China's "No solution Don't care" culture
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- čas přidán 14. 01. 2018
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China has a phrase, and it's "mei ban fa". You will hear this everywhere you go. Can you fix this? Mei ban fa. It's used to push away or redirect responsibility. China has a very indirect culture when dealing with things like this, so the phrase can be useful in keeping with that habit/tradition.
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awesome video
I’m 37
oh well, thats how the cookie crumbles
Lol so pathetic... 9 out of 10 comments were from Dr Aaron.
外国人很会掩饰，中国人不懂掩饰就给人抓到话柄。抓中国的话柄是他们的卖点。
Mao: *kills all sparrows causing the insect population to spike and they then eat all the grains*
Mao: mEi BAn Fa
@CWRainwater mei ban fa lah... we hungry lol
I think we can all agree that as a ruler, Mao was absolutely incompetent. All these rushed, not well thought out decisions and campaigns.... Jesus christ, anyone should be embarrassed to have a legacy like his.
@LTNetjak all that proves is that history is doomed to repeat itself
In this era where everything is fake and for show, I'm loving this honest talk.
Honesty is the very thing needed in this world.
Yep. Logos. Religious people figured it out a while ago lol
Glad someone made a video on this... when I was there, that was their favorite cop out phrase to use to avoid putting any extra effort or work. It's the battle cry of unambition, laziness, and irresponsibility. I luckily had one teacher that said "there are always more solutions than problems" instead. Nice vid man
This is so hard to explain these kinds of things to my friends in Canada without sounding racist. You do it wonderfully, thanks !
lol i get it, simple things like this make you a racist here, I do get that too, over-sensitive political correctness is a national problem here, and of course, Mei Ban Fah!!
Nope even pointing a fact out makes you racist now blm!!! 🙃😂🤯
Don't press yourself about racism too much, we westerners are tip toeing about it too much already.
It is racist. Being critical of anything non-western is literally the de facto defention of racism. Languages change over time.
y0U r@c1st!!!
I'm married to a Chinese woman. This attitude of moving on without fixing things is the number one reason why we have fights.
Perseus ..Thai people is the same way
That would drive me insane. I am the epitome of "get 'er done" or "find a solution / make it happen" and hearing that nothing can be done would be infuriating. I also watched their video on how Chinese dont do any maintenance on their homes or contribute to common area upkeep in their buildings, and again, I am the opposite of that. I don't think I could handle those attitudes there. Not heading there anytime soon.
+Perseus
I was thinking of the same thing while watching the vid ... like, hey, both of you guys are married to Chinese women; what happens if they keep saying "mei ban fa"?!?! LOL!
because no every Chinese would say that, I have never said it once,but...as my opinion ,,,many old Chines didn't have a good education, and some old rubbish custom ,,,some people was don't how to solute it cause poor education ; some people said it because they just lazy to solute it ,this happened mostly at some company belong to government ..... it happened, but not frequently
You're all right about women enforcing that kind of behaviour, and that is manily due to the way they empower them in this world. Not already translated my videos, but to sum it up, there is only 2 human power in this world : the male one has control over reality (and thus identify and fix issues), the female one has control over others mind (and thus sells dreams/lies).
The antithesis of this being the old English adage of 'Where there is a will there is a way'.
"Antithesis is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, "
Or barristers, perhaps.
*N boer maak n plan.* (A farmer makes a plan.)
its why we won they lost
English: “that’s life”, “that’s how it goes”, “whatever”, what are you gonna do?”
"avoid confrontation" => Now i know why there are a lot of campers in PUBG Asian server.
Pacific/Asian server in World of Warships is also known for ultra-camping meta.
Mei ban fa IS THE ULTIMATE EXCUSE FOR EVERYTHING LMAO
censor the virus for 1 and a half month, Mei Baaaan Fah laah... domestic stability first, don't interfere!! mei ban fa, chinese country is what it is, don't interfere our domestic policies
@@baqikenny Yeah. First chabuduo then mei ban fa.
