Watching with eyes wide open
21.04.2014 11:10:00
Izuyi Chaya
Minsk is soon to welcome a great many foreign guests and it’s interesting to think what impression our country will make upon them. A Chinese student here in Belarus tells us what astonishes him…
“You have very good roads and everyone obeys the traffic regulations! In Beijing, locals often ignore them, as do pedestrians; they cross the road without looking, Beijing is a city of bicycles, with about 8 million cyclists. I know that many people in Belarus have begun using bicycles. I think it’s a good trend.
I’m also surprised that it’s against the law to drink alcohol on the street, including beer. I hear that smoking is also to be prohibited soon.
Your dairy products have impressed me: milk, sour cream and curd cheese are delicious. Chinese people see eating as more than an appeasement of hunger; it’s a ritual — a solemn performance. Even today, older people in China greet each other by asking if they’ve eaten and a man who has lost his job is said to have ‘broken his rice bowl’. I like Belarusian cuisine — such as draniki (potato pancakes). It’s interesting to me that most people in Belarus think that a dinner without soup isn’t a dinner at all.
I’m attracted to Belarus more, the longer I remain. My favourite places for walking are near the National Library and around Troitsky Suburbs.”
“You have very good roads and everyone obeys the traffic regulations! In Beijing, locals often ignore them, as do pedestrians; they cross the road without looking, Beijing is a city of bicycles, with about 8 million cyclists. I know that many people in Belarus have begun using bicycles. I think it’s a good trend.
I’m also surprised that it’s against the law to drink alcohol on the street, including beer. I hear that smoking is also to be prohibited soon.
Your dairy products have impressed me: milk, sour cream and curd cheese are delicious. Chinese people see eating as more than an appeasement of hunger; it’s a ritual — a solemn performance. Even today, older people in China greet each other by asking if they’ve eaten and a man who has lost his job is said to have ‘broken his rice bowl’. I like Belarusian cuisine — such as draniki (potato pancakes). It’s interesting to me that most people in Belarus think that a dinner without soup isn’t a dinner at all.
I’m attracted to Belarus more, the longer I remain. My favourite places for walking are near the National Library and around Troitsky Suburbs.”