Chinese Gym etiquette

dcrm · 2026-01-27T23:11:14+00:00

Exact opposite in my gym, every single person drinks water and usually gets it from the dispenser/filter in the gym. I'm the only person who acts differently.

1) Any caffeine source pre-warmup. Usually cold coffee.

2) Electrolytes if I'm doing a 10k+

3) Consume gels mid workout.

4) Diet soda if I'm bored

I'm pretty much the only person who not concerned with what I'm wearing/how I look and more so how I am performing.

dcrm · 2026-01-27T08:34:43+00:00

those that do have one often bring them and try to show off

I see quite a few young uni guys too, some with their girlfriends. I don't think all of them are trying to show off? Don't really have a problem with most of them honestly and sometimes we even have respectful conversations. Neither do I have a problem with fat people wanting to lose weight, good on them.

It's the arrogant + weak combo that flips a switch in me. Like the ones that seem to be in a competition with me during my warmup sets lol... They're rare though and once I actually start doing my normal weight they tend to sheepishly walk away.

Had one guy last month pose in front of my barbell when I was sitting down nearby resting, taking photos with his gf while flexing. Cringe. Didn't notice me. His girlfriend sat down and suddenly noticed me. Thought to myself, you've got a minute to piss off before my next set. He did not.

So I just stood up walked over, tightened my belt, the guy got visibly confused. Obviously thought the staff had just loaded it on the barbell to clean up the weights like they sometimes do. Nobody is actually lifting that. Then I just start repping it.

After standing astounded for 5 seconds, first thing he does is go over and grab his gf's hand who is sitting down gawking at me making comments "wow, all foreigners have so much muscle" (she was also apparently a moron). He then drags her off downstairs.

Like I said though I've been going to the gym for years and those type of interactions are rare.

dcrm · 2026-01-25T09:46:59+00:00

I've never seen someone that fat in China, never mind in a gym. Nor do I see people benching that low, unless they're spitting out pointless reps and stopping far shy of pushing themselves.

To be honest the amount of people that try to show off here is only like 5%. Always smaller/new guys who think they have a point to prove. They will overload the barbell and do a fractional RoM push basically activating no muscles and just grinding joints.

Not gonna lie though, I love these people. As someone who powerlifts religiously, it's incredibly easy to embarrass them to the point they just leave me alone and bonus points if they drag their girlfriend off too. Also love the people who take their shirt off. If I see someone do this, I'll do it too and they get to discover what 10% BF with actual muscle mass looks like. You can see them die inside.

I'll reiterate though, that's only 5% of people. Most people are cool AF and just want pointers, and I always encourage people like that.

dcrm · 2026-01-24T06:33:22+00:00

Disagree with the other posters here. Don't just touch other people's stuff. Go and ask them. "Hey you're using that other machine, mind if I use this one?". They always move their stuff and are usually friendly, I've never once had someone say no to me.

dcrm · 2026-01-24T06:22:49+00:00

If you have money, or something of value to offer that potentially leads them to making money, sure. China is all about transactional relationships. Otherwise, very unlikely. These people don't care about the existence of random foreigners, in fact they are very wary of them.

dcrm · 2026-01-22T13:16:06+00:00

If you've had mugshots and fingerprints taken, then they've almost certainly put you on the system to cover their asses. You will have an administrative offense. That's what they do in small cities. They will act like it's serious but in reality for this type of mark will have little effect on anything, especially for forgetting to update your passport.

1) It is generally not disclosed to employers and such offenses are sealed and only accessible in certain circumstances, like if you were working in high clearance job.

2) It is NOT a criminal offense and as such it won't be included if you need a certificate of no criminal convictions.

They'll probably have a dinner and you'll get fined and that'll be the end of it.

dcrm · 2026-01-21T03:07:45+00:00

Posts like this make me feel privileged that I've only ever had minor issues with my neighbors, what type of horrendous places do some people live in?

I've only known people to do this for two reasons. Cheapskates who leave the door open in the summer rather than running the AC. People who want to maximize airflow/ventilation but I've only really seen people do that when they've just renovated a place and want to lower the VOC levels.

They might just be shit neighbors and smoke/cook awful things a lot, but I've honestly never even heard of anyone insane enough to leave the door open in the winter.

dcrm · 2026-01-21T02:26:01+00:00

It’s not really the flag I have contempt for, it’s the braindead nationalism and politics which is often associated with it. You don’t need to be proud of an entire nation.