I was gonna clean my room but mei ban fa
I was gonna get up and find the broom but mei ban fa
My room is still messed up and I know why
'Cause mei ban fa
Because mei ban fa
Because mei ban faaa
You earn +1 internet
Haha. That's exactly what I was thinking. This 'mei ban fa' is not an exclusively Chinese thing, Western people do it too!
Phrases like "It is what it is" and "C'est la vie" come to mind
I'd make some sweet melody to these lyrics, but mei ban fa.
Well played.
In defense of those Laptop guys - they could have simply be cautious of viruses. When I was working at a Hostel we also were forbidden to allow our guests to copy stuff fom their USB sticks on our laptop for that exact reason.
That was the first thing I thought of too.
Winston, I totally trust you and would loan you my car in a heartbeat, but no way in heck are you going anywhere near a laptop I care about with some mystery memory chip. I actually keep a cheap laptop around for those risky moments.
No not a defense. Cost the Hostel nothing, the staff simply copy and paste themselves (therefore no virus)
Your hostel just do not want to help in a "service" industry. They should not in the service industry in my opinion.
free lance: Even if I was the one in need of a file copy I would want to treat both the friend's memory card and the company's laptop as possible vectors for harmful code.
I agree. Computers store so much important and sensitive information nowadays, and people will naturally be suspicious of someone trying to use your computer. All it takes for virus to spread and eradicate data, is a simple push of a button. Its unreasonable to blame this reluctance on a "méi bàn fǎ" culture.
This mei ban fa sounds just like
“Inshallah” my friends and colleagues in Saudi would say all the time. It’s like”God’s will, I can’t do anything about it”. But they would say it all the time. Everything was “God’s will”. Nobody had any ownership over anything.
Yeah but it's use as a term for I swear as well.
It drives their culture and it is why they don't accomplish much as individuals
I was thinking this, I’ve been all over the Middle East for work and it was really tough working with them because of “Inshallah”.
in America I say " it is what it is" simple as that
Oh well, what can ya do?
You won't say that if you see a dead body on the street though, right?
S#@$ happens
@@RadenWA it is what it is.....
They're in a better place...
It is what it is....
Everything is what it is...
Duh
People that talk that way I consider mentally deficient.
We went to Hot Pot at a place in Suzhou and I really wanted iced water with our meal. They were serving other drinks on ice because I saw them coming from the bar, as well as serving water at room temperature from a metal jug. The waitress said that they couldn't serve iced water, it wasn't on the menu. We had to explain that, she had ice... and she had water, and she could totally put those two things together. She had the power. I got the iced water...
Exactly!
This culture is 100% present in Brazil as well.
The good thing is, that if you know how to deal with it, it runs always in your favor, like every time if you're aware of it.
You can do something like order water and iced tea. Move the ice cubes to the glass of water.
White people and their special requests, SHEESH. next it'll be vegetarian this, substitution that, gluten free this, is this organic that....
Kimberly Jones funny that many times I heard service industry in China is much better than western countries in general. Maybe it's limited to first tier cities.
I wanted to subscribe but Mei ban fa
Ha ha, that's funny!
LOL you made my day!
shogunai
没办法
kristine Euro -- That was rude. Be nice, please.
Teanagers in the USA have a saying to - "Whatever"
The United States of *WHATEVER!*
-Great YT song
stephen meinhold atleast they are honest. Mainlanders often say they can’t when they mean they won’t
They learn if they aren't coddled and jump into the cold water of the real world. Those real lessons are often times the hardest.
"mei ban fa" can generally be meant, literally, there is no way (because there is no solution). Or, it could also mean, f**k off, in a very politely way. It doesn't necessarily mean they can't do it, it could mean they don't want to do it.
For example, if someone wants you to move your car, you tell them "mei ban fa" ... literally telling them to go f**k off. hahaha.
Not literally
Someone not allowing you attach your storage device to their computer is a normal security best-practice. What you were doing, commonly referred to as baiting, is the easiest way for an attacker to gain control of a persons device. I know it wasn't your intent, but there is no way for some random person to know your intent. It is not "a very simple thing."
bugsz1 I agree. Not everyone will be receptive to sharing computer (especially with sensitive data) with complete strangers, but Sepertza is making big deal about it, and attributing it to "Chinese culture", when most of the world (outside of America) does pretty much the same thing.
