I was just thinking that Chinese people are very different from place to place. I travel around the middle kingdom whenever I get a chance and chat to local ren whenever I get the chance.
How do you find your local folk? I've lived in two places here in the silly kingdom, Sichuan and Chongqing and both of these people even considering their close proximity are very different.
Chongqing ren seem to be both the friendliest folk and the craziest at the same time. They seem to really own the idea that people think they are like a spicy serving of ultra spicy hot pot. Hot and crazy.
Also Chongqing people do love to think of themselves as different from the other "locals" that have moved to CQ to live. Remind them that they were born in a time when CQ was a part of Sichuan province and that will not make them happy. "Our parents always told us we were different from those people"
Now to hear this you might get the impression that CQ ren are not the most welcoming people around but you would be wrong. CQ ren are a proud bunch but very warm to strangers, they just like to think of themselves as different. They are always willing to give you a chance and will forgive readily if you put your foot in your mouth.
If you are up for some crazy fun your friendly cq ren will always have a suggestion or two and KTV has never as been as fun as with a bunch of pissed up Chongqing folk. I remember once singing a rendition of linkin park's "in the end" which did not have subtitles and managed to get through it with grace and skill
to the uproarious applause of my fellows. After which I was asked to repeat the performance while my friends knocked on the doors of other rooms and wrangled staff to come watch, after which we had a room full of onlookers (we had the largest room in the KTV about the size of my apartment) which ended in a huge round of cheering and driking with about 40 people from the other room and what I am sure was a decent number of stunning women of the night
When I lived in Sichuan the people there were more sedate and relaxed and also more reserved, most people can find local friends over a few social occasions but unlike CQ ren that will have an almost instant sense of friendship and closeness Sichuan people are relaxed and calm and can be a lot of fun as well.
Now I know that you can't get an accurate impression of the local folk when you are breezing through town but I'll give you a short impression of the people I have met on my travels.
Shanghainese:
I know a few Shanghainese VERY well, having known them for more than 4 years. Teaching them in Australia and then hung out with them in their natural environment in Shanghai (or as I like to call it the big empty)
I like Shanghainese, note I like REAL Shanghainese not the myriad of people that live in Shanghai and pretend or claim to be Shanghainese. These people or girls tend to be the ones that are extremely money grabbing and intense.
Shanghainese people like foreigners as a general rule and tend to be funny and open and love to laugh and if you can get passed the endless espousing about how great SH is and how it is the greatest city then they can be a lot of fun to hang out with.
Also as a side note when I say open I don't mean promiscuous as about 80% of the Shanghainese girls I know in their mid 20's are still virgins awaiting marriage or have had only one bf.
Which leaves me to a funny story, when I was teaching In Aus I had a very close students, more like a very close friend. She knew my brother and would come to BBQs with us and hang out a lot with my family in Brisbane. She was a cool girl and a little innocent (which a lot of SH girls tend to be) and in fact she was the one that convinced me to come to China to teach in the end and was horribly disappointed when I went to Sichuan instead of Shanghai (see previous conversations about how AWESOME SH is lol)
So basically this girl didn't want to date a foreigner and as a very pretty girl she ended up knocking back white guys almost on a daily basis for the 4 years she studied in Australia.
However she had a childhood friend that lived in SH and worked for an international fashion company, they had been best friend since they were 5 and were very close.
One day she announces to me that she has been talking to her friend about me and to my shock had been talking to her friend that I should marry her friend
Additionally she told me that she had given her friend my msn, I was a little annoyed and also a little wierded out (reasonably I think) When I logged into my msn that night I was greeted by my students friend and we had a long chat. I asked the girl if my student had been up front about her intentions in introducing us and she replied that she had. She explained that she wasn't interesting in dating a foreigner but because her and my student had been friend since they were children she trusted her opinion and took it very seriously. After exchanging some photos (she was probably one of the most attractive Chinese girls I have ever met) but definitely not my style, she was a virgin and quite traditional. An amazing person but like I said that's not my style. She flew to Paris a couple of times a year and could speak excellent French so I was tempted but knew myself enough to know it wouldn't work out.
For me that's how Shanghainese people are, if they accept you then you are IN and really far in, they will treat you like family and give you a trust that is absolute.
Kunming/Dali/Yunnan ren:
I like going to Yunnan it's a lovely place, I've been there a few times and most recently to Dali and Kunming in the last month. I like these people but generally speaking I can find them a little cold to strangers, and take a while to warm up.
Last time I was in DaLi I went to a cafe 5 days in a row because I really liked the food. But over those 5 days the owner or any of the staff didn't try to make conversation or appear too friendly even after continual repeat business. And the same went for the local foreigners that came back time and time again, no friendly veneer just a mildly polite one.
I had a friend that worked a year in Chongqing and then a year in Kunming and she had the same opinion, she found CQ people to be very open and friendly off the bat and Kunming ren to to be a bit cold up front.
I have a few Yunnan ren friends in Cq and I find them to be a delight but it did take a little while for them to warm up. That being said I've never lived there and just have the holiday/friends in Cq from there to judge by.
Hmm I'm tired now, I'll add some more later. In the meantime how about it, how are the local folks in your neck of the woods?