Educational guidelines for Chinese traveling abroad

I hope you are a Chinese person when you read this article. When you intend to go abroad, it might be a very difficult task to behave appropriate in a country far away from China. Therefore, I will try to give you a basic list on how to behave abroad. This list however might not be complete… Despite, it will help you how to adjust your Chinese behavior abroad as Western people might condemn you as another rude Chinese person.

I am Chinese, how to behave abroad ?
- Don’t spit or fart or burp in public, don’t spit/burp/fart when you’re in company. Only undertake these actions when you are alone in the room.
- When you see a queue of people, put yourself at the end of the line or at the end of the queue. Do not line up in front of the queue..
- Do not walk or bump into foreign people on the sidewalk. Aim to avoid people while walking on the sidewalk of the streets, in public places and so on.
- While visiting a park or natural scenery, put your trash in the nearest bin. Do not throw trash in natural sceneries or public parks.
- Brush your teeth before leaving your home. If not, try to brush your teeth every 3 days at least.
- Don’t scream “laowai” or “Hello” at every foreigner you see
- When you go to pay your goods at the shopping-mall, wait your turn
- When you are interested in a certain good, don’t open it in the shopping mall without buying the good. Pay for the good when you leave the shopping mall. And don’t spit inside the shopping mall.
- Don’t make so much noise when you’re talking on the phone (it’s not because the person you are calling to is far away that you have to scream)
- Assume there are other persons around you in a foreign country as foreign people intend to be more social.
- If you intend to start a conversation on whatever occasion, you can talk about anything except for on topic : food.
- If you intend to help people or comfort somebody while he/she is sick, then don’t say “drink some water”. Rather advise the person to see a doctor.
- Don’t smoke in elevators.
- Don’t leave your house while wearing your pyjamas.

I am Chinese, how to behave on a dinner in a foreign country ?
- Eat with your mouth closed (in foreign countries, only dogs are allowed to chew their food with open mouth). If this behavior sounds difficult, then don’t accept invitations to a diner from foreign people and certainly don’t go to a restaurant.
- Do not talk while there is something inside your mouth. Or better, do not speak just after you just put something in your mouth.
- Don’t make so much noise when you’re talking in a restaurant. When people stair at you, it means you talk too loud.
- Do not drop any food from your mouth while eating. Do try to keep it inside.
- Do not burp when in public or in company. Do try to eliminate the noise you make while burping.
- Do not fart while eating in company or in public. Excuse yourself to the bathroom before doing so. Be inside the bathroom when it happens
- Do not spit out food while eating. If you feel some food-contents is not eatable, please use your napkin.
- Do not swallow all liquids at once while you are drinking.
- Try to wear that kind of clothes according to the venue and kind of dinner you are invited to.
- Don’t force foreigners to eat strange or disgusting things.
- Assume there are people in a party while you have diner, thus foreign people intend to be more social. F.ex. don’t push or touch people, don’t play with your fork or knife, in general… don’t do stuff that might annoy other people.
- When people stare at you, or when people give you angry looks, you must be doing something wrong.

I am Chinese, how should I drive in a foreign country ?
- Try not to honk every 5 seconds.
- Don’t forget to switch on your lights during nighttime.
- Don’t park your car on the sidewalks or other convenient places.
- Don’t drive on the opposite way of the road.
- Don’t cross full white lines.
- Don’t ignore red lights.
- Wait or stop when pedestrians intend to cross the road on a zebra-path.
- Don’t skip lanes without using your turning signal
- Fix your stopping lights, fix your front lights
- Make sure to have a number plate attached to your car before driving (hopefully the lawful one)
- Make sure you have a drivers license before driving a car
- Don’t park your car on the sidewalk or wherever there is space available. In foreign countries designated spots or ‘parking lots’ are available to park your car.
- Don’t overload your bicycle.
- Aim to be sober when driving
- Don’t yell at the policeman or argue with the policeman while being abroad, it might be a bad idea, i mean really bad idea
- Don’t stop your car abrupt on highways and then return to the nearest exit, backwards
- You might opt to put your car aside in a foreign country all by all.
- Get a driver’s license and if it’s not too much to ask, read a book that student-drivers have to learn to take the exam.

Major advice while being in a foreign country :
- Do not murder for money
- Do not accept bribes
- Do not lie for getting money
- Do not cheat on your wive
- Do not steal
- Under any circumstance, DON’T GIVE AWAY THAT YOU ARE CONVINCED THAT YOUR NATIONALITY IS SUPERIOR!