There are few bloggers that have graced the English-language China blogsphere (seriously – there must be a better way to phrase that) with such wit and hilarity as has ex-Yellow Wings blogger, ex-Sinocidal blogger and ex-laowai Meursault (aka Chou Chou).

Well, he’s returned — in writing at least — with a humorously cautionary guest post at MyLaowai entitled “Things Never To Trust in China“.

The list of 50 items is “entry #1 in an ongoing infinite series” – here are a few of my favs:

  1. A 50/50 androgynous student. Always assume the worst.
  2. Any declaration or announcement from any Chinese authority that begins with the words “For your safety”.
  3. Shops that only consist of a man in a bomber jacket smoking a cigarette next to a fridge.
  4. Directions from a man who pauses for more than one second.
  5. The information plaques in museums.
  6. “And now on CCTV, news from our Tibet Correspondent.”
  7. “Mei wenti”.
  8. The exact time in Xinjiang.
  9. Anyone who refers to you as “friend”, and especially anyone who refers to you as “old friend”.
  10. Chinese proverbs that suspiciously back up EXACTLY the point the person was talking about.

Discussion

4
  1. You really do have to be careful of those androgynous students! I have a student who I was absolutely certain was a boy. Several weeks into the school year, she came to class wearing a dress and a bow in her hair. Now I know the truth…

  2. Ryan, I left last month…planned on it for quite some time. And it should be long-term, though my mind may change if the job prospects don’t pan out. Of course, I may just try to convince my wife to move to Costa Rica instead.

Leave a Reply

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

Return to Top ▲Return to Top ▲