Here are 8 illustrations which juxtaposes the cultures of the West (blue) and East

(red). These are generalizations, of course, so these illustrations aren�t true of

all Chinese people or Westerners.

1) Dealing with problems.

2) The individual.

3) Transportation.

4) Expressing an opinion.

5) Sunshine.

6) Society and senior citizens.

7) Networking.

8) Streets on Sundays.

Source: The cultural differences between East and West, according to one artist.
All images are from a book by Yang Liu, a designer who moved from Beijing to Berlin
at the age of 13. Her book was published in 2007.

My own background, in case you�re interested. I was born in Taipei and lived there
for 8 years. Then I immigrated to California and have lived here ever since. I�m in
my mid-20s.

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Dana Sun
Dana Sun, Born in Shanghai, Grew up in Minnesota
Answered Apr 4, 2016
Originally Answered: What are the major differences between Chinese culture and
Western cultures?
Many have touched upon family values and education. I'll touch on a slightly
different topic: Social grace.

In Western cultures, showing social grace typically involves giving people personal
space, providing compliments (when applicable), and being encouraging during rough
times. In short, positivity is viewed as an extremely important trait when being
courteous with others.

In Chinese culture, people value openness even at the expense of feelings as this
demonstrates you care. For instance, a Chinese person may comment on how much
weight you've gained (with no prompting) and suggest you eat more veggies and cut
down on the sugar. To a Westerner, this appears rude as body weight is a sensitive
topic. To Chinese folks, this is a normal conversation as someone is merely showing
concern in an open manner.

That said, there are certain topics that the Chinese only compliment others on
while wrapping their own situation in layers of disguise. The most common topic
would be education; Chinese parents absolutely love praising how well other
children are performing in school or extracurriculars but will never say that their
own child does well (regardless of whether it's true). It ultimately transpires
into a humble brag competition, hence the need to speak in layers.

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Sam Arora
Sam Arora, Life long student of Chinese history, culture, food, arts
Answered Nov 29, 2016

Author in Hangzhou in West Lake, picture with a statue of well known artist.

Background : I am Canadian citizen and soon in a few years I be here for fifty
years, I am originally from India, in addition, I have two masters degree one from
my native India, and other from Canada, one in dairy and the other in food science.
I have had worked for the corporate world, from managerial to the executive levels
for 30 years,from mom and pop operations to multi billion dollars International
North American companies dairy/food and flavor related industries. I took early
retirement and chased my own dream in real estate I am in my own business for the
last 15 years

Chinese connection: I have and had close association with Chinese class mates,
professors, coworkers, reports, neighbors, and now I do business with 100 s if not
1000 s of Chinese from all over the world at one time including Chinese from India.

My affinity for China and Chinese: I was born in a small town of Punjab region of
India, my primary school teacher taught us, our neighbor China is one of the oldest
civilization in the world, and they (Chinese) were studying may be astronomy when
most of the world was living in caves. This fired my imagination and I vowed may be
one day I will visit this great nation. We had good relation with China then and
after the war of 1962 everything went south, to get visa was impossible, and
travelling from India was not easy. Regardless, the flame was there, I migrated to
Canada, and the seeds that my teacher sowed in me about China grew bigger and
bigger. Finally, after a long time my lucky break came and finally I visited China,
and followed by other visits and now several other planned.

So much so that I am determined that my grand sons now 3 and 5, learn Mandarin, I
show them China as much as possible so that they to understand length, breadth and
the height of this great civilization.

My Quora connection:

( in four months I have answered 1250 questions and have over one million)

I am trained as a scientist, and made a living as a science person, but I have

three bachelors, B.Sc. B.Ed and B.A. English and Economics, M.Sc. (Dairy Science )
Punjab, and M.Sc. (Food Science ) ( u of Guelph) Canada. I always wanted to write
due to my arts side, and my son suggested Quora. I wrote fair bit on China/Chinese,
and found Chinese audience one of the best audience, very polite, very
constructive, and mutually very beneficially. Some of the comments I got, I will
cherish for rest of my life.

