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Q: What do you think of this?
Whenever I talk to some of my co-workers and we discuss our differences during a light work afternoon, one of them is how much we shower or how often we wash our clothes. No need to say that my co-workers don't shower on a daily basis- TO SAVE ON THEIR WATER AND ELECTRICITY BILLS - and don't also spend much time washing their clothes -ALSO TO SAVE ON THEIR WATER AND ELECTRICITY BILL.
One of the guys that always used to complain about how much he must save money happened to just purchase a 4000 duo yuan smartphone - fact which he proudly told everyone. He is not the only one though. All around me I see people with super expensive phones, but low hygiene standards. It's for the sake of saving money, they say. I don't even need to mention the amount of Chinese people buying iPhones on that 200yuan/month type of payment.
I shower everyday (ok, maybe I skip one day on the weekends!) and I wash my clothes whenever is necessary, my monthly electricity bill is around 50 yuan (true fact) and I pay around 50 yuan every 3 months for the tap water. I don't spend much, as you see, it is possible to shower everyday and not paying a fortune for it.
So, I can only assume they are dirty by nature. Wish it was different, then maybe my bi-daily metro trips to work could be better and I wouldn't almost faint with the #toobadtoobetrue morning and afternoon smells. Seriously.
the priorities of local people are different from people from other countries.
for most (all) of the foreign people i know, comfort is the priority.
For a lot of local people i know, 'face' is the most important thing.
TianjinCity:
Yes, I am aware of that since I have been living here for quite some time. I respect it, different cultures, different priorities. The "face" in China is probably the most important thing for a Chinese person. Say what...
Unless they need the Niagara Falls for one shower, that's a foolish way to save money. You can cut the water when you apply the soap/shampoo, using only water to rinse yourself. Water will flow 2 minutes maximum. I've water bills similar to yours, and that's despite my wife washing things *two times* with the washing machine (don't ask).
Habit of cutting corners ? Just being lazy ? I also heard the argument "taking a shower everyday is bad for the skin" too (sure, soap is made of sulfuric acid and fluorine). My colleagues smells mostly fine apart from some boys. Students were not *fine*, downright horrible for half of them. In the bus, I've some surprises. Watch how many people wash their hands with soap in public toilets. It's to save money too ?
TianjinCity:
Hahahah
Well, on my previous workplace we had a toilet that served all the people working there in other companies AND RESTAURANTS. For the time I was going there never once I saw a cook rinse his hands. Never! I know this is an old topic since I frequently check the questions here, but c'mon... As someone once wrote (sorry for quoting you, whoever you are) but is this the result of a country with 5000 years of history...?! By now these people should have the most sophisticated methods to do their hygiene. Five thousand years of history and this is the result. 
DrMonkey:
About soap, hand washing and toilets. I did my post-doc in a top-notch university in China. The first day I worked there, I see there's no soap in the toilets. Fine, I buy a bottle of liquid soap. I put somewhere available for the whole lab (ie. a cubicle farm). I'm the only one using it... After a year, I finish my post-doc and leave to greener pasture. I left behind a bottle of liquid soap, 2/3 full.
2 years later, I come to visit the lab where I did my post-doc. The same bottle of liquid soap was there, still 2/3 full, covered of dust. Nobody used it. We are not speaking of farmers with no access to education, we speak of people doing Masters, PhD, that will go work for 20K to 40K RMB/months jobs. But maybe it's me having too little culture to understand.
sorrel:
it could be because there is no such thing as bacteria in TCM, so why wash your hands?? 
TianjinCity:
Yuuuuuuck, that's so true. At my previous workplace a bottle of liquid soap would last for a whole year. Cheers to that 
Just wait till summer comes. There's no need to ask who doesn't shower then.
An unshowered person with a 4000RMB smart phone just sounds a lot less appealing than a person who've spent 1000RMB on water and only 3000 on a smart phone.
TianjinCity:
Like Sorrel said: different cultures, different priorities. I rather have a 900 kuai phone and be a showered person (taking into consideration the water shortage, therefore, using only enough water).
Scandinavian:
Chinese people are on average using a lot more water than the rest of the world. Now I don't know where this consumption comes from, could be from industries.
I remember my friends telling me of 'intimate' encounters they had with Chinese girls in winter time. After they had peeled off the fifteen layers of clothing, the smell was more than enough to douse any flames of passion.
An incredibly stupid one that my wife told me about was - one of her colleagues (government place) didn't want to waste the oil they had been given for spring festival. So, her husband would down a spoonful of the stuff every morning (oil the joints?) and she would use the stuff instead of shampoo and water. The girl smelt like she lived in a fast-food joint.
TianjinCity:
In China they love cooking with oil, it's a very oily situation indeed. Oily hairs here seem as normal as breathing. Oily hairs, unshaved armpits, a slight mustache and (I've seen it) hairy legs. Back in the days, France also had its hairy women, but that happened a lot of decades ago... Well, I guess it's all part of the "best culture in the world" according to Chinese people, therefore it will always remain the same. 
I know what you mean; to go into an office building elevator right after a bunch of Chinese guys in suits walk out, funky.
That may be the reason the guys spend so much time in the shower in my local health club!!
They must think one good loooong shower will do them for the week.
I mean seriously..how long does it take to get yourself clean? at best 10-15 mins for guys right?
I had time for a 20min swim & a 15 min sauna , then finished my 10 min shower & the same 3 guys were still showering!!.... WTF !!?
TianjinCity:
I truly believe some people with a health club subscription only shower when they go to the health club... No matter how many thousands of Yuan they have in their bank account. 
Scandinavian:
In our community, there are shower rooms by the pools. I've often walked past there late evenings on "cold winter days" well outside pool opening season, and heard the sounds of the shower running. This strikes me as particular odd in a place where rent start at 4000 per month or purchase of apartments is at least 2 million.
I wouldn't be surprised if these people also go to Starbucks to charge their iPad for free.
People make personal choices based on their personal preferences every day. Nobody is living accorsding to the preferences of others. In other words..... So what?
