Smile!

If you ever make it to this part of the world and feel like having a good laugh, try smiling at a Chinese person. You’ll get a real kick out of it. I don’t mean friends or your typical tour guide or hotel staff who are trained to smile as a regiment for keeping their jobs. I mean the average stranger on the road. Chinese people are not used to smiling at strangers for no apparent reason. I think its an American thing. The British for example are notorious for being snobs on the streets of London. That's just my experience. OK, back to China. It’s not that they’re unfriendly, as many of my American friends who have been to China thinks. Chinese are just not used to it. Just like we’re not used to squatting to rest, eat or take a dump. They’re just not quite sure how to react and associate it with an ulterior motive. I’ve gotten all sorts of reactions from smiling at strangers. Many tend to just stare dumbfounded until I pass them by. One woman literally caught off guard, raised her eyebrows. Her neck straightened as her eyes bulged. I had to smile to myself. However, I’ve noticed that if I do the ‘Gentleman’s nod', combining the smile with a slight nod of the head, some of the older men will smile back. I’ve yet to receive a scowl. Think I’ll keep trying until then…