I found there were some strong cultural differences bewteen the Chinese people in Chongqing and Westerners like myself. One difference I found out by accident.

I had been working in Chongqing for a few months and then went back to Australia for a short holiday in January. This meant I had spent most of autumn and most of the winter there - which meant I had seen very little sun.

Now, Australians and many other westerners like to get out in the sun and get a suntan so their skin turns brown. In the west, a brown suntan is sought by many because I think it is a sign of affluence - people can afford to go to sun drenched places, swim at the beach and get a tan.

After my three weeks in Australia my skin turned quite brown with constant exposure to the sunshine. I tought I might get a few compliments when I returned to Chongqing.

Boy was I wrong. The Chinese I knew could not understand why I wanted to make my skin darker. I learnt that in China people like to make their skin paler. I saw this in theatrical plays where male actors liked to whiten their faces. And look at the following picture:
 

The chemists sold face whitening masks which women would use to make their skin look paler.

From what people told me, a pale skin also indicated affluence because the poorer rural people worked outside in the sun and got suntans that way.

Have a look at Chinese people to find out more about the Chinese from a westerner's perspective.