Over the top

With products: if a little glue is good, a lot must be better. Whereas stateside, it suffices to pull both sides of a bag of potato chips simultaneously in opposite directions, here one must use scissors to get to the goodies inside. I have tried repeatedly to open a package without scissors to no avail. Not only is the glue sealing the package such that the seam will not part but the packaging medium – plastic, paper or cardboard is of material so dense that it will not tear. Nothing short of a sharp knife or a pair of scissors will give you access to what you purchased.

That doesn’t apply to just packaging. The glue that binds labels and price tags onto products will not dissolve, even when soaked repeatedly in hot water. My drinking glasses and cooking pot, that I’ve owned since I moved here and all of which has been repeatedly soaked and washed in boiling hot water still bear advertising labels that show no signs of peeling away.

It doesn’t stop there. When some friends came to dinner they brought with them several kilos of fruit – when a lone apple would have done the job, and a beautiful tin of biscuits. I’m never averse to any kind of sweet and soon I wanted to nibble a nice cookie or two with my evening apple.

The metal tin was taped shut. That was to be expected. After cutting the tape (and leaving a nice gouge in the tin with my knife) I encountered a plastic film sealing the cookies in their beds. Again with the knife, carefully cutting along the edges to peel this film back, all the while knowing I was going to need the knife or scissors again. Each cookie, nestled in its well with other, like-flavored cookies was individually wrapped.

Those cookies were the straw that broke the camel’s back. I decided to write an entry dedicated to this phenomenon.

Now I understand the Chinese custom of never opening a gift in front of the gift giver. In fact, the traditional way to receive a gift is to toss it to the side and not pay it any attention. The decorous Chinese will focus on his/her visitor instead. The first time I encountered this I was nonplussed. Did my gift recipient not like gifts? Was she ashamed at having nothing to gift back? Was she afraid to not expressing proper gratitude because of the language barrier?

No, no and again no. It is because everyone in China expects to have to tackle wrapping with anything from a blow torch to a band saw in order to access the actual gift. I’m guessing this woman must have been quite surprised that she could rip open my gift wrap without the benefit of any sharp implement. I do know that she was satisfied with the gift, even proud of it because, upon a subsequent visit to her home it was prominently displayed

I’m going to wrap this entry up… pardon the pun. Fortunately, you will not need anything sharp to open this up with. It is yours with a few mouse clicks.

The original blog is at: http://blog.chinadaily.com.cn/blog-1372409-33884.html

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