Disclaimer : This does not make me an expert on the subject or this question, but I
believe I can contribute a few cents in this discussion, due to my Indian birth,
know bit about eastern philosophy and to know a thing or two about North American
culture after living/education/working, it be soon half century. It may give me a
bit credit-ability to say something on this topic.

Here are my thoughts:

The east is east and the west is west:

Wearing cut off jeans, Ray Ben glasses, tattoo on the arm and show relaxed and care
free attitude does not make a Chinese to be American, and eating at westernized
Chinese restaurant and putting soy sauce and eating with chop stick does not make
an American boy/girl Chinese. Due to freedom and liberalization around the globe,
new generation picks what suits them but inside Chinese will stay Chinese and
American/Westerns will stay inside the way their culture has brought them up. That
is a fact, my two boys are born and brought in North America, but at the end of the
day they are Canadian born Indians.

The East lives for future and the West lives for present:

For thousands of years the east lived in community setting, family is the total
center of the universe. Grand parents, parents, and in some case great grand
parents even today live as a family unit, where as in the west parents more or less
wait until the kid is 18 to move out or at least ...(more)
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Amoy Young
Amoy Young
A big thank-you for this great answer. Contrary to the impression that Chinese are
largely homoge...
Jefferson Yin
Jefferson Yin
Answered Jun 2, 2016
Originally Answered: What are the major differences between Chinese culture and
Western cultures?
Major difference?

Every culture come from their ancients.And the culture has tight ties with festival
and myth.

Chinese festival have a specialty that it has something to do with the seasons'
changing.

But I think what lead to the major difference is Chinese myth.

Chinese god/goddess is our ancients instead of somebody purely imaginary like Zeus.

Such as Dayu Flood Control,Hou Yi Shoots Down the Suns,Kua Fu chases the Sun etc.
all reflect Chinese ancients struggle against the nature.Indeed that is unique in
the world for most myths about natural disaster is the imaginary god saved their
people.Only Chinese myth is about our ancients defeated the natural disasters.These
myths teach every Chinese to believe yourself rather than something unknown.That
leads to Chinese pragmatic characters.

And these Chinese myths could explain many questions.Such as as a nation why is
China always pragmatic? As a whole Why do Chinese people always work hard?

Just because Chinese people believe themselves and believe they could make current
situation/living standrd better.

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Jay Kim
Jay Kim, Hedge Fund Manager & Asian Investment Explorer
Answered Oct 9

The Fear of Failure and Challenging Authority

After having spent the last 12 years living over in Hong Kong, I finally feel more
Asian than American. As an �American Born Korean� I grew up most of my life with a
very western mentality and honestly I still don�t speak Korean very well.

When I look at the major differences within Western culture and Chinese culture
from an entrepreneurial standpoint the two biggest differences I see are a general
fear of failure, and the inability (or hesitation) of Chinese to challenge
authority.

Asians are all about respect and �face�. This has for a generation affected the
entrepreneurial drive and spirit of many to just leave things the way they always
were. God forbid you speak out and criticize (or try to improve) a system or
process or technology that is already in place�you risk disrespecting your elders
and are seen as challenging authority. You might even get punished!

These two elements are a crucial to overcome for China to full unlock it�s
potential in innovation, and I�m happy to say that the Chinese are well on their
way in doing so.

Innovation has exploded and due to the population and technology growth that China
has seen in the last decade, the country has become the largest internet market in
the world.

None of this would have been possible if the current generation did not accept that
failure is necessary for success and �challenging authority� is not always a bad
thing.

