German-Chinese Meeting #7 Typical Leisure Activities

In our 7th meeting, we were sharing thoughts on typical Chinese or German leisure activities (if there was no pandemic).

Surprisingly, China’s and Germany’s youth are rather similar when it comes to leisure. In both cultures, we like to engage in activities that include meeting our friends, spending time with them or going to parties. Especially eating together or going to bars seem to be the most common Chinese leisure activities for young people. I was also surprised when they told me that having bubble tea is considered a leisure activity since it seems very specific. However, there are two major differences in typical leisure activities in Germany and in China:

1. KTV/Karaoke has in Chinese culture a way higher status and is of way higher importance than in Germany. According to my team mates they go to Karaoke Bars regularly and consider it as a leisure activity some people even engage in in the afternoon sometimes as opposed to just in the evening as I would have expected it.
2. Me and my friends try to spend as much time outside as possible. Whether it is going to a lake in summer, doing sports outside or especially going on hikes. For the latter, my team mates told me that it is almost no option for them when living in a major city in China because it simply does not have enough nature to offer in order to make it properly enjoyable.

All in all, however, the activities Chinese and German youth likes to engage in is rather similar as I would not have expected it. However, considering my past meetings with my team mates it seems like they have generally less leisure than we have in Germany due to their demanding educational system. This topic will be covered in our next meeting and I am really looking forward to it.