这个来到中国的外国人，爱上了拔火罐...

近日，有外国网友在美版知乎“quora”上提了这么一个问题：

当你第一次到中国时，你最惊讶的是什么？

外国网友的“故事”回答，相当精彩。

1、Emma Sorensen

Born and raised in the United States, my first time to China was in 2016, shortly after I graduated from high school. Since I had studied Chinese for four years, as a gift for graduating my dad decided to take me on a two-week tour of China. To say that this trip was one of the most eye-opening experiences of my lifetime would not be an exaggeration.

我在美国出生长大，第一次到中国是在2016年，那时我刚高中毕业。由于我已经学了四年中文，作为毕业礼物，我爸爸决定带我去中国进行为期两周的旅行。如果说这次旅行是我一生中最令人大开眼界的经历之一，那一点也不夸张。

There are people in China who are very rich. Most of what Americans hear about the Chinese is the extreme poverty that they experience. While it is true that we did see many poorer families while on our trip, we also saw a very luxurious side of China that I didn’t even know existed. The area that appeared to be the wealthiest was definitely Shanghai. There were luxury stores (i.e., Gucci. Tiffany’s, Prada, etc.) all over the city, and there were always Chinese people shopping at these stores. Not only that, but there were also always very expensive cars driving around the streets of Shanghai. It was a side of China that I never even heard about back home, and it was great to be able to see how prosperous China has become.

中国有很多富人。大多数美国人听到的关于中国人的事情都是他们的极度贫困。虽然我们在旅途中确实看到了许多贫穷的家庭，但我们也看到了中国非常奢华的一面，而我以前甚至不知道它的存在。看起来最富有的地区无疑是上海。奢侈品商店(比如古驰、蒂芙尼，普拉达等)遍布城市，总有中国人在这些商店购物。不仅如此，在上海的街道上也总是有非常昂贵的汽车在行驶。这是我在国内从未听说过的关于中国的一面，能看到中国变得如此繁荣真是太好了。

Chinese people love their country. In the United States, It is generally believed that the Chinese people do not like their country. However, while I was in China I saw nothing but pride and love for their country. Through many conversations with Chinese people, it was clear to me that they loved being from China.

中国人民热爱他们的国家。在美国，人们普遍认为一般中国人不喜欢自己的国家。然而，当我在中国的时候，我看到的只有他们对祖国的自豪和热爱。通过与许多中国人的交谈，我清楚地知道他们喜欢中国。

2、Steven Martin

0h, many things surprised me in China, but just to list a few of many:

在中国有很多事情让我感到惊讶，我只列举其中的一些:

The scale. I went to Beijing. I'm from Houston. Houston is a big city, by American standards. Houston looked like a small town in comparison.

巨大的规模。我去了北京，我来自休斯顿。按照美国的标准，休斯顿是一个大城市。而相比之下，休斯顿看起来就像一个小镇。

China, like the rest of the world uses the metric system. In Texas, we measure distance in miles, and we measure weight in pounds, so there must be a conversion. I think the USA should join the world standard and use the metric system. Shoe size, height .. all that.

中国像世界其他地方一样使用公制。在德克萨斯州，我们用英里来度量距离，用磅来度量重量，所以需要进行换算。我认为美国应该加入世界标准，使用公制。鞋码，身高，所有的一切。

In the house, you take off your shoes and wear slippers. No, you can't just wear sox. It's a rule. It's expected. Just do it.

在家里，你要脱掉鞋子，穿上拖鞋。不，你不能只穿袜子，这是规矩。这是意料之中的，照做就是了。

I didn't notice many police. I'm sure there were police around, but it's not like Houston where you see the black and white police cars speeding by sirens roaring and flashing lights.

我没有注意到有很多警察。我肯定周围有警察，但这里不像休斯敦，你会看到黑白两色的警车在警笛声和闪烁的灯光下高速行驶。

The market didn't offer a lot of frozen foods or canned food. More emphasis on fresh unprocessed vegetables. Much more variety of fruit and vegetables.

市场上没有很多冷冻食品或罐头食品。他们更多地强调使用新鲜未加工的蔬菜。那里有多种多样的水果和蔬菜。

Don’t expect a soft mattress with a big puffy pillow. They like firm beds with buckwheat pillows. To me, very comfortable!!