In australia they most likely do it for you. Depending on the store some would charge you a fee to do it but I very much doubt they would turn you away altogether.
I heard that some people in Australia tend to be anti-Chinese in general. If say, a Chinese tourist to Australia asks to be granted access to the locals' computer to transfer data from SD files, it is likely that many Australians will reject these Chinese, especially if they don't speak English or speak broken English. These Australians may associate Chinese with the tech-geek stereotype, who may try to secretly install some virus or introduce some scam.
This is just my general opinion and perception that's all.
神州 Shenzhou yes that is true people here woulf think like that i think thats true of both our countries. The actual computer businesses however would be more professional. We also have laws against businesses treating people diffferently based on race.
Yes there are racist people in Australia but that is by no means the majority especially in the city
I wanted to press the like button but meiyou banfa
Chabuduo!
I'm really getting into this channel guys. I love the street level perspective, and the bike rides are a nice backdrop for the convos. Can't get enough, keep it up!
LOL, when I was studying in China in 1986 we called it "san-mei-zhu-yi" ("three-mei-ism") -- mei you; mei banfa; mei guanxi. Some things never change... ;-)
Great video, interesting discussion. New subscriber.
Chinese - Disney translation:
*Mei Ban Fa = Hakuna Matata*
It's Swahili though.
Bahahaha
Actually Hakuna Matata = mei wenti 没问题 or maybe mei shi 没事
I belive Hakuna Matata means I don't give a fxxk
Zhonglun Wang put it in a translator, it is loosely translated from Swahili for "no troubles"
hakuna = there is/are not, or no
Matata = plural form of trouble or entanglement.
A few years ago my family took a trip to China and upon arrival, when we were just about to go through customs, my Dad realised he had left his passport on the plane. He wasn't allowed to go back and search for it and none of the employees wanted to because it wasn't a part of their job so they just deported my dad straight back to Australia lol
lol
Stupidest mistake is to take your password out of your bag and left it on the plane
your dad was the lucky one
WTF
Did anyone learn anything from this
Great video, Thanks for using the term over and over as I have a better understanding of how to say and use the phrase and what it means.
I have noted the "No solution Don't care" culture thing all over Asia. I have heard about something similar in Japan. I lived in Indonesia for 6 months 2 years ago and I notes something similar there too. they will not speak up, they will just say they can not help or we can not do that, to almost everything. they will not try to think outside the box, westerners get very frustrated with this, big time. you just have to live with this culture, I was able to help the children in the orphanage think outside the box. thinking outside the box is what the Australian guy who rounds the orphanage whats the children to be able to do. He wants the children to think outside the box so they can be critical thinkers, so things like corruption are not acceptable to them and they can think about why things like corruption are not a good thing for their country. As most Asian countries are poor, most of the people only have enough energy and time to about the next few weeks and not long term. this short-term thinking can make people not think outside the box and be critical thinks which lead to "No solution Don't care" culture. this was a topic I disgust at lenthe with some of the other Christian missionaries in Indonesia.
Same in the Philippines. You have to find your own solution and offer it.
I was lucky to be born in Italy where we have such a big attitude/cultural differences between the prosperous north (comparable to Switzerland both economically and altruistic sensitivities) and the deep south dictated by their separate historical past (but the same 'race' of people, of course!). This has shaped the general life attitude (generalising, of course), with similar 'Chinese' attributes applicable to those born in the 'south'. In the slums of Naples (see Gomorra), it's much much better to get an egg today than 10 chickens next week, which leads to the Neapolitan equivalent to the Chinese 'mei ban fa', i.e., "va bbuò", or "it's ok, what can I do about that"? But as I said earlier, the new Chinese generation is totally different, at least in the educated cities, from the old, rural parents, with no "public clearing lungs routine crowned by huge spittle, chewing toothpicks" kind of behaviour. A bit of patience. In terms of creativity instead, here we have a problem because the political systems abhors "questioning" authority, which permeates to all levels of society, even hampering original scientific research!