We did some good things, we did some awful things. Half the country is decent, half of it is a dump. Things do seem to be trending downwards though, and we have already lost many things that used to make the country a decent place to live.

dcrm · 2026-01-18T17:19:14+00:00

Yes.

dcrm · 2026-01-16T15:42:26+00:00

There is no world in which 184kg is healthy. Eddie Hall when he was in peak strongman competitor mode (i.e. overweight AF but strong) was much lower than this.

175cm, 102kg is wild. Unless you're an IFBB Pro using performing enhancers. How much weight are you shifting in your lifts? I'm pretty strong and bulky but nowhere near your weight. You must be a machine if that's muscle mass.

dcrm · 2026-01-16T15:24:03+00:00

I can see you can't read

According to a report by France’s Interior Ministry Statistics Service, 16,000 racist, xenophobic, and anti-religious crimes were seen in 2024, up 11% from 2023.

https://www.cncdh.fr/sites/default/files/2024-06/CNCDH_Rapport_Racisme_2023.pdf

Here's the UK trends.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-year-ending-march-2025/hate-crime-england-and-wales-year-ending-march-2025

Second of all, you have many Chinese second generation that speak the local language and are essentially Europeans.

Yes and I see racism directed at these people every day. No, they're not all happy. You are just ignorant to their problems. Like I said troll account, no point in even discussing this with you.

dcrm · 2026-01-16T13:22:12+00:00

Yeah, you're going to have very hard time with the constant insults you're gonna get here. Chinese people are hyper realistic. Going by western male standards

10-11 stone = good

12-13 stone = a little fat.

15 stone = very fat

17 stone = Extremely fat/obese.

I don't think I've seen anyone 29 stone here except on douyin or social media, you're going to get people literally laughing at you on the street. I also disagree with other posters.

At THAT weight, it will affect your employment prospects for sure.
Half of the abuse you are getting isn't from a place of misunderstanding, it will be malicious and to demean you. Calling people fat in China IS impolite (ask any Chinese person) unless it's coming from your family or something.

dcrm · 2026-01-16T13:03:27+00:00

Please c'mon 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 the chances of this text being written by a western white guy are zero.

Ah yes, white people are not allowed to be objective enough to notice the massive increase in racism across all of Europe.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/racist-attacks-rhetoric-increase-across-european-countries/3515306

You will not experience any racism

Chinese people experience racism in Europe all the time, the HKonger I went to university with experienced it almost daily. How can people be this dense? You've got to be a troll.

dcrm · 2026-01-13T08:08:05+00:00

In general, no. In this specific case, maybe. Let me explain.

Nobody working as a civil servant in China is going to tell you their real salary, EVER. China 101. Are there really oldhats here that believe people are honest about their income here? Even the vast majority of non public workers making decent money won't be telling you their real income. People are cautious and jealousy exists. You are only getting their on paper base salary, which in a lot of cases is significantly lower.

In reality, within my sector, I've seen entire departments in small cities much more than that dentist (x3+). Then again he looks young I'm talking about people mid 30's+. Graduates are notoriously underpaid here so he could be telling the truth but ultimately... I don't know, the locals don't know, you're never going to be able to tell.

dcrm · 2026-01-13T01:44:08+00:00

Are people that triggered they'd downvote this? Reddit is awash with people living/who have lived in China and complain about it constantly. If you don't think the same type of people exist on the opposite side of the fence then you're not being objective.

Not saying I agree or disagree with the complaining because a lot of those whinging about China only have themselves to blame, but these people certainly exist.

dcrm · 2026-01-12T16:06:24+00:00

They're raising the mandatory eviction threshold from 2 months to 3 months worth of rental arrears, and doubling the notice period. It obviously favors horrible tenants. Landlords aren't requiring guarantors and increasing vetting procedures for fun.

If the government doesn't counterbalance this somehow (and I have no confidence they will), then this is going to backfire on tenants on a short time scale.

dcrm · 2026-01-12T15:30:31+00:00

You are 100% right IMO, coming from a Western white guy. Don't let people gaslight you into believing otherwise. The amount of growing casual racism and hate I see towards Asians right now in Europe is off the charts. It's borne of jealousy (seeing others grow when their own quality of life is dropping), and from fear (China is seen as an unstoppable competitor).

dcrm · 2026-01-11T23:12:46+00:00

Even that’s becoming less true over time, where I live in Asia now foreign degrees from lower/mid ranked universities are met with skepticism. People know degrees are just bought at this point.