不要指望有软床垫和又大又蓬松的枕头。他们喜欢荞麦枕头和坚实的床铺。对我来说，非常舒服！

I used to like very soft mattresses until one night I woke up in agony - my back ached like no tomorrow. I had to crawl down and slept on the floor instead.I didn’t realise it was the mattress at first, but the backache continued so I decided to change the mattress to a hard, firm one. After my back healed I haven't had a backache again since.

我曾经喜欢非常柔软的床垫，直到有一天晚上我在痛苦中醒来，我的背疼得要命。我只好爬下来，睡在地板上。一开始我并没有意识到是床垫的问题，但是背痛还在继续，所以我决定把床垫换成坚实的床垫。自从我的背痛好了以后，我就再也没有背痛过。

3、Joseph Fabian

I had to add another comment. English is considered the language of business in China and Taiwan. If you look at the statistics, there are more fluent English speaking (second language ) in China than native english speaking Americans.

我不得不再加一条评论。在中国大陆和中国台湾，英语被认为是商业语言。如果你看一下统计数据，在中国，说流利英语(第二语言)的人比说母语英语的美国人还多。

4、Heli Patel

I have been living in China for 5 years，Here's some context。

我已经在中国生活了5年了，以下是一些解读。

The kindness：People in China are truly some of the friendliest and most extraordinarily kind-hearted people you will meet. And I do not mean this the way everyone says so about every country.no matter how little Chinese you speak, your attempts at even a "你好 (Hello) is met with an exclamatory "哎呀你的中文这么好啊" (Oh my! Your Chinese is so good).

善良：中国人会是你会遇到的最友好、最善良的人。并不是每个国家的人都是这样。不管你会说多少中文，你甚至只说一句“你好”都会得到一句感叹的“哎呀，你的中文这么好啊”(哦，我的天！你的中文太好了。)

This is in stark contrast to the west where the most valiant attempts at French or English are often scoffed at. Chinese people will go out of their way to help you, translate for you, even gesture wildly at you and give you advice. A lot of the time, its because they genuinely appreciate your coming to their country.

这与西方形成了鲜明的对比，在西方，勇敢地尝试说法语或英语往往会被嘲笑。中国人会不厌其烦地帮助你，为你翻译，甚至疯狂地朝你做手势，给你提出建议。很多时候，这是因为他们真心欢迎你来到他们的国家。

The evening dances in the moonlight：This was truly one of the most mesmerizing things to me, as a visitor. Women and men line up in parks, on street corners, in public spaces, at universities in the evenings, wherever they can find space, and dance in unison. Old women, young men, couples, you name it. Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao, every Chinese city I've been to, its the same.

晚上在月光下起舞：作为一个游客，这对我来说确实是最令人着迷的事情之一。晚上，在公园、在街角、在公共场所、在大学里，只要有空间，人们就会排成队，载歌载舞。老年妇女，年轻男人，情侣，所有你能想到的都有。北京，上海，青岛，我去过的每个中国城市，都是一样的。

Chinese people are big on community activities, and very big on exercising and staying healthy. This is the cheapest, and most social way to do both. Its particularly common with elderly Chinese ladies, because I suppose the young people are all in the gyms. Most of the time, its a slow, choreographed dance that everyone can follow and they've been doing the same routines a while so everyone is familiar with the steps.

中国人热衷于社区活动，非常热衷于锻炼和保持健康。这是最便宜也是最社会化的方式。这种情况在中国的老年妇女中尤其常见，我想年轻人都在健身房里。大多数时候，这是一种缓慢的、精心编排的舞蹈，每个人都可以跟着跳，而且他们已经跳了一段时间，所以每个人都熟悉这些舞步

5、Manu Bansall

Disclaimer: All the comparisons are done with Indian life as benchmark

免责声明:所有的比较都是以印度人的生活作为基准。

There are no cops on major roads of the cities in China , yet traffic stops at red light. This may sound absurd, but this is not the norm in India.

在中国的主要城市道路上没有警察，但是在红灯时交通会停止。这听起来可能很不可思议，这在印度并不常见。

Fitness level of people. I don’t remember finding any obese person in China. I visited three cities: Beijing, Shanghai & Harbin. None were obese .

人们的健康水平。我不记得我在中国看到过肥胖的人。我参观了三个城市:北京，上海和哈尔滨，没看到肥胖的人。

Discipline. I found Chinese quite disciplined in their schedule & daily lives. What to eat, when to eat , its all quite structured. They are an extremely hardworking & disciplined people. No wonder China has grown so much

纪律性。我发现中国人在日程安排和日常生活上都很有规律。吃什么，什么时候吃，一切都很有条理。他们是一群非常勤奋和有纪律的人。难怪中国的经济增长如此之快。

Eye for detail: These guys plan way ahead. and execution is too good. They also focus quite a lot on maintenance of things. I was surprised to find a man scrubbing a dustbin early morning on my morning run at Harbin. That’s something i would not imagine here.

