Dress Codes and Other Observations from Suzhou

Images of the winning team

Dress Code. One of the immediately apparent differences between China and India is between the types of clothing that women and men wear. Indian women, in both the north and the south, usually dressed in local costume. That is, usually in a sari, salwar kameez, or kurta. Only in some sections of Delhi or other of the largest cities (or in Bollywood photo shoots) would you ever see a (young) woman in a skirt or shorts or revealing any leg. The clothing is is marked by vibrant colors and lots of decoration. Jewelry is very prominent. In China, on the other hand, one rarely sees anything that I'd call traditional or local costume on men or women. The women tend to wear western-style clothing with skirts, dresses, or shorts with high hemlines. Having spent so much time in India, the sight of females with legs almost came as a shock. I perceive no difference in women's clothing from that worn in the contemporary West. Chinese men get the most boring clothes award, about as bad as contemporary Western males. In India, the more educated and well-to-do dressed in a Western style, but often with some Indian flare. In the north you'd see stylish kurtas on men and in the south, many men wore longis (man-skirts; long or above the knee, depending on taste). Thus, in a head-to-head match-up of India and China re dress, India wins.

N.B. The number and ease of women in the public spaces in China compared to India deserves a complete post of its own. I perceive a huge difference. 

Everyday wear in Kerala, this is a mundu (a white longi)

Decked out to be checked out in a sherwani

Firecracker 500. Some mornings here--before 8 in the morning--I'll hear bursts of firecrackers go off in our compound. I do not know the occasions. A wedding announcement? The anniversary of a death? The birth of a child? I don't know. Such events seem entirely random to me. Since we have a number of multi-story buildings in our compound, we get quite an echo effect.Howver, let me assure that nothing has matched--or can match?--Jaipur during Devali. Now that was a lot of fireworks, by everyone, everywhere in the city, all night. We'll have to see how Chinese New Year shapes-up.

Learning Mandarin. So far my efforts have been self-taught and computer-assisted only. It's a matter of baby-steps. The first thing that I'm trying to do (per the advice of those who've given the matter series consideration) is to learn the Pinyan system of sounds and tones. (Mandarin is a four tone language.) I'm trying out small phrases here and there as the situation allows. I'll keep readers posted, but it's not easy, and we do miss the Glamorous Nomad's help. For my lunch outings, pointing is still my best bet!