Beijing's new harmonious society

[Steve_Halt]

dude, if it were chinasmack only... heard stuff even more weird than those replies.

[TB-Racing]

2012-9-10 | NEWSPAPER EDITION SHANGHAI DAILY


Chinese, expat neighbors clash more often
________________________________


WHEN Wang Aijuan, 70, moved into her new apartment on Hongmei Road in the Minhang District three years ago, what she thought would be a joyous chapter in her life quickly turned sour.


The Hongchun residential complex she now calls home sits astride a street of restaurants and bars popularly known as Foreigners Street 101. The acoustics and revelries fill the evening and wee morning hours with endless cacophony.


"Incessant singing, dancing, clapping, trumpets and acoustic drums," Wang said, looking very stressed out. "They are so loud that I can't hear the sound of my television programs. Chinese people like a quiet environment, but they (expats) like to party into the night."


In hot weather, when the partying moves outside, Wang said she has to keep her windows closed, to get any peace of mind. Unlike most of her Chinese neighbors who are too reticent to complain, Wang voiced her grievances to her local neighborhood committee.


"The majority of residents living in buildings most affected by the noise have chosen to tolerate it in silence," said Gao Xueqin, secretary of the Hongchun neighborhood committee.


The noise pollution ratcheted up more than five years ago when Hongmei Street became one of Shanghai's most popular hangouts for foreigners, she added.


Many people living in Wang's community are farmers displaced by urban development. They are pretty good-natured and a bit shy about confronting foreigners, Gao said.


A resident surnamed Lu, who wouldn't give her full name, said, "I don't know how to talk to expats, and I am hesitant about speaking out because I know these restaurants have to make money."


Smoothing the troubled waters isn't easy. Gao has organized three meetings, bringing together representatives of the street's management company, restaurant and bar owners, and residents. As a result, the situation has improved slightly, with some party noise quelled before midnight, Gao said.


Number of foreigners increases


One chain bar, the Big Bamboo, has planted trees around the residential complex, hoping to dull noise. The outer wall's height has also been raised.


"We want to keep a nice and healthy relationship with area residents," said Claus Borregaard, the bar's Danish deputy general manager. "We take their concerns seriously." But, he added, some noise is inevitable if people live near bars and restaurants, whether in outlying areas or downtown.


Potential conflicts increase as the number of expats in Shanghai increases and as the former policy of segregated housing for foreigners and Chinese has been done away with. There were more than 210,000 foreigners living and working at the end of 2010, accounting for nearly 1 percent of the city's total residents, according to the latest census. Overseas residents were only about 0.56 percent of the population 10 years ago.


Jiang Jie, who lives at the "Top of City," a popular rental spot for expats in downtown's Jing'an District, gets annoyed by his overseas neighbors. His upstairs neighbors, from Japan, wear traditional geta footwear, making clomping noises. His former neighbors from the United States often hosted big nighttime parties that kept him awake. Finally, one night he knocked on their door and asked them to lower the noise. His request was ignored. "I don't know whether they didn't understand what I was saying or just pretended not to understand," Jiang said, conceding his English is poor.


Chen Peiyin, a community mediator in her 50s, has worked at the Jinxiu Jiangnan residences in the Hongqiao area for seven years. Over 40 percent of residents in the complex are South Korean.


"Disputes between neighbors are common and unavoidable, particularly when it comes to people from different countries because their living habits and cultural backgrounds vary," said Chen.


Every year, she mediates at least 20 disputes between Chinese and expats. Some result from the South Koreans' habit of cleaning floors by pouring water over them, which can seep down through the ceilings of Chinese families below because the buildings are old. Other disagreements arise from South Korean kids using skateboards at night. "Many expatriates aren't familiar with the concept of a residential committee and mediators, and they don't trust us at first," Chen said.


