Chilling Out in Shanghai/Diatribe on the Loogies

Trip Start Oct 07, 2008
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14
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Trip End Oct 25, 2008


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Flag of China  , Shanghai,
Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Today I woke up exhausted.  I ate breakfast at the hotel and then added some entries on my travel blog.  I wanted to rest in my room for the rest of the day, but I decided to at least take a walk around the neighborhood.  It reminded me of New York City.  The traffic was still a little crazy, but not as chaotic as it was in Beijing.  The traffic guards are very serious about their jobs.  I spent the rest of the day planning what I was going to do while in Shanghai and catching up on U.S. news on CNN and the BBC.  I love the BBC!  They seemed a lot more thorough than CNN.  Plus I love listening to British accents.

GROSS CONTENT ALERT!
Since this is a short entry, I'll use this space to talk about the hocking of the loogies.  In China when they spit, they tend go deep down in the throat noisily and pull stuff up.  I know. It's gross.  During my research for this trip, I learned that hocking of loogies is prevalent in China, though the government tried to get people to give up the habit before the Olympics.  I heard stories of people hocking the loogies everywhere, not concerned about where it would land, even if it was your shoe.  The way people wrote about it, I thought I would hardly be able to walk down the street without stepping in globs of spit.  Though I haven't seen anyone spit on anyone's shoe and I am able to walk down the street without stepping in spit, there is a lot of spitting going on!  During my first two days in Beijing I only heard one loogie hock a day so I thought it wasn't going to be so bad.  But when I started spending more time on the streets and at crowded tourist sites, the spitting was relentless.  The hockers are both young and old, men and women.  A few people spit into a garbage can instead of on the ground.

The funny thing is that I am somewhat used to it.  The restaurant at the small hotel in Moon Hill was outdoors.  As I ate breakfast, I could hear the neighbor in a nearby home hocking.  I was actually amused and it certainly didn't prevent me from enjoying my breakfast!

The nose-picking (or nose-digging) is also common.  It is not a source of embarassment if people are seen digging in their noses and flicking the boogers.  No Seinfeld "It wasn't a pick, it was a scratch" moments here!  I have seen so many people go to town!

Another habit that grosses me out is the snot blowing, where a person presses down one nostril and blows a blob of snot out of the other.  Luckily, this is not common. 

Stories about the spitting almost kept me from going to China because I thought it would gross me out.  If you are easily disgusted like me, don't let the spitting stories deter you.  You'll be fine.  It'll be worth it.  It'll get you prepared for trips to places where you might see things that are even more disgusting!
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