Spitting in China
posted on 13 Apr 2009 in Fun Pics
I have never been to mainland China myself (just Hong Kong), but over the years I have learned quite a bit about the country just by way of the many Chinglish submissions received. One thing I have observed is that they have a big problem with spitting. Either too many people spit all over the place over there, or the ‘Spitting Ministry of China’ is way too anal about where people should be spitting:
I think you get the point.
To be fair this last pic with the nice green gooey loogie is from Hong Kong.
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this is why llamas are banned in japan
Somebody spit up us the bomb!
Is the green stuff gum? If they’ve got a problem with people stepping in gum, that might explain all this.
On a serious note, I would suggest that this touchiness about spitting has to do with worries about flu epidemics and pandemics in China in recent years. The avian flu, when it becomes transmissible to humans, usually becomes attached to cells in the respiratory system, which means that it can be carried in mucus (in birds, it attaches to cells in the intestines).For this reason, spitting can raise the risk of contagion if the flu becomes easily transmitted from human-to-human.
This explains the last 3 examples you give, where clearly the worry has to do with some inherent health danger in the spit (deadly like a bomb, green and scary and monstrous)…..
if you look at old signs and posters from the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu, no spitting was systematically posted in public places in North America, with similar warnings.
@mononoke Thanks for the serious note. Helps to put it into perspective. And here I just thought they were spitting all over the place…
I was in mainalnd China a year before the Olympics. There is a HUGE spitting problem– everyone does it all the time, everywhere. It’s nasty beyond belief. Oh, and nose-picking is socially acceptable, too.
I’ll never forget seeing this really cute, very stylish young man talking on his cell phone while squatting at the bus stop and picking his nose and spitting. Old China meets new China.
Anyway, all over Beijing, there were propaganda posters that told people not to spit, spitting isn’t acceptable, etc. The gov’t was apparently launching a huge campaign to get people to stop, in order to not completely appall the rest of the world when the Olympics came around.
I have spent a significant period of time in China both in 2002 and in 2009. NOTHING has changed in regards to spitting. Neither SARS nor the Olympics have changed this disgusting habit. While walking a short 10 minute distance, one can encounter on average at least four people spitting. Mononoke suggests a possible explanation, but as a health care provider I can tell you that this explanation is neither logical nor correct. The young, the old, the urban residents, the rural residents – they ALL do it. If anyone ever discovers the reason for this unacceptable behavior, I would love to hear from you.
Sorry for hearing all of above! I’m a Chinese girl in age of 23. I think the habit of spitting of our people dates from long long ago! But one point is that our people have no malice for doing this! I have never sipt in public place and hate others spitting! I believe that China will be more and more clean with the effort of us! Thank all of you!
Spitting is soooo gross to me. I think it is gross to a lot of people and I don’t understand why people do it in public.
I’m Chinese living in China mainland and whenever I see spit on the floor or hear the loud noise of some people spit I gross out. And when I have the chance I let them know how I feel by staring at them with disgust written all over my face.
My boyfriend spits all the time in public places and it is so embarrassing. I asked him to stop but he says he can’t. It’s not chew or anything, just saliva. And he’s not Chinese, he is however from some sort of Asian descent. If anyone can explain to me what to do to help me to help him please do……….. I’m ashamed…..