注重细节:这些人事先计划好了，就会有很强的执行力。他们也非常注重东西的维护。在哈尔滨晨跑时，我很惊讶地发现一个男人正在擦洗垃圾桶。这是我在印度无法想象的。

China is a very interesting country & is definitely worth a visit. You could learn quite a few things.

中国是一个非常有趣的国家，绝对值得一游。你可以学到很多东西。

6、Jonathan Reynolds

I have lived in Beijing for six years. When I first arrived, in 2012, I knew virtually nothing about China. one thing I did know was that Chinese people, as well certainly as its government, were quite proudly patriotic if not nationalistic, and their and its signal distinguishing between China and the West very emphatic, what first surprised me was the prence of English on the street signs, in the subways, and really everywhere - always positioned just below the Hanji characters.

我在北京住了六年了。当我2012年第一次来到中国时，我对中国几乎一无所知。我知道的一件事是，中国人，当然还有中国，如果不是民族主义者的话，那他们就是相当自豪的爱国主义者，他们非常强调区分中国和西方的元素，首先让我感到惊讶的是，英语在街道标志上、地铁上、真的到处都有，但总是位于汉字之下。

When I asked my students (I teach at a technical university), their facial expressions told me I was asking about something that should have been obvious. When they got over their surprise, they responded that English is spoken more or less everywhere in the world and in order to get a good job they needed to be English-fluent.

当我问我的学生(我在一所科技大学教书)时，他们的面部表情告诉我，我问的是一些很理所当然的问题。当他们从惊讶中恢复过来时，他们回答说，英语在世界上或多或少地到处都在使用，为了找到一份好工作，他们需要能流利地说英语。

Particularly in China, the still enormous preoccupation of the burgeoning middle class (and the wealthy) to become English-fluent continues to seem to me to be symptomatic of the great practicality the Chinese operate with: at all times or instinctually, to "get ahead," "become successful and prosperous" (the same thing to most Chinese), one absolutely needed to speak and write English well. Beyond the practical, most Chinese I have met express a liking for America and what they believe they understand about American culture.

在中国，尤其是新兴的中产阶级(和富人)仍然非常注重能说一口流利的英语，在我看来，这是中国人很注重实用性的一个证明:无论何时何地，凭本事“出人头地”，“成功致富”(这对大多数中国人来说都是一样的)，这些人绝对需要说好英语，写好英语。除了实用性之外，我遇到的大多数中国人都表达了对美国的喜爱，以及他们对美国文化的理解。

I have to say that I have found almost all of the Chinese I have met and interact with to be courteous, friendly and welcoming, and, by now, I have friends in Beijing whom I am very fond of, respect, and admire.

我不得不说，我发现几乎所有我遇到和接触过的中国人都是彬彬有礼、友好和热情好客的，到目前为止，我在北京有我非常喜欢、尊敬和钦佩的朋友。

Finally - for the moment - I must include another surprise: acupuncture - that, with the right practitioner, it absolutely works and has successfully treated some chronic pain issues I have. My acupuncturist - sadly now retired - was a tiny, fiercely jovial, 70-something woman named "Dr, Jia" who, twice-weekly, in a little clinic inside the Baiyunguan ("White Cloud") Daoist temple, in central Beijing, would stick thirty or more needles in me, from the top of my head, in my lip, down my back and leg, to my toes, at the same time attaching three or four glass suction cups to my back and upper arm.

最后，就目前而言，我必须加上另一个惊喜:针灸——在专业的医生的帮助下，它绝对有效，并且成功地治疗了我的一些慢性疼痛的问题。我的针灸医生是一个矮小的、非常快乐的70多岁的女人，名叫“佳医生”。遗憾的是，她现在已经退休了。她每周两次在北京市中心的白云道观的一个小诊所里帮我进行针灸。将30根或更多的针插在我的身上,从我的头顶,嘴唇,背和大腿一直到我的脚趾,同时将三个或四个玻璃罐吸到我的后背和上臂。

After about a half-hour she would come back and remove the needles and cups, and I would walk out of the temple grounds into the crowded noisy streets calm and serene, intoxicated with a feeling of extreme well-being, high as if on some wonderful drug - as well as pain-free for a couple of days.