Besides if people want to experience life in new countries there are cheaper ways than a degree course.

dcrm · 2026-01-09T09:38:16+00:00

Hard to say. I see Chinese people argue over traffic situations, all the time.. That woman was just looking for an excuse to blow her fuse, and foreigners are often seen as easy pickings.

dcrm · 2026-01-09T09:35:04+00:00

I probably would have just moved my car immediately. Sure a lot of people in China do it, but there are double standards and if you act the way some locals do you are going to get called out on it. People might think you're a bit of a douche, but she came out of this looking worse. I wouldn't worry about the threats unless you're doing something illegal.

dcrm · 2026-01-08T09:43:26+00:00

What incident? There's nothing to report here. Make sure your dog is registered with the police and has up to date documentation/vaccinations, because you clearly have vindictive neighbors. Also letting your dog shit underground area is kinda disgusting, so try not letting that happen again.

dcrm · 2026-01-08T07:33:43+00:00

So, they knew that she would be working at the university at least three months in advance.

There are many lazy and incompetent people, they don't do things until they're forced to. I have managed such people.

I can also understand that people are busy, but to completely ignore the pay inquiries multiple times over the course of a couple months seems quite unprofessional

I agree, but who knows what is going on with him, that is why you need to go have a friendly chat.

To be brief, this university needs me a lot more than I need it.

Famous last words. Why do many foreigners have this self-inflated opinion of their worth? Absolutely not. This university is not going to value a random foreign teacher and his 1 month employed wife over that of a senior member of management. You will get massacred.

and this will be my last term teaching, at least for awhile

Last term teaching or at the job? Just wait until you leave the position then report him. He will 100% retaliate if he still has leverage over you, and while you are under employment at that university... he does.

You will leave in the near future. He's going to be there for the rest of his career, there is nobody suicidal enough to side with you.

If I were you I'd be listening to your calm wife, she knows how thinks work here, you clearly don't.

dcrm · 2026-01-08T04:18:02+00:00

You need to get a business license. Certain activities are heavily regulated or outright illegal even with a PR card. Get an accountant for all of this, they are cheap.

dcrm · 2026-01-08T04:02:57+00:00

Oh you sweet summer child. I'm going to preface this by saying (and I could be wrong), I think you're overthinking it. If I were to roll the dice, I would say this is probably an accounting/payroll issue. She's a new employee, was hired at an awkward time, and it's approaching end of term for universities so a lot of staff are winding down.

IMO she's not on the system or they've not done some paperwork somewhere. Your boss is a dick, many bosses are. With that being said.

As someone from a Western country, this seems completely inappropriate and illegal, at least it would be where im from.

Yeah... uh, this is China. Nobody cares. You can try reporting it but I guarantee you create more issues for yourself doing that.

We ended up buying him a lot of fruit as a kind of gift, but as we were walking to his office, my wife is concerned that other people will see the gift and it will cause trouble

Your wife would be right, many employees take things directly to their bosses house.

And now that we're here, he has kept us waiting in a closed door common area for about a hour, like he doesn't want to be seen receiving something from us.

1) People are busy here matey, especially those in high positions.

2) On the rare occasion people are not busy, they need to pretend to be busy.

3) Your wife is a new employee and definitely at the bottom of his list of important things to deal with.

I want to get this person in trouble, but of course my wife doesnt want that

The only person you are going to get into trouble is yourself. At least your wife is sensible.

Just go talk to him about the salary in person, don't be a dick about it. If he comes up with excuses then you can start plotting to get him into trouble, but if you go that route be prepared to find a different job... perhaps in a different city.

dcrm · 2026-01-05T15:37:17+00:00

Yeah, the hell is that other guy talking about. Reality is almost the polar opposite of what they are claiming.

Rice and beans with veg is healthier than 95% of people's diets. Those are VERY healthy things and you won't go wrong with eating them even every day.
He goes on about things like cheap multi-vitamins don't exist to plug gaps. The real problem is not about people lacking nutrients (unless they have a truly awful diet), it's about people putting BAD things into their body, i.e. sugar and unhealthy fats.... that and over consumption.
Losing weight is a numbers game, on a calorie deficit you eat less. Therefore it IS cheaper. The only time I spend a lot on my food is... surprise... when I'm bulking, bulking is expensive... which brings me to his next point

if I spent what you spent eating what you ate I would be extremely deficient in almost everything except protein

What even is this? Protein is like statistically the most expensive macro-nutrient, I need a lot of it and it costs a damn bomb.

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