They have a similar thing in Japan, shouganai, which means "it can't be helped." There's definitely a culture around here about no confrontation, but there's also a high pressure to "kuuki wo yomu" or "read the air." Basically, you need to indirectly know the problem from the atmosphere, and then correct it without confrontation. I guess it's a similar style of doing things, but at the same time very different, because it comes from a place of honor (you don't want to embarrass the person by confronting them), and self-responsibility (you don't want to embarrass yourself by not reading the air, so you correct your behavior without being told). Because of this, shouganai is usually only used when things really can't be helped, and taking the burden on yourself with acceptance in an effort to not inconvenience those around you. Though it's definitely very deeply rooted in the culture, and comes up a lot more often than you'd think as a westerner. Definitely, as a South African, I have to balance my "a boer maak a plan" attitude with Japan's "shouganai" culture very carefully. :)
acoording to google translate "a boer maak a plan" means "a farmer makes a plan", is that accurate?
Danielle Spargo Good comparison. I think this is similar to the Chinese attitude. If a person can resolve one of these situations through guile and maneuvering rather than overt confrontation, they are quite pleased because nobody has lost face.
However, it seems in china the concept has been somewhat diluted by lazy and corrupt people who use the phrase for their own selfish reasons.
+Danielle Spargo I think that phrase exist all over Asia. In the Philippines, we referred to that term as "bahala na", which means "whatever will happen, will happen" and "hayaan mo na", which means let it be. "Kuuki wo yomu" phrase also exist in our country, the equivalent term would be "makiramdam" which means read the air, tension, or the opinions of people around you, the literal translation would be feel what others feel. I think those phrases have an equivalent term all over Asia because Asians, go with the flow, while westerners don't.
7Nexus21 I'm spending some time in the Philippines. Just a question regarding "going with the flow". Three guys show up around midnight at a junk shop in my neighborhood trying to sell some scrap. They pound on the gate until the owner finally wakes up, comes out and tells the three guys it's too late and asks them to come back in the morning. Instead they come back about 15 minutes later with a molotov cocktail burning the place to the ground. The adjoining multicab lot and adjoining motorcycle lot also suffered damage. Unfortunately the junk lot was also their residence, burned to the ground with all their possessions - fortunately the family got out ok, but what a hardship. My confusion is, how is this scenario "going with the flow" or not "going with the flow"?
+Caz Gerald It's an expression that applies in certain situation, it doesn't mean you should applied it in all situation in your life. You used a vehicle as mode of transportation in a land area, and you used a boat when in the ocean or a sea. You don't use a car to traverse the sea, and a boat to travel in land. Obviously they should report to the authorities and do something about it. The point of the expression is that you should learn to let go about things where you can't do anything about it and don't assist on doing the impossible, instead you take action on what is possible and in an area where you could actually do something.
Love the channel! I also ride so the scenery is just as interesting to me as the dialogue.
Let's go riding motorcycles on the most dangerous road ever. LoL
And be distracted shooting and talking at the same time.
🤯
You clearly have not been to Louisiana
Sounds good to meeee!
Mei ban fa
Realistically though you get a couple foreigners wanting to "copy" files from one card to another on their computer... you have to admit to them there's a bit of a risk of someone wanting to embed hackware right? I'd be a little suspicious myself. I certainly wouldn't be willing to let two guys I don't know run their files through my computer.
I think it's much more likely this situation was caused by their automatic inclination to not help people. Besides, not all foreigners are equally suspicious.
My thoughts exactly. If two guys (foreigners or not) ask to stick something into my laptop... That's a hard NO.
I’d do it for Winston ;)
Yeah with the few examples they can come up with they are pretty bad. Then they just reach the conclusion that this is the attitude of the whole country? What a joke.
No, dumbass, they experienced it for 11 years and came to the conclusion that it pervades the entire country's culture.
Fascinating countryside. I love these riding videos. I end up single framing through about half to see the shots of landscape, buildings, people. These are my fave videos. PS - loved the Conquering Northern China screening last night in DTLA. Great to see you in person. Sorry I didn't make it to Angel City Brewery. More feedback to follow.
