Sweden vs. China

Happy Fall 2018 everyone!

Based on the title of this post, you probably already have a sense of idea of what's about to come.

This is regarding the latest news on Sweden vs China. No, I'm not talking about soccer or hockey, or any type of sport for that matter (unless you count verbal abuse as a sport).

On September 2, three tourists from China arrived to Stockholm, Sweden (by the way, it's a beautiful city...I was pretty sad I didn't get the chance to explore everywhere) and wanted to check in to their hotel. However, the check in wasn't suppose to be until the following day. If they wanted to check in early, they would have to pay an extra night fee. That is the norm, and the rules.

The only difference is that the China tourists (I will emphasize CHINA because they are different than from other Asian countries) begged to check in earlier and stay the night for free because they had no where else to go. Any hotel in this world would not check you in earlier FOR FREE. You have to pay. So this was explained to them. The next thing we know, the Swedish police were called in to help assist the tourists out.

The tourists were now upset (I mean, I guess I can understand why...because they didn't get to stay for free for one night), and were now begging in front of the police, asking them why they're treating the elders like this. The response from the police was that they took the tourists to a transit station, which was located beside a graveyard.

I guess they got offended by the graveyard sign?

There is a Swedish comedy show that did a skit on this matter. It was translated into Mandarin and then streamed onto the net where the Chinese took huge offence to what was being broadcasted. It implied that China tourists poop on historical buildings/sites, as well as having them eat dogs for lunch.

Now they have brought this matter to the media in China. As a result, the Chinese have taken action to boycott any Swedish companies including Ikea and H&M to name a few. They have also asked Sweden to APOLOGIZE to China for their mistreatment in the first place of the tourists. Knowing that China is one of the biggest consumers in the world, this would impact businesses and tourism within Sweden and their known companies.

So let me break it down for you based on what I can understand:

1) I hate to be a racist here (maybe I'm not, who knows), but I find those from that area of Asia do not have knowledge of right or wrong. I'm not saying ALL of them, but a good amount of them have no sense of right or wrong. Mannerism is not at the top of the list. I have seen them piss in the public, and I mean IN FRONT of the public and they have no shame in it whatsoever. I have seen them dip their feet in the fountains outside the Louvre. I have seen them spit and shoot snot on the ground with people in close proximity. I have seen them poop on benches/on the floor (thankfully it was through surveillance video and not in person). They also talk and yell in public for no apparent reason; I guess it's just the way they talk. But seriously, you wouldn't want to walk in a nice restaurant or a movie theatre, and hear them blasting in Mandarin about how much they have to pay for a ticket.

2) If you want to check in to any hotel when it's NOT your check in period, YOU HAVE TO PAY. Really, it's that simple to understand. Unless you're the CEO or the queen, YOU STILL HAVE TO PAY. No one will get a free pass if you want to check in early. Heck man, you want to check in 3 hours early, you still have to pay. Life is not fair, so suck it up.

3) China tourists are manipulative. Yes, they really are. They make it seem like the Swedish police beat them up and was cruel to them. Sweden released a security footage of the event unfolding in the lobby before they checked in. No sign of police brutality. They love twisting words to get people to believe in them.

4) China wants to boycott Swedish companies? Ok cool, boycott them. We will just tell the rest of the world to not visit your communist country as a vacation spot.

5) China tourists will raid all the luxury handbag shops in other countries. I have been to Chanel, Prada, you name it, and the Chinese will grab any bag they see fit and just keep it with them. I once was looking at a classic flap, and I specifically asked to see that particular one. I'm looking, and the next thing you know, a China woman grabs it from my hand. Excuse me? I gave her the death stare. Thankfully it wasn't the one I really wanted so I didn't make a huge deal out of it, but if it was, I wouldn't tackled her for it.

My parents have visited China before and I've heard some horror stories from them as well, hence my reluctance to visit. I've already got a general sense of what the health quality is like there, as my dad came back sick and then gave it to me. I have never, in my life, gotten so sick. It's like getting H1N1, with days of non stop high fever, a really terrible sore throat that I couldn't talk or swallow, and it took forever to recover. I don't know what kind of flu or diseases China has, but let's just say if I visited, I would probably be hospitalized in the ICU.

I'm Asian myself. But I don't connect myself with the Chinese because I'm not from that part of Asia. Being born in Canada makes me a lot different than them as I don't associate with their culture as much.

For a country that wants to take over Taiwan, and other parts of Asia (or the world), maybe start off by teaching your offsprings about mannerisms. The last thing we need is China taking over other countries that have worked so hard to gain their independence, when they don't even know the difference between pissing in public and pissing in private.

Unfortunately the rest of the world does know the terrible etiquettes of the Chinese, and there are times people mistaken me as a China woman, because I speak Mandarin. I do get offended at times especially from people who INSIST I'm Chinese. No. I'm Taiwanese. And I'm proud of that. I'm not Chinese. So don't insist on calling me a Chinese when you don't know the difference between Mandarin and Cantonese (and no "Chinese" is not an official language). Just like my fellow friends from Hong Kong. I call them Hong-Kongnese. Singaporean from Singapore. Malaysians from Malaysia. Vietnamese from Vietnam. Koreans from South/North Korea. Filipinos from Philippines.

Chinese is reserved for China. Period. Don't associate Chinese with the rest of Asian looking people because although we all look Asian, we are definitely different from those in China.

Think extra careful when you speak with your friends, or just people in general, from those who come from Asian countries.