You Know You Are Chinese

You know you are Chinese if

1. You unwrap gifts very carefully, so you can save and reuse the wrapping (especially ribbons).
2. When there is a sale on toilet paper, you buy 100 rolls and store them in your closet or in the bedroom of an adult child who has moved out.
3. You keep a thermos of hot water available at all times.
4. You save grocery bags, tin foils and tin containers. You use the grocery bags to hold garbage.
5. You hate to waste food. Even if you're totally full, if someone says they're going to throw away the leftovers on the table, you'll finish them. (Your mom will give a lecture about starving kids in Africa). You have Tupperware in your fridge with three bites of rice or one leftover chicken wing.
6. You don't own any real Tupperware - only a cupboard full of used but carefully rinsed margarine tubs, take-out containers and jam jars.
7. You have a collection of minature shampoo bottles that you take every time you stay in a hotel.
8. You wipe your plate and utensils or wash them in a small basin of hot water before you eat everytime you go to a restaurant.
9. You own a rice cooker and a slow cooker.
10. You wash your rice at least 2-3 times before cooking it.
11. You fight (literally) over who pays the dinner bill.
12. You have a teacup with a cover on it.
13. If you're under age 20, you own a really expensive walkman. If you're over 20, you own a really expensive camera.
14. You're a wok user.
15. You only make long distance calls after 7pm.
16. You prefer your shrimp with the heads and legs still attached - it means they're fresh.
17. You never call your parents just to say hi.
18. If you don't live at home, when your parents call, they'll ask if you've eaten, even if it's midnight.
19. Your parents tell you to boil herbs and stay inside when you get sick. They also tell you not to eat fried foods or baked goods because they're heaty (yeet hay in Cantonese).
20. You e-mail your Chinese friends at work, even though you only sit 10 feet apart.
21. You always cook too much.
22. You eat every last grain of rice in your bowl, but don't eat the last piece of food on the table.
23. You starve yourself before going to all you can eat buffet.
24. You know someone who can get you a good deal on jewelry or electronics, computers.
25. You own your own meat cleaver and sharpen it.
26. Your toothpaste tubes are all squeezed paper-thin.
27. You know why this list consists of only "28"reasons.
28. You take this message and forward it to all your Chinese friends.

This list that I received through email struck me in more ways than one. I might not really agree that some of the traits are just associated to the Chinese community but many are clearly traits held by the Chinese alone regardless of where we are.

Keywords: "You Know" Compendium Chinese community traits characteristics behaviour lifestyle list