Cultural differences between Sweden and China.

Question

Looking for help...Next week I have an oral presentation, and my group have chosen to talk about alcohol habits amongst students. Everything started with that we were trying to find a topic for our presentation and then started to discuss differences between the countries we come from. The biggest differences that we found was between Sweden and China, and therefore we decided to talk about these two countries. The biggest difference that we discussed was what students do in their spare time and in the weekends, and how their relation to alcohol look like. My classmate from Beijing talked about a lot of interesting things, but considering that China is a very big country we need the opinion of other students as well. We would be very grateful if some Chinese students could write a little about the life as a student, leisure pursuits and the point of view on drinking alcohol in China, and especially in Beijing. Of course, everyone who want to comment this are welcome, you don't have to be from China.Thank you in advance!

OCEANRACER · Accepted Answer

china,,,it is so hard to eat chinese meals i think

Anonymous · Answer

OCEANRACERchina,,,it is so hard to eat chinese meals i think

Why ?

I like chinese food mainly chaomin and some other preperations also

OCEANRACER · Answer

my friends say "in china people eat all things that breathe",,,i like chinese so much but i cant eat their meals

Anonymous · Answer

I assure you that you don't need to worry to be eaten if you come to China <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

OCEANRACER · Answer

hehehehe<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/2.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/2.gif' alt='Emotion: big smile'/>

Anonymous · Answer

Well, the obvious ones would be that...

China is hugeley overpopulated and enforces a single child policy.

Sweden is very under populated, and would benefit from increased population.

China is radically changing - every pieceo of land being turned into factories or mega shopping cities.

Sweden is mostly natural countryside and isnt changing much.

China relies heavily on coal fuel which it uses very inneficently..

Sweden has advanced environmentally friendly super-efficent energy technologies.

The world exploits the low wages and manufacturing capability of china, where people are forced to do very dangerous/unpleasant jobs for very little money. (coal mining)

Sweden is one of the richest countries in the world with a tiny population. It would be far to expensive to manufacture anything there. People have very nice safe, well paying jobs.

In china the culture is about working hard and respecting authority of work, school, your elders and bosses.

In sweden people are free to grow as individuals. The world respects both their philosophical/political academia as well as the creative design and art.

In China people eat many many diffrent colourful, exciting foods (some scary ones)

In sweden people eat very simple/ordinary things like sausages & cheese.

Zhao_the_Passerby · Answer

Well, since I am a Chinese, and I like alcohol, and I have spent some years in colleges, including one year in Beijing, I would like tell you something about Chinese alcohol and Chinese students.

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Traditional Chinese alcohols are distilled mainly from fermented cereals. Other types of distilled drinks also include brandy and whisky, which are not very popular among Chinese people.

The quality and price of different brands of alcohol vary widely in China's market. You can even buy a bottle of alcohol (500ml) with acceptable quality at a price of less than a half US dollar, as is the common price of a meal in a typical college canteen. And almost no prohibition or limitation of alcohol, or such like, has ever happened in China, at least in my memories. Children at any ages can buy alcohol freely, and drink freely, except for some of them who are banned by their parents. Most of the colleges may have disciplines prohibiting "over-drunk", but these disciplines only act if you have done something wrong after over-drunk.

In Beijing, a very popular brand of alcohol is called "Hong-Xing-Err-Kuo-Tou" in Chinese, which is the students' most favorite. Your classmate from Beijing must know it. More exactly saying, "Hong-Xing" is the trade mark, which means "red stars". And "Err-Kuo-Tou" is the name of a kind of alcohol, which also indicates a kind of taste, and a kind of technical process in brewing.

Traditionally, Chinese do not hit the bars. We drink in restaurants, or at home. Students usually choose those little inexpensive restaurants nearby their college.

Well, the scene is like that: a bunch of young students sit around a table with foods-in-mess on, exited by alcohol, and talking loudly. In some foreigners eyes, this may be too noisy, and annoying. But if you have blended in them, you may find it's interesting.

Often there may be some guys are trying to make others drink more, and for this they have lots of tactics. They always find good reasons for you to drink a slug, and after it, another one. Someone prefer finger-guess game, which is performed very loudly. Usually this small war of making others drunk is friendly, but sometimes may cause unhappy ends. Very rarely, for students. So, if you are with them, you should be cautious for this game. But don't worry, it's friendliness. I think this custom is taken from Mongolia, who believes making guests drunk is a kind of hospitableness.

Another favorite drink of Chinese students is the beer, which can't be called alcohol, as in my dictionary. But some students also get drunk with beer.

*****

Since China is a developing country, well, more straightly, since China is poor, most Chinese students go to college mainly for a job training and a diploma. Thus most are very diligent. And usually girls are more diligent than boys, for which I don't have sure reasons.

In spare time, boys may choose surfing the internet and playing internet-games mostly. Football is the most popular sport game. I think this part is similar with that in other countries. Maybe the different things are our concerns, our topics and the style we do our common things.

China is a big country in rapid changing, and the young students are at the front tip of this changing wave.

I have left college years before, so I can't be called a student. Hope you make more young Chinese student friends.

******

I will be very grateful to those who correct my English above, of any errors or even vagueness. Please feel free in pointing out any of them, since this is a ESL forum. Thanks for reading.

Cultural differences between Sweden and China.

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