Hey , guys. 2 thumbs up from the States. Enjoying the casual commentary and real representation ; dispelling misperceptions & misunderstandings. Keep on rolling. Peace.
I live and work in China. Absolutely. "There's nothing I can do" permeates deeply in the society. True, you go to a shop ask for something and if it's further than an arm's reach is 'not available'. I work in a university and they hide behind bureaucracy. Very, VERY frustrating. I think the current leadership is WELL aware of this cultural bias and it's trying to sort it out somehow, unfortunately including coercion. But it's hard to change a cultural attitude, I am Italian, I should know...
I would have said no to the SD card as well. It's a major security risk to let you do that.
The Chinese guy with the laptop has no chance to defend himself by presenting his version of the argument here.
Yea, totally agree. I'm not saying he is wrong about the whole thing but using this SD card story as an example is wrong. The guy is clearly placing an enormous amount of trust in you by putting a total strangers SD card into his personal work laptop. I would have said no.
Typical US arrogance. Trust me I'm American, no way will my stick fuck your computer.
this is what I was thinking! I swear one of my cousins used one of my computers to log on her facebook and ever since it was completely fucked! Then one of my aunts uses one of my computers for facebook and it gets Fucked! Then I try to get a job creating websites and one of my co workers uses my laptop and it gets Fucked! NO ONE BESIDES ME SHALL TOUCH ANY OF MY TECHNOLOGY ANYMORE!
The Numbers same thingbwould happen in US
It might help if Chinese society didn't punish people who stand-out for any reason, including ingenuity and excellence.
The this attidude can be found in all communist and other countries with lot of bureaucracy and government control. Here in Norway it is getting worse and worse, nepotism is also rampant and not considered as corruption and normal here making it a problem that is only growing and growing and no one cares to even try stop it.
Hey how about you stop copying the same comment to all comment chains below this video you annoying idiot.
At 7:46, inserting an SD card from a stranger into your PC is an awesome way to get malware. The Chinese guy was right. Being an IT engineer, I would have told you the same thing in the USA.
"N boer maak n plan" sounds almost like German "Ein Bauer macht ein Plan". Very good saying and a interesting topic you chose to talk about. Got some insights about the Chinese mindset today :-)
Ruth Steiner It's Dutch which to me sounds like a mix of German and English with some funny sounds thrown in, my favorite language 😂
To be more accurate, it's Afrikaans, not Dutch. In Dutch it would be "een boer maakt een plan". The language is descended from Dutch, so it is similar enough, but there are definite differences that set it apart.
Put Dutch in Africa, words get shorter and simpler. This effect also happens with the working class in general. Practical and energy-saving. A symptom of scarcity. Usually glorified in Western environments.
As a German, I, too, like the fact that Dutch is such a mix of German and English. (It seems like Esperanto is based on such common relatability.) Also makes sense: Many languages develop through cultural mixing with neighboers. ;-P
Oh, my God! The "meiyou" thing when you are looking for something at a store and they just don't want to deal with you drove me absolutely crazy.
I have now acquired a new term.
Mei ban fa.
Culture appropriated. thank you for your corporation.
cooperation
ya know, I struggled with that word. Retyped it 2 times and spell check kept coming back with that, and then I remembered that at least ONE a-hole would come along and "word police" me.
Thanks random internet a-hole.
You mean 'correct', not 'word police'. If you were to point at a cat and say 'dog', the right thing for anyone else to do would be to correct you, for your benefit and ours. Now you know how to spell it. You're welcome.
You mean méi bànfǎ. I guess you just didn't see a way to write it with the proper characters.
By the way, did you write "a-hole" because you are worried that CZcams might word-police you?
Thanks for teaching me this phrase. You guys should include lots more local phrases
It's very interesting to see how similar the layout of the roads in China are compared to the US. What I normally see in the news are cramped flea markets, factory complexes, downtown in big cities, or very rarely, small rustic villages. Where you are driving is just shockingly normal compared to everything I have seen before.
peachcloverlauper Well, you are not very well informed, that is it...
