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5 Min Read
Chinese reflections on British life
Over dinner with some Sichuanese chef and restaurateur friends in London, this is what I was told: "The other day a Romanian woman came into my restaurant alone, and ordered several dishes. When she had eaten half the food, she called me over, and complained that one of the dishes was too sweet, and one too salty. Politely, I invited her to have a couple of other dishes to replace them, and sent out two more, complimentary dishes. Then she asked for the bill, and said it was too expensive, and she couldn't afford it. I pointed out that all the prices were listed clearly on the menu, and she still said she couldn't pay. Eventually I told her I would call the police - and I did. But when the police came they said there was nothing they could do, even though they agreed she had probably done the same thing at countless other restaurants. So they left, and the woman got away with her free meal." [NB this is a fine example of the practice known as bawangcan 霸王é¤, tyrannical eating, which you can read a little more about here]
The restaurateur, who has been in London for more than a decade, was shocked and amazed by this turn of events. "I really like English culture, and I do think English people deserve the word 'gentlemen'," he said, "But you really take human rights too far here. The government needs to be more strict, and less easy about handing out British citizenship and welfare and so on. If you are too soft, you'll end up like the United States, with everyone carrying guns. People are too lazy here, too, and because of the prevalence of supermarkets and fast-food joints, they are forgetting how to cook. Honestly, I think Great Britain was Great a hundred or two hundred years ago [NB this is exactly when Britain was abusing China in the most ungentlemanly manner], but these days it's just 'Britain'".
Interesting to hear a Chinese immigrant complaining about excessive human rights, and praising colonial-era Britain... and I appreciate that he thought the loss of cooking skills was one of the major causes of the decline of a once-Great country...
Over dinner with some Sichuanese chef and restaurateur friends in London, this is what I was told: "The other day a Romanian woman came into my restaurant alone, and ordered several dishes. When she had eaten half the food, she called me over, and complained that one of the dishes was too sweet, and one too salty. Politely, I invited her to have a couple of other dishes to replace them, and sent out two more, complimentary dishes. Then she asked for the bill, and said it was too expensive, and she couldn't afford it. I pointed out that all the prices were listed clearly on the menu, and she still said she couldn't pay. Eventually I told her I would call the police - and I did. But when the police came they said there was nothing they could do, even though they agreed she had probably done the same thing at countless other restaurants. So they left, and the woman got away with her free meal." [NB this is a fine example of the practice known as bawangcan 霸王é¤, tyrannical eating, which you can read a little more about here]
The restaurateur, who has been in London for more than a decade, was shocked and amazed by this turn of events. "I really like English culture, and I do think English people deserve the word 'gentlemen'," he said, "But you really take human rights too far here. The government needs to be more strict, and less easy about handing out British citizenship and welfare and so on. If you are too soft, you'll end up like the United States, with everyone carrying guns. People are too lazy here, too, and because of the prevalence of supermarkets and fast-food joints, they are forgetting how to cook. Honestly, I think Great Britain was Great a hundred or two hundred years ago [NB this is exactly when Britain was abusing China in the most ungentlemanly manner], but these days it's just 'Britain'".
Interesting to hear a Chinese immigrant complaining about excessive human rights, and praising colonial-era Britain... and I appreciate that he thought the loss of cooking skills was one of the major causes of the decline of a once-Great country...
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