大约半个小时后，她会回来取走针和玻璃罐，而我则会走出寺庙，走进拥挤嘈杂的街道，平静而祥和，沉醉在极度幸福的感觉中，仿佛服用了某种奇妙的药物，甚至在几天内都不会感到疼痛。

7、Bella Johnson

You can buy things everywhere. In the United States, we often have to get into our cars and drive for meals, groceries, bottled water, etc. In China, because the cities are so densely populated, there are shops selling everything from duck neck to firecrackers on every corner. If you’re looking for something you need, or even something you don’t need, you can find it quite easily in China.

你可以在任何地方买东西。在美国，我们经常不得不开车去吃饭、买食品、买瓶装水等等。在中国，由于城市人口密集，到处都有商店出售各种东西，从鸭脖到鞭炮，应有尽有。如果你正在寻找你需要的东西，或者甚至是你不需要的东西，你都可以很容易地在中国找到它们。

8、Damien Defranco

Everything surprised me about China, but I’ll list a few specifics.

有关中国的一切都让我感到惊讶，但我将列举一些细节。

I first went to China back in 2010, and I have been in and out of the country more times than I can count. Everything about China is the opposite of what I original thought it was going to be prior to the first time I went.

我第一次去中国是在2010年，我进出中国的次数已经数不清了。关于中国的一切都与我第一次去中国之前的想法相反。

Since 2010, I have visited just about every part of China. I’ve been to all cities in Tier 1–4, I’ve been to Tier 5 cities, I’ve been to many many villages too.

自2010年以来，我几乎走遍了中国的每一个角落。我去过1-4线的所有城市，5线城市，还去过许多村庄。

Other Foreigners. I’ve been to all the tourist cities, in fact I own apartments in some of them, even when I don’t always stay there. So I’ve come across many other foreigners over the years who visit China, or live there. Some are really nice, but I find a lot of other foreigners visiting China to be extremely rude, and disrespectful to the Chinese culture. Even though everyone is nice to them, they say hurtful things in English and complain about China constantly.

其他外国人。我去过所有的旅游城市，事实上，我还在其中一些城市有自己的房子，即使我并不总是呆在那里。所以这些年来，我遇到过许多其他的外国人来到中国，或者住在那里。有些人真的很好，但是我发现很多其他来中国的外国人非常粗鲁，不尊重中国文化。尽管每个人都对他们很好，他们还是用英语说一些伤人的话，不停地抱怨中国。

Culture. The overall culture practices of China surprised me. With over 5000 years of history and traditions. I’ve learned everything about the do’s and don’ts in China. From not sticking chopsticks straight up in rice, to lucky number 8. From using an umbrella to block the sun and create shade outside to not giving a clock as a gift. China culture is so detailed, so fascinating, more than I thought it would be.

文化。中国的整体文化令我惊讶。它拥有超过5000年的历史和传统。我在中国学到了所有关于做和不做的事情。从不把筷子直接插在米饭里，到幸运数字8。从用雨伞遮挡阳光，在室外遮阴，到不送人钟表作为礼物。中国文化是如此复杂，如此迷人，比我想象的还要多。

People. Majority of all my experience in China are very positive, everyone in China is very friendly. Everywhere you go you are treated very politely. Canadians are also treated much much better than Americans. China is a very welcoming country to all tourists from abroad.

人民。我在中国的大部分经历都是非常好的，每个中国人都非常友好。无论你到哪里，都会受到非常礼貌的对待。加拿大人受到的待遇也比美国人好得多。中国是一个非常欢迎国外游客的国家。

Food. Food on it’s own could be it’s own thing, every region in China has a different style of Chinese cuisine that is different then other regions. Food in China is just amazing. What surprised me about food was just how good and tasty it is. I was not expecting to fall in love with Chinese cuisine. Eating is one of my favorite things to do in China. I have collected over 12,000 photos of my own of dishes I have ate in China since 2010. Everything from green beans and minced pork, to hot pot, to pig brain, and every type of street food you can imagine.

食物。中国的每个地区都有不同于其他地区的不同风格的中国菜。中国的食物真是太棒了。让我吃惊的是食物是如此的美味可口。我没想到我会爱上中国菜。吃饭是我在中国最喜欢做的事情之一。自2010年以来，我已经收集了超过12000张我自己在中国吃过的菜的照片。从青豆和碎猪肉，到火锅，到猪脑，以及任何你能想象到的街头小吃。

Beauty. The sheer beauty of China was a surprise. China in my opinion, and the opinion of most world travelers is that China is the most beautiful country in the whole world. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but when the majority of qualified people say that China is the most beautiful country in the world, then it probably is.