The Japanese have this too, with their "shou ga nai" culture ("It can't be helped"). I think there's a subtle difference though in how the cultures use their phrases.
setitus yeah, I don’t think the Japanese would use it in regard to a deadly highway.
They also have somewhat of an opposite with Ganbatte.
Yea shouganai, shikatta nai is more like hardships you have to endure anyway. Like you really wanna go to this store but the line is so long you have to wait 30 mins to get in. well shouganai.
but yea its not used for when things matter.
It's a general feeling of "I'm not going to try to change the situation". Like, if you have to wait 30 minutes in line, you could just go somewhere else, or wait another day, or do something instead of submitting to circumstance, so it's still related to the mei ban fa concept that way. I think Japanese culture is very collectivist, where an individual member feels more powerless than in an individualist society. Chinese culture might be collectivist too, though they have the added problems of a corrupt government (more corrupt than Japan's bureaucracy ever was) to further enhance that feeling of responsibility shirking.
What about when Japanese troops invaded China, Korea, Philippines, etc. Was it also because of "shouganai" and just-following-orders sort of mentality?
Most sane people should be reluctant to share work computers with random strangers... Nefarious people come in all forms.
I agree, and I personally think SerpentZa is making a big deal out of something which is quite common in cultures outside of America.
神州 Shenzhou No man, its not!
+Mauro Romero Look at the various comments posted by people of other cultures, who also say that there is similar expression for "méi bàn fǎ" in their own native language. SerpentZa is trying to pass off something that is common human behavior, as "Chinese Culture". when it is only America that seems to be the exception to the norm here.
神州 Shenzhou Man, this kind of expretions exist even in US! Im brazilian and even in Brazil we have expretions like that!
But we are a very Catholic country! (Like all other Latin American countries) So in our couture, when someone asks for help, keeping saying things like that, is seen like an impolite thing!
+Mauro Romero So just because you are Catholic country, means you are qualified to speak for every other country out there? If you think I am wrong, then I have already cited various other cultures with similar expressions, like Que Sera Sera, and Japanese Shouganai, etc, to support my claim.
But you are only speaking on behalf of Latin American countries only.
It sounds like our equivalent "oh well" only more systemic.
Or "shit happens". The "shit happens" attitude is also fairly common in certain age groups in the west though it's usually a thing that people grow out of.
Can't help but notice you're tachometre is broken! In another video, your brake light was flickering on and off while driving. Mei Banfa?
That's a "Mei You guan xi" which could be a whole other video on the mentality of the Chinese.
Whatever
I once hustled some little Chinese kids out of the street when a speeding car was coming. It really wasn't very close but they needed to move quickly and the parents were too far away. The parents were thankful but seemed surprised that I intervened to keep their kids safe. That's when I realized they wouldn't have done the same for my kids because they didn't care to get involved. I viewed it as selfishness.
Selfishness? So because you are "selfless" means you expect others to be just like you?
So because China's modern history consists of wars, invasions, famine, rebellions and revolution, means you can blame Chinese people for our "starving peasant" mentality? Your Western countries never had to worry about food, running water, electricity, gas, petroleum or even security, so it gives you the right to despise Chinese people who grew up in poor conditions?
神州 Shenzhou It has something to do with altruism and empathy. The Dutch language has a nice (tad archaic) say about it: _Wat u niet wilt dat aan u geschiedt, doet u toch ook een ander niet?_ This "golden rule" has its origins in ancient *Chinese* philosophy! We learnt it from you folks! zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/恕道 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule
Chinese has a phrase called 自扫门前雪, which means you only shovel the snow in front of your door. I think that at least provide some proof that this apathy toward stranger is a culturally build-in thing. You can barely see Chinese public react to stranger. Few years ago some Chinese dude make a video about what will Chinese people do when a kid is kidnapped in front of them; Well, it turns out people don't really care if someone is kidnapped in front of them; they just keep walking, or telling others "don't look, you'll get into trouble"
@神州 Shenzhou And come on, can you put aside your nationalistic zeal? It is blocking you from thinking objectively
I come for the controversy but I stay for the Gratuitous Drone Shots.
