Someone asked me a simple question, "So what do you find most interesting or confusing about China/Chinese culture so far?"

This was my response:

Why things are the way they are in China is interesting. So much is interesting and so much is annoying. For example, people are pushy, service isn't good, there's corruption all over the place, you can get great treatment or much worse b/c you are a foreigner, many people have not seen outsiders, perceptions of the west are distorted partly b/c of propaganda and other reasons. It's a lower standard of living, dirty, yet people spend so much time cleaning (like cleaning clothes with ones hands). Babies going to the bathroom in the middle of the street, the obsession with rice - all these things are interesting, some annoying, some confusing. I'd say more complex than confusing. I'm not at the point where I have a good understanding of the country and don't know if my interests will take me to that point, but I do find it interesting. Understanding what China was like before, during and after communism (after meaning the funny state that it's in now, socialism with a Chinese twist, something like that). I think that there are often times when Chinese and Westerners cannot understand each other. It's weird to see people living like they did thousands of years ago, as you do in some parts. It really does seem that way, with no electricity sometimes and all the manual labor.