As the Chinese New Year passes once more, I am struck by the traditions and how prescribed everything seems to be. As I looked out into the surrounding apartment blocks last night, I couldn't help but notice that all the televisions were tuned to the same channel: CCTV1's New Year's Gala. It's as prescribed as they come and every year is pretty much the same shtick. The odd thing is that everyone I know who watched it thought it was boring, and yet, they will all watch it again next year, because that's what you do. Almost all parties are equally prescribed and ordered. If you are invited to a party, chances are, there will be a microphone, a stage, and coerced performances.
At the same time, so many other aspects of society are without order at all: lines and traffic are two prominent examples. If you go to a bank, for instance, there isn't normally an orderly single-file line, rather a half circle crowd around the wicket. Traffic is equally oblivious to rules as cars often drive on both sides of the road or drive through red lights.
It's odd, whereas in the West, we work in order and relax in chaos the opposite is true in China.
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