THREE We were walking down – well, it could have been any street in Shanghai, really. Someone offered us a “lucky red envelope”, explaining to us that this envelope would bring us wealth. [ + ]
THREE
We were walking down – well, it could have been any street in Shanghai, really. Someone offered us a “lucky red envelope”, explaining to us that this envelope would bring us wealth. Inside, there was a red card, with the symbol of this year’s animal painted in golden brushstrokes.
My friend looked away, but I was curious and wanted one – two, in fact. I thought it would be a nice present to offer to someone like me, someone superstitious.
He said that he could sell us one envelope each. That would not be a problem. However, if it was just me buying, I could have one or three envelopes, five, even, if I wanted. But he wouldn’t sell me two, or four.
At the time, I didn’t understand the principle, which is in fact very simple: odd numbers are lucky. Chinese tradition dictates that material things should be given to others in odd-numbered quantities. Public holidays, too, last either one or three days. When venerating a statue or an image of an ancestor, you should bow three times, or five times, or once… Seven or nine times would be better still. After nine, though, the golden number is twelve – an even number.
CHILDREN RIDING PARENT-CONTROLLED PURPLE ELEPHANTS A whole range of things have been adapted into Chinese culture; it is well known that the Chinese embrace change and development rapidly. Lactose is better assimilated by the younger generations, and so there are now some very tall men and women in China. [ + ]
CHILDREN RIDING PARENT-CONTROLLED PURPLE ELEPHANTS
A whole range of things have been adapted into Chinese culture; it is well known that the Chinese embrace change and development rapidly.
Lactose is better assimilated by the younger generations, and so there are now some very tall men and women in China.
But the Chinese are not only getting taller: it seems they are becoming wider, too. McDonald’s and KFC have been widely accepted and welcomed in China.
Nowadays, China is reaching record-breaking levels of obesity: there are fat camps and fat-reduction hospitals where parents can send their only child to lose all those extra pounds.
In ten years, China’s childhood obesity rate has doubled, with the greatest gains made in urban areas, owing to more Westernized dietary habits combined with more sedentary lifestyles, with more and more kids spending time in front of their computers and playing video games instead of going outside and getting some exercise.
According to recent official figures in China (2012), more than 12% of the nation’s children are overweight, representing some 120 million individuals under the age of 18.
This trend is partially due to a loss of neighbourliness and community spirit . Children have no brothers and sisters, and instead of living in an open environment such as the lilong where there are other children to play with, their typical living environment is an apartment on the 30th floor, with only Mum, Dad and/or Grandma and Grandad for company.
As a result, parents take their children down to ground level – home of the shopping centre and the market place. Then, using a remote control, they set in motion the newly bought purple elephant, or giraffe, upon which the child is sitting comfortably, so that parents and children alike can happily eat their ice cream in peace.