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Rose Liao
Rose Liao, Always learning.
Answered Jun 5, 2015
Originally Answered: What's the main difference between the Chinese and Westerners?
I've got to say there are so many differences between China and the West, for they
represent completely different value towards personal and social developments�Here
I list some of the most obvious and symbolic ones that represent Chinese and
Western(mainly America) cultures
Mainstream value:
Chinese value "family bond" and "collective power" They encourage children to put
others' interest at the first place and always pay a visit to their gramma's house
every weekend.
In Western world, take the America as an example, they value individualism. They
encourage you to"show yourself"and "be different" instead of thinking"Oh!This is
the latest iPhone7!I don't mind getting up at 3 o'clock and waiting in line for
next 3 hours to show off in front of friends", which,ironically, is the typical
Chinese way of thinking.

Education
In most Chinese classrooms,students listen to their teachers carefully and take
notes.If they have difficulty understanding a problem, they tend not to interrupt
and wait until the class is over.
Also , Chinese high schools have strict rules about students behaviors and
especially when it comes to how they wear.No decorations allowed,no mobile
phones,only uniforms, no fighting, no drinking�In short:DO WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED
TO.
In American classrooms, they have much more freedom. They hold parties, proms,
sorority�And teachers encourage students to ask questions and debating (critical
thinking)is what most Western students are good at.Also, they write papers instead
of doing "multiple tasks"

Family
In China , the divorce rate is much lower than Western countries. But it is
continuing to get higher, since more and more Chinese women are getting higher edu.
Chinese people like to make friends with those who have a good family background,
since they bring them more opportunities or money, and that kind of social
relationships are important to get to a higher social status.
In Western countries, they may value more of "social networking" .what kind of
friends with what kind of potentials are important for one to distinguish. But they
both reward "hard work".

That is all I can think of right now. I believe there are more differences in
people's ways of looking at things and judging beauty.But whatever cultures you
like/hate, they are not perfect.In fact, nothing is perfect.
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Peter Moore
Peter Moore, Canadian living in America. I spent 3 years in Singapore too.
Answered Sep 8, 2016
Originally Answered: What are the culture differences between Chinese and Western?
Chinese can be very upfront and unsubtle about many topics that Westerners would
only touch obliquely.

China: �Haha, you�re much fatter since I last saw you. How much rice have you been
eating? Did you need to buy a bunch of new clothes?�

Western: �How are you doing? How�s you�re health?� <considers whether she might be
pregnant, but don�t dare ask>

China: �Woooo, you must be rich. Is that a Cartier? How much does your husband
earn?�

Western: �That�s lovely. Was it expensive?� <wonders how she could possibly afford
that�was it a gift? Are they in credit card debt? Is her father rich?>

China: �Excuse me. I need to go to the toilet. I have diarrhea.�

Western: �Excuse me. Something is not sitting well, but don�t worry, I�m OK.�

If you are Chinese and in the West and someone is responding to you with a face
like this:

you may have wandered into a taboo subject. Best is to laugh it off with a small
apology like, �Sorry, too much information, I know. Hahaha.� Most Westerners accept
that other cultures have different boundaries and will still be your friend, often
laughing at their own hang-ups.

I�m sure it goes the other way. There are probably Chinese wondering why a
Westerner doesn�t just say �Did you put on weight or are you pregnant? Oh, that�s
great! Congratulations!� and instead dances around the subject waiting for you to
announce your condition.

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Sam Qwato
Sam Qwato
Answered Sep 19
Q. What are the major differences between Chinese and Western cultures?
Short answer:

Philosophy and worldview

Primacy of societal well-being over the Individual.
Broadly, Eastern versus Western summary.

(1) On Thought

Eastern (E): Dialectic thinking

Western (W): Logical cause and effect

(2) Context

E: Continental, limited by geography and resources.

W: Maritime, boundless resources, expansionary.

(3) On Logic

E: The deductive, and the inductive, in an easy continuum.

W: Uneasy with the inductive. Binary. Systemization. Mathematization.

(4) On Consciousness

No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.
E: Embraces it
W: Fights it

(5) Worldview

E: Collectivist, acceptance of authority, holistic and multidimensional view.

