Comments on: In Love & Hate of Chinese Supermarkets

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:25:33 +0000

Your post has me crying with laughter. I just moved to Hangzhou a week ago. Haven’t been in many supermarkets yet, but had an experience with our new landlady that has me looking forward to the VPSIS. She barged in on me in her bathroom – after I had been in there long enough to be half naked – in order to show me how to use a roll of toilet paper. Haha! They’re on patrol, making sure you know how to put things in your basket – or wipe your ass.

By: mtran0708

mtran0708 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:52:38 +0000

Hi I can relate, however one thing that I love about Chinese Supermarkets is that it is always overcrowded (especially towards Chinese New Year). Down here in Australia it is not very often you see people rushing through aisles and sliding in between one another.

By: Living in China is Easy… | A China Blog on Suzhou Expat Life | The Humanaught

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:47:37 +0000

[...] talked about my love/hate of Chinese supermarkets previously, and so wont rehash it all here. Needless to say, I avoid shopping as much as [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:26:35 +0000

@Chris: Could I be wrong or do you always try to find an angle in my posts?

Haha! Don’t feel bad, I always try to find an angle in everything I read. It’s just that I guess I still don’t get the point of forcing oneself to say something good (or bad) about a topic. Part of the reason, I think, is that whenever I’m talking to a Chinese person, and I find myself saying something bad about China, I feel a powerful urge to follow it up with something like “but of course that’s just one side of the story …” and then say something nice to make them him or her feel better. I really don’t like this urge in myself.

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:32:15 +0000

Great lists. I have no comment about the milk as I don’t drink any… I go with soy milk instead. And fortunately, I go to smaller stores near home to avoid the crowds (that’ll change once Carrefour opens). And have you tried the Inca Chips? They’re “Ethnican Flavor.”

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 02:12:26 +0000

@Jeremy: Not to push fates or anything, but with the exception of promoting certain “movements”, the chances of anything truly violent happening to an expat in this country for talking shit is pretty limited I think.

Ironically, going the way of Che would do nothing but lend stability – the guy was essentially a Maoist

Re: Walmart – like cinemas that play movies in English, Suzhou is notably lacking in this department.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 02:02:05 +0000

Hey Chris / Ryan,

I’ve got plenty of things I hate about China – it’s just trying to avoid gfc backlash and not wanting to be arrested, you know?

Going the way of Che is not the smartest way of dealing with the craziness this country presents… if you catch my drift. Unless you want to die.

There are more things that piss me off about China than the average expat blogger, from what I’ve seen.

Then again, we might all just be watching what we say – self-monitoring, so to speak.

PS – Good list of love / hates of Chinese supermarkets – the only one I really love is Walmart, which there is only one real one in Shanghai, and it’s still crazy crowded (just not as bad as most Chinese supermarkets)

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 11:17:34 +0000

Alright, I think I’ve got one I’d like to do. Hopefully I can get it sent by the end of the weekend.
(this post is mostly a way of reminding myself to do so…)

By: Tam

Tam — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 06:44:13 +0000

ha! Was nodding in empathy/agreement at a lot of this. Cheap beer – Woohooo – and you might like to know that Shenyang’s Beer “Snow” is formaldyhyde free!! I can get it here in Zhejiang.

Where I am it’s pretty quiet in the supermarket… great…. but it means there are more fuwuyuan (assistants) than shoppers, which means a million of them are on hand to help me, or merely watch me….

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:58:51 +0000

@Chris: Could I be wrong or do you always try to find an angle in my posts? I think I made it pretty clear the object of the post (and the Group Writing Project) is to force yourself to write both the loves and the hates. Some topics (ie. Chinese supermarkets) will lend themselves to being easily criticized by their very nature. To contrast, Jeremy is having trouble coming up with things he hates. That's the point. To challenge yourself to see the side that isn't always easiest to see, and in so doing also illustrate that (as Rick so correctly stated) Black + White = Fucking Grey. You've read this blog long enough, and know me well enough to know I have no qualms about tearing China a new one should I see fit to do so. This project is just a way to do something a little different.