有哪些中国习俗是美国人要在中国待很久才能理解的？ [美国媒体]

What is a Chinese custom that Americans cannot understand until they spend a significant amount of time in China?

有哪些中国习俗是美国人要在中国待很久才能理解的？



Mo Chen, lives in China (1989-present)
Answered Jun 6
My American university was George MasonUniversity.
It’s a great place. I loved it.
Towards my graduation, my professor, askedme:
Mo, are you attending the graduation ceremony?It’ll be great! You can meet your friends, have fun, you know, throw your hatin the air, we will take photos of you, you can show it to your friends andfamily back in China, etc. It’ll be fun!

我在美国上的大学是乔治梅森大学。这是个很棒的大学，我很喜欢。邻近毕业时，我的教授问我：莫，你要参加毕业典礼吗？很棒的！你可以见朋友，一起玩，将帽子扔在空中，我们会给你拍照，你可以向你中国国内的亲朋好友展示等等，反正很好玩！



Yes, the expression “to wear a green hat”,means a person’s partner is being unfaithful in the relationship, and becauseif someone wore a hat on the street, everyone except that person would see it,it also implies that the person whose partner was cheating on, had absolutelyno idea about it.
It is not offensive to us. It is not aformal culture (albeit popular), because the Chinese army wears green hat too,and their appearance in formal occasions will absolutely not make any of usthink any less respectful of them. It is the same for George Mason GraduationCeremony.
But here is the thing: we the Chinese, arecollectivists. Everywhere we go, we try our very best to fit in, and conform tothe local traditions.

没错，“戴绿帽”就是指某个人的伴侣在一段关系里不忠诚，而且如果一个人戴帽子上街，其他所有人都看的到，只有戴的人看不到，所以还指当事人自己被欺骗了却完全被蒙在鼓里。
这对我们来说不具有冒犯性。它不属于正式的文化（虽然很流行），因为中国军队也戴绿帽子，而中国军人在正式场合戴绿帽子绝对不会降低我们对他们的敬意。对于梅森大学的毕业典礼也是如此。但问题是我们中国人是集体主义者，不论去哪里，我们都尽量融入遵守当地传统。

The very idea of attending the ceremony wearinga hat that’s not green, or wear no hat at all, and therefore making us standout in the crowd, scares us. Not to mention there’s got to be someone curiousand ask one of us the reason, which will likely induce a panic attack.
So if we have to go, we’d just wear thegreen hat just like the others. It’s no big deal.
Then there comes this conundrum: when weget back home, parents, or friends, or families, when they are curious and wantto see the graduation ceremony photos of us, will we show it to them？

参加这个毕业典礼，如果我们戴不是绿色的帽子或者完全不戴帽子从而在一群人中显得特别突出的话会让我们中国人觉得不自在。更别提肯定会有人好奇并询问我们为什么这样做，这可能会引发恐慌。所以如果我们参加的话，我们就会像其他人一样戴绿帽子。这不是什么大问题。但问题在于当我们回到国内，父母朋友家人好奇想看我们的毕业典礼照片时，我们会向他们展示吗？



Mo Chen
Jun 6 · 42 upvotes including Mike Wu
Same in the Chinese military.
What’s the worst kind of troop?
Artillary Food Service Platoon.
Why?
They wear green hat, carry a black wok ontheir back, and watch others fire the cannon.
(green hat => Your girlfriend/wifecheats;
Black wok => Getting blamed forsomething you didn’t do;
fire the cannon => have sex)

中国军队里也是如此啊。最惨的部队是哪一个？炮兵餐饮服务大队。为什么？因为他们戴绿帽子，背上背着一个黑色的锅，然后看其他部队开炮。
戴绿帽子=你女朋友或妻子背叛了你；
背黑锅=被冤枉；
开炮=性交。