I think the #1 thing I hate about Chinese culture is the concept of “face” (面子)。
It’s shallow, its superficial, it’s materialistic and it’s ridiculous. It causes people to judge you based on what you have/don’t have. This causes a lot of problems in the society. First off, relationships become all about gift giving instead of cherishing each other, secondly it causes people to spend into debt in order to afford superficial things, and thirdly it makes more people judgmental.
In America or Canada or even Korea, I can rest assured knowing that people don’t give 2 shits about what I own or what brands I wear. None of my clothes are designer brands. I don’t own a car. I live in a small apartment. And it makes no difference to the people here. Billionaires here drive Toyotas and Mazdas. So what right? Just because you have money doesn’t mean you should show it off.
But in China, because of the concept of face, you have to show off. And people will judge you if you don’t. It’s a ridiculous concept to me. I guess this is one of the main things I agree about Korean culture more than Chinese culture. I care about my appearance, I want to look my best for people, but I don’t really care what you own or what designer brands you have or how much money you have. It’s not important to who you are as a person.