W: Enforced individualism, democratic, sanctity of individual property rights.

(6) On Self

E: Out ? In. Self-aware, seek truth through subjective inward enlightenment.

W: In ? Out. Open to boundless enquiry. Seek outward knowledge and looking for
external reasons, but gradually becoming more self-conscious.

(7) On Nature

E: Acceptance of uncertainty, imperfection and therefore borders on mysticism and

superstition.
W: Seek universal theory of everything through Science/Technology, strive for
theoretical perfection....
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Feifei Chen
Feifei Chen, studied at Arizona State University
Answered Sep 20
If you can�t be statistically robust, then please don�t lump 1.4 billion people
together and make a general conclusion.
I have to strongly disagree with this. I�d go so far as to call it bullshit.

We don�t circumvent when we encounter problems; we go directly at it, solve it, and
move on.

3. Today is 0919/2017, China as a nation has �evolved� in this technological world.

So, please try not to incorporate a lot of your impression on the past version of
China when making the comparison.

4. Back to our population, 1.4 billion people are a diverse group. Our younger
generation (people born in the 80s, 90s, and 00s) is dramatically different from
our elders. People living in the first tier cities might differ in worldview,
ethics, and education experiences from people living in small cities. People of our
parental generation might be more conservative and more traditional than their
offsprings. I made some general assumptions here based on my 22 years of life in
China.

There is no single principle or single standard that can be applied to all. Even
within the youngsters, they vary saliently resulting from their family background,
education, life experiences, the people they frequently interact with, and the
books they read.

Some of them are more open, some of them are more cautious;
Some of them are more social, some of them are more introvert;
Some of them value our traditional ideology, some of them pursue individualization.
Some of them have traveled around the world, but some of them haven�t even left
their hometown.
Some of them can speak several languages, some of them can�t.
Some of them love pop culture, some of them like classic.
Some of them work out, some of them don�t move at all.
Some of them can be extremely direct and aggressive, some of them are gentle and
euphemistic.
Some of them are self-centered, some of them are more altruistic.
Some of them are religious, some of them are serious atheists.
I can go on and on�.
The point here is that we don�t have an one-for-all culture. But trust me, most of
them just want to live a peacefully life.

5. What is culture? To me, culture is just the incarnation of a group of people, at

a particular time, coming up with something to either respond to a special event or
simply pass time. And over time, other people also find it meaningful or fun to do,
so they adapt it, too. This is always changing with the technology development, an
easier access to information, and the newfangled ideas created and executed by some
extraordinary people.

6. I�m sorry, I digressed. What are the major culture differences? Firstly, I don�t
think there is a major culture that can represent the majority of them.

If I am to summarize some observations I have made during the 4 years of live in

the U.S., that would be inaccurate generalizations because there are always
outliers.

Examples:

I can say: We celebrate lunar new year, westerners celebrate Christmas. This is
generally true. So is �we use chopsticks, you use forks and knifes�

I can also say: Our university kids live in 4~6-person dorms, while most of the
U.S. kids live off campus. Sounds like true.

This statement: Karaoke is one of the major night entertainment activities in

China, westerners go to bars and clubs mostly, may also apply to a decent quantity
of people on the two sides. I do know some of the Americans don�t do club, they
read and exercise instead.

However, if I claim: We date exclusively from the beginning, westerners can date a
couple of people simultaneously. This wouldn�t be very right, some of Chinese date
quite a few, too!

And any conclusions analogous to �Chinese care less about political correctness,
while westerners are more sensitive to it.� would be false. Simply because you
don�t know what each individual is thinking unless they utter it. I have some
American friends whom I can be very direct with without worrying that I might
offend them. I have also known some Chinese people who are quite susceptible to
some straightforward comments.

7. We speak Chinese, you speak Germanic languages such as English. I guess that�s a
tremendous difference :).