美丽。中国的纯粹之美令人惊讶。在我和大多数各国游客看来，中国是全世界最美丽的国家。美是因人而异的，但是当大多数有资格评论的人说中国是世界上最美丽的国家时，那么它可能就是。

9、Miriam Frank

What surprised me most when I first arrived to China was how everyone stared at me. My impression was that they had never seen foreigners before and they had a stern look on their face…as if they hated me! After living in the city sometime I came to know that they did not hate me, but were curious and interested in the way foreigners looked. Now Beijing and Shanghai being more international cities there are less people staring.

当我第一次来到中国时，最让我惊讶的是每个人都盯着我看。我的印象是，他们以前从来没有见过外国人，他们的脸上有一种严肃的表情...好像他们恨我似的！在城里生活了一段时间后，我发现他们并不讨厌我，而是对外国人的样子很好奇和感兴趣。现在北京和上海变成了更加国际化的城市，很少有人盯着我看了。

10、Sugandha Panwar

There are many things in China that amaze me – Chinese architecture, skylines, traffic management, endless Chinese menu, ease of using technology, etc. But to be specific with the question the #FIRST thing that astonishes me was the height of Chinese people. Being a foreigner, I was having a perception that Chinese are petite in stature. Though, they are not.

在中国有很多东西让我感到惊奇——中式建筑、天际线、交通管理、无穷无尽的中文菜单、易于使用的技术等等。但具体到这个问题，令我震惊的第一件事是中国人的身高。作为一个外国人，我以为中国人身材矮小，然而事实并非如此。

11、Nada Rahman

After resigning from my former position at a local bank, I travelled to Shanghai and stayed there for a month to experience a different cultural experience. I have never been to China before. I chose China because I wanted to be in a non-English speaking country.

在辞去在当地一家银行的工作后，我去了上海，并在那里呆了一个月，体验了一种不同的文化。我以前从来没有到过中国。我选择中国是因为我想去一个不说英语的国家。

The first thing that surprised me was.. literally everything is cashless. Yeah I am well aware about Wechat pay and Alipay but I didn’t expect that exchanging cash for service/goods has become a rare sight. Even the dodgiest street food stalls don’t accept cash. I once made payment using cash before I activated my Wechat Pay, the laoban (store keeper) had to go find his cash drawer key. Clearly nobody has made cash payment for quite some time

第一件让我惊讶的事情是所有东西都是无现金支付的。是的，我很清楚中国有微信支付和支付宝，但我没想到用现金换取服务/商品已经成为一种罕见的现象。即使是最不可靠的街边小吃摊也不收现金。有一次我在激活微信支付之前用现金付了款，老板不得不去找他的现金抽屉的钥匙。显然，已经有很长一段时间没有人付现金了。

You have an app for everything. Literally. Food, clothes, paying rent, water, charity, uh everything can be done through apps.

应用程序可以做任何事情，千真万确。买食物，买衣服，付房租，付水费，做慈善，所有的事情都可以通过应用程序来完成。

While living in India I have not thought In this way that providing public toilet facility is government responsibility. After coming to China now I have realized how backward our society is, living in slums eating junk foods inhaling polluted air it is quite normal India.

在印度生活的时候，我从来没有这样想过提供公共厕所设施是政府的责任。来到中国后，我意识到我们的社会是多么落后，生活在贫民窟，吃垃圾食品，吸入受到污染的空气，这就是普通印度人的生活。

I feel pity on those indians who here on Quora try to compare India with China. I would say to all of them that even poor people of china have better living standard than the middle class of India.

我很同情那些在Quora上试图将印度与中国相提并论的印度人。我要告诉他们，即使是中国的穷人，他们的生活水平也比印度的中产阶级还要高。

虽然，对于印度网友“Nada Rahman”有关“即使是中国的穷人，生活水平也比印度的中产阶级还要高”的感慨老铁也无处求证。

但是，对于今天的中国能够给这些外国网友留下如此美丽的印象，老铁也深感自豪。

很简单：

对于外国人来说，中国的美丽或许不过只是他们人生路上的一处靓丽风景，但是对于我们来讲，中国却意味着“家”，是生养我们的地方。