
• For traditional people, the turntable must only be rotated clockwise.

2.                Lunch and dinner

• In restaurants, lunch or dinner consists in a large number of dishes (about 2 per person). People sit around a round table. The dishes are placed on a turntable on the table. People pick up food with their chopsticks in the dishes they want.
• For traditional people, the turntable must only be rotated clockwise.

3.                In the evening

• The inhabitants of Zunyi usually have dinner early, around 6pm (after work). Then, they like going out in some places, singing karaoke or playing Mahjong. A major part of the population also has the habit of dancing all together in several squares of the city.
• After dinner and spare-time activities, usually after 10pm, people like nibbling at little dishes (fried fish, fried vegetables…) sold in the street. It looks like Spanish specialities “tapas”. They call this “Xiao ye”.
• Another part of Chinese people goes to sleep early, often after dinner, between 8 and 10pm.

C.                In the city

1.                On the road:

• Dangerous and negligent driving: excessive speed, lack of use of turn signals, and driving on the wrong side of the street. Drivers sound their horn all the time and not just in case of emergency. Even if a pedestrian goes across the road on a crosswalk drivers do not stop.
• Only the driver must fasten his belt.

• There are a lot of scooters and motorbikes. All scooters are powered by electricity.
• Most cars are equipped with automatic gearbox.
• Public transports and taxis are cheap. A price of 0.25€ for going around the city by bus and an average of 1.5€ by taxi.
• A large fleet of taxi drives through the city, thus it is easy to find one.
• There are a lot of congestions due to a fast increasing number of cars on the road. Each day, 400 new cars are registered in Zunyi. To regulate the traffic, authorities set up special traffic lights and a lot of radars.
• There are a lot of European cars: Citroën, Peugeot, Audi, Volkswagen. The major part of these European cars is made by joint-ventures and is not sold in Europe:          

2.                In the street:

• In spite of the great number of road sweepers in the street, most pavements are still very dirty and smell bad.

3.                The shopping

• There are only 5 big supermarkets in Zunyi but many little shops and sellers in the street.
• Shops close very late, between 10 and 11pm

4.                The food and drink:

•  Breakfast is compounded with noodle soup, steam vegetables, rice porridge, hard-boiled eggs, and warm soy bean milk.
• The favourite dishes are rice, noodle, steam vegetables, fried meat, hotpot, soy-bean, soup.
• Local dishes are very spicy.
• We often meet offal for nibbles during the aperitif: pig liver, pig ears, pig intestines, pig blood tofu, goose liver, dog intestines, beef intestines.
• They like eating peaches and plums before maturity.
• There is a particular means of drinking alcohol during a meal. All people around the table must clink glasses with you (because you are the guest) and you have to do the same with everybody. Moreover, each time you drink you have to clink glasses. It is quite common for older members to toast younger members when eating. It is considered extremely disrespectful to turn down a toast, even in good faith.
• Tea ceremonial: tea has a special place in the life of Chinese people. As tap water is not drinkable a lot of people boil it. Then it is better to drink it with some tea leaves. That is why everybody has his flask of tea for the day. But tea is also a divine element. A traditional ceremony allows to honour gods.

5.                Foreigners in the city

• People of Zunyi are very nice and gentle with foreigners. They think that as you come from far, you make a huge effort to come, therefore they have to make a huge effort to welcome you.
• They have a good opinion of French people. We are known for being very romantic.
• Anyone who does not look Chinese will find that calls of "hello" or "laowai" are common: lǎowài (老外) literally means "old outsider", a colloquial term for "foreigner"; the more formal term is wàiguórén (外国人).
• The staring usually originates out of sheer curiosity, almost never out of hostility. We should not be surprised if someone comes right up to us and just looks as if they were watching the TV.
• Very few people speak English so it is very useful to learn Chinese.

D.               Other surprises

• Smoking: almost everywhere, including areas with "no smoking signs", including health clubs, football pitches and even hospitals. Few restaurants have no smoking areas although. Lower class establishments often do not even have ashtrays. Almost all men smoke cigarettes unlike women of whom only 30% smoke. Here, it is very polite to offer cigarettes and impolite to refuse it.
• The respect of hierarchy is a very important thing, even after work.
• Their favourite hobbies are card games and Mahjong. They often bet a lot of money when they play it.

• Sometimes, people carry strange sun protections like big leafs or umbrellas.

Some behaviours that are quite normal in China may be somewhat jarring and vulgar for foreigners:

• Loud conversations, noise, discussions or public arguments are very common. Many Chinese speak very loudly in public (including in the early morning) and it may be one of the first things you notice upon arrival. Loud speech usually does not mean that the speaker is angry or engaged in an argument (although obviously it can). Noise means life, and China is rooted in a community-based culture.
• Pushing, shoving and jumping queues: This often occurs anywhere where there are queues. Often there simply are no queues at all. Best bet is to pick a line that looks like moving.
• The concept of personal space more or less does not exist in China. It is perfectly common and acceptable behaviour for someone to come in very close contact with you or to bump into you and say nothing.
• Spitting: in the street, shops, supermarkets, hotel lobbies, hallways, restaurants, on buses and even in hospitals. Traditional Chinese medical thought believes that it is unhealthy to swallow phlegm.