American William Coon has visited over 100 countries and lived in Shanghai for over five years. He said it's unfortunate more expats don't study Chinese culture, history and behavior. "If expats do not change their habits to conform to local culture, then they are simply bad guests and they will not enjoy their time in a wonderful country," he said. "This is a common problem all over the world."

[scratchndent]

This is true, as I said in an earlier post, I am a guest here, and I act accordingly. I wish others had the same discipline, I hang my head in embarrassment so often here watching the foolish acts of foreigners. Do they hold themselves in some kind of special regard? Is this the reason they are here, because they couldnt control themselves in public at home?? I am not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. But for !@#$ sake, people dont act like asses and people who dont understand you will not look at you like you are an illiterate. So far the people I have met thru the forum are really kind and concious people, very refreshing I must say. But then there are the idiots that I deal with every tuesday for free beer-Teachers mostly, yelling screaming acting like damn fools in a public place. If I offend any teachers here I apologize, it is just most of the problematic drunken scurge that we have to escort out on tuesdays, happen to be english teachers, how did they get here? Wish I could get good video of them acting this way, so the next time they come in I can show them how foolish they looked, especially to the locals and mostly the ex-pats they are offending as well, might help them grow up. Not that I have never been loud when on a night out, but really, grow up a little and make the place you come from proud, not an embarrassment to others from where you live. I would love to be in the mind of some of the locals when we have people acting the fool, just to hear what they think.

Sorry for the rant its been a long month filled with too many idiots in the restaurant.

Have a nice day!

[ChinaV]

"Chinese people like a quiet environment"

Bwa ha ha... perhaps the dumbest quote I've seen yet.

To all the asshat foreigners making noise, thanks for dolling out some payback.

Cheers!
ChinaV

[ShuBen]

.... quiet environment is a matter of day time (but chinese New year)

I remember well:
start a chain saw in the apartment block corridor at 6am for decoration is just fine. Its already daylight! But switch off your little kitchen radio after 9pm ... moon is out -> sleeping time! Chinese grandma's turning to zombies if there is still slighted sound.

[TB-Racing]

American William Coon has visited over 100 countries and lived in Shanghai for over five years. He said it's unfortunate more expats don't study Chinese culture, history and behavior. "If expats do not change their habits to conform to local culture, then they are simply bad guests and they will not enjoy their time in a wonderful country," he said."

Movie loudmouths beat pair who asked for quiet


By Zha Minjie | 2012-9-10 | NEWSPAPER EDITION SHANGHAI DAILY


SHANGHAI police said they were looking for assailants who beat a couple at a downtown movie theater over the weekend after the couple told them to quiet down during the film.


The couple said there were some witnesses who saw them being beaten in an underground garage on Saturday night but no one alerted the police.


Officials told Shanghai Daily a local police station is investigating.


"I'm weary from looking all possible traces of the suspects and trying to identify them with the help of the police officers," said one of the victims, a woman surnamed Gu.


Gu said yesterday that her husband has had partial deafness due to the severe beating he took after he was thrown to the ground.


The movie theater, Shanghai Jinyi Cinemas, said yesterday that they had surveillance footage of the people involved in the dispute and beating.


The theater said it is cooperating with the police and will share developments later.


The incident happened on Saturday about 9:50pm, soon after the movie, "The Expendables 2," began and a man who had a flat-looking head sat on the seat next to Gu, she said.


"We asked him to quiet down because he spoke loudly," said Gu.


"But the man said 'It's none of your business.'" Gu said they continued watching the movie.


However the man and three of his companions, one man and two women, tried to block Gu's way in the theater after the movie ended. Gu said the four followed them to the underground garage, with two women holding off Gu and the men beating Gu's husband.


"They knocked my husband's glasses off and kicked him on the ground and hit his head and chest," said Gu.


When Gu tried to intervene, she was also beaten, said the woman.


Gu said none of the witnesses tried to help and the police confirmed they weren't notified until the couple called them later.


The couple posted Internet pictures of their injures, including several scratches on Gu's neck and face. They called for the public to help capture their attackers.


