The service industry in China.
In France, in the fast-food restaurants, when you have finished eating, you are expected to clear your meal-tray, but in China you are not.
In France, it is a mark of respect, people consider nobody else than you can clear your meal-tray.
However, when one goes to a restaurant (a non-fast-food restaurant) one is not expected to clear the table… It is logical because all the related services are included in the price.
That is why the Chinese way of doing seems more logical to me because it is not a matter of respect since you have paid for the related services.
Nevertheless, I would not feel comfortable not to clear my meal-tray when I eat in a fast-food because it is part of my culture to do it (even if I know that it is acceptable not to do it in China).
That is why I go on clearing my meal-try…
Road traffic in Shanghai.
It was the most disturbing thing for me when I arrived in China.
In Western Europe, everybody (but pedestrians) fulfill the Highway Code.
That is why what happened to me surprised me: pedestrian signals were green, traffic lights (for cars) were red, I wanted to cross the street but motorbikes didn’t care about the traffic regulations and did not let me cross the street.
And even more surprisingly, they even honked as if I was expected to let them pass by (now, I think I was) whereas according to the traffic regulations they had to stop to let me cross the street.
Actually, that situation happen anywhere anytime.
In France people tolerate that pedestrians do not fulfill the Highway Code whereas in China it seems that people tolerate that motorbikes do not fulfill it.
Cultural legacy in Shanghai.
I was very pleased to go to Jiang'an temple to discover a typical Chinese temple.
When I get off the subway, I was hardly surprise to see that the temple was just above the subway station!
A subway station had been built just below a more than 2.000 years old typical temple!
Moreover a lot of tourist buses were parked in the central yard of the temple: I was puzzled!
Before coming to China, I expected every historic site to be very-well protected but I heard some historic sites were destroyed or revamped (in a more convenient design) when the “modern Shanghai” was built.