What is the biggest culture shock you have ever faced?

Any culture has always had a hard time shocking me. I got fed by hand in Ethiopia or shouted ‘viva la revolution’ in a Catalan underground club. But China…

That one time I went to China for four months was different. When preparing my exchange semester at Tsinghua University in Beijing, my prof warned me to not talk bad about the CP with anyone (“They are surveilling you”). My friends warned about too many people to fit in the subway and smog. And I expected lots of different styles in music and dance. So I got my visa and went to adventure.
Except that at the time I arrived, it was Chinese New Year. For Beijing, this means the city is almost empty. Most people leave to visit families in the countryside. So I arrived, expected hussle at the immigration but no problems at all, got right in. I expected traffic jams and smog, but no problem to find a taxi.
I was driving into the city on an empty ten lane highway. And the cab driver played 50 Cent. ‘Go shorrrty’ this is China!
I was shocked by China not being different.

Monica Perry, HSK Level 6 student, Chinese language lover
Answered Oct 23 · Upvoted by Michael Hardman, Ph.D History & Culture, Stanford University (1984)
I’m American. And when I went to China, I had done my homework:
I learned Mandarin — up to an Intermediate Level.
I really got my tones down.
I researched about Chinese culture.
I talked extensively with my Mandarin tutor (Regular Chinese Learning Online) all about daily life in China.
But for some reason this subject just never came up in our classes.

I was like, “WHATTTT?!”
I found this explanation:
“In China infants will wear pants with small splits in them. Diapers are expensive in China, and so parents use these pants so their kids can use the restroom more easily.”
I love it and if I ever have kids, I’m saving my $$$ and buying them these pants.
🙂
xoxo
Monica

Lara Marie, Traveled all over Asia.
Updated May 12
I grew up in the US and recently spend a year and a half living in China.
I lived in a smaller city (actually it was a city of about 6 million people but still considered small for China’s standards) and there were very few foreigners living there. I have blonde hair and blue eyes and stood out like a sore thumb. Many of the people in this city had never seen a white person before.
Basically, I would have people constantly staring and pointing at me if I went out in public and yelling “hello!” to me as I walked past. People would ask to take their picture with me on a daily basis, or sometimes they would sneak pictures of me with their phones. It was very strange.

A few more culture shocks about China..
1. They use almost every part of the animal in their food. It was a shock when I ordered Chicken in my hotpot, expecting just the meat and find that there is literally a chicken head, chicken feet etc. in my soup.
2. The bathrooms. Seriously this was a huge shock. Instead of toilets where you sit down they have a hole in the ground where you squat down to pee, etc. They are usually really gross bc the pee splatters everywhere. They also do not provide toilet paper, so you have to always carry tissues. I have some true horror stories about the toilets in China.
3. There are so many people and no personal space. People crowd you really badly