Despite looking at surveillance camera clips, the woman said yesterday she "still could not see the faces clearly."


She said she hoped the theater seat information will give some help in identifying the assailants.


After the incident, local police urged people to be "polite and civilized at public places when watching movies."


Gu said on the Internet late yesterday that the attackers had not been found. "A day of nothing, I will continue to look for those that beat us."

[Steve_Halt]

But then there are the idiots that I deal with every tuesday for free beer-Teachers mostly, yelling screaming acting like damn fools in a public place. If I offend any teachers here I apologize, it is just most of the problematic drunken scurge that we have to escort out on tuesdays, happen to be english teachers, how did they get here?

Being an English teacher myself I must be offended by the post and I would’ve been, were it not true.
I have been working in the same company for 4 years + and I have seen many people come and go. Scratchndent, you wonder how come that scum is English teachers? Let me tell you:

Teaching English is the easiest job to find in China with the number of English learners in the country being bigger that the total population of the US. So, apparently, most of the foreigners who work here in PRC will naturally be English teachers.
Until very short time ago they haven’t been requiring any professional certification for that job, so anyone, who could speak English a bit could claim themselves as one. It is changing now and I’m happy about it. I did my degree in linguistics, majored in pedagogics, published research papers, got TESOL, TMM and DynEd certificates and I believe I must have more employment chances over some taxi driver who has none of the above mentioned. No offense intended, my Dad has been a taxi driver.
That said, people who couldn’t find there “place in life” or had serious problems of sorts have been settling in China as “English teachers” since that opening policy started. Not all of them know of professional conduct. Not all of them can spell it.
Teaching does involve a certain degree of stress. That’s not some managerial’s position stress of decision making, no, that’s the stress induced by personally dealing with lots of people on a daily basis. Way too personally at times for some. Hence excessive drinking. Well, that’s an explanation, but it doesn’t give them (us) the right and excuse to behave like what you described.

If you want to have a videotape of some sort - install a surveillance system. Cheap, legal, saves you lots of trouble, and you can always tell the police who that dude with the knife was :)

[Lao Jia Hou]

... I hang my head in embarrassment so often here watching the foolish acts of foreigners ... most of the problematic drunken scurge that we have to escort out on tuesdays, happen to be english teachers, how did they get here?

Unfortunately, there is definitely the "backpacker converted into teacher" group, arriving (and staying) in China for nothing more than a good time. Although you hang your head, I think the group-of-losers is a much greater embarrassment to the genuine, professional teachers. In my experience, those Yokels are despised by serious educators, but the serious group is somewhat powerless to do anything about the idiots.

Stay a bit longer, however, and you'll find that the boys-gone-wild group also crosses into other "professions." And, yup, I've seen fellow motorcyclists behaving in ways that make me feel ashamed. And it kinda pisses me off because I'm thrown into the same group, and also have to deal with the fall-out of "foreigners-gone-wild."

Sorry for the rant its been a long month filled with too many idiots in the restaurant.

Yeah, we need another "no-bike-night" where the normal, rational, handsome, intelligent, reserved, charming and kind gentlemen-motorcyclists can get together and discuss important world events. Well, I'll cover all these bases, but I don't know about the rest of ya!



Chin up - maybe we can descend on Jeff's place to give you a break? He's got a brand new bike (very shiny) we can take turns "trying out."

[Zorge]

So, apparently, most of the foreigners who work here in PRC will naturally be English teachers.

It is good that you do not belong to those miserable individuals who teach some other language than English - http://atamas.ru/uploads/posts/2010-...578959_sh2.jpg

[bigdamo]

"Chinese people like a quiet environment"

Please tell me this place in China I'd love to live there.Would it be that mythical place called Shangra La

Do you know why Chinese subtitles are put on Chinese television programs.It's because generally there is so much other noise going on that it is easier to read what they are saying than hear what they are saying.