Never close the video before the GDSs are finished - especially with the accompanying theme music!
Rumor has it, that even the anti-foreign chinese shills wait till the end to watch it.
If you like those drone shots, then there are also other people who take equally impressive aerial movies of China, like this one from Stef Holman czcams.com/video/p1e68fqMkME/video.html
I love your positive attitude and persistence also I will now for ever remember your South African Saying " A Farmer makes a plan. Thanks Serpentza & Cmilk
I know the characters, and now I know new phrases. Thank you. This was exiting to learn it.
I wonder if the guys at the store were paranoid you might have been trying to put a virus on their computer to scam them or something.
Just bought your TV series, not sure if I’ll have time to watch it. But just happy to support you guys :)
Please watch it, you’ll love it
YOU WILL NEVER HAVE THE TIME TO WATCH IT!! NEVER IN YOUR LIFETIME! NEVER
Actually just watched the first episode, it was awesome! Thanks guys!
I love cultural differences like that, it's really interesting to see how they flow. I live in Estonia and from the russian side I think there are some similar tendencies that come out in phrases and idioms which probably stem from the orthodox church and it's teachings and what effects they have on the culture. One very popular saying is something like "man plans but god leads"-when something goes wrong so you just kind of dump it on fatalism. While on the other hand in from the western side and lutheran teachings especially hard work is very respected and in high regard, I think it's also from where a part of this sometimes crazy work culture stems from.
I found this to be a very interesting topic. You did a great job explaining it. Euphemisms are also very interesting and can be quite challenging for a second language learner.
Thanks, guys. For some reason I *needed* this video to get me moving.
Hahaha! Eww.
I usually think of China as "0 Fucks Given Land".
@advchina I DO enjoy a little behind the scenes.
God, thank you for making a video about this, guys. I just got back from a year in China and this out of everything pissed me off the most. It's such BS. I have so many stories of this happening, like even with asking "where's the bathroom?" "Mei you" Oh really? Because I just walked around the corner and found it. This makes them seem so stupid to me.
I don't know if it's uncommon, but while you focus on the ambivalent/lazy usage of the phrase, there's another usage/meaning of 沒辦法. I've heard it used to express "well, there's no escaping this", "there's no getting out of this", "we're not going to find an easy excuse/solution" and therefore one must be resolute and follow through with a course of action that is very difficult or unpleasant.
In that case, it's identical to Japan's "shouganai" culture, which means "it can't be helped." 「仕様」literally also means method or remedy, so it's the same expression, "there is no method/remedy." But it's not used as described in the video, but rather it has more of a "grin and bear it" feel.
*"FVCK! Here we go again..."* 👉👊👈
MMMCLXXX________ I.K.R. the one action that manifests the virtue of the attitude that embodies confrontation. the face punch is needed, on both ends.
Very true, the usage is also a bit different in Hong Kong and Taiwan. At least to my knowledge and experience, in Hong Kong it’s usually used in the context you described. You especially see this in the TV dramas and films. A character may be stuck in a situation with no solution insight and in these cases “沒辦法” is closer to an idiom of sorts, where is signifies no solution but the need for something radically to change. Then they usually come up with a crazy plan. I also heard it much less in Taiwan, people tend to look for a solution first and when there really isn’t one they say 沒辦法. The difference in culture between mainland china and places like Hong Kong and Taiwan is quite interesting.
I never, ever found this attitude during my 11 months in Taiwan. I found the Taiwanese people to be extremely helpful, innovative and creative. Hardest working people I've ever met, and none that I knew were in their position because of nepotism, or lack of experienced workers. The Taiwanese have my absolute respect. The same for my short stay in Hong Kong (8 days). The staff at the hotel I stayed at always helped me when I had an issue. Very attentive staff. The staff at the Visa offices in WDC on the other hand.....I have zero nice words to say about them and they definitely fit this mei ban fa attitude. I am also experiencing mei ban fa at the current school I am working, from the new foreign language director, who does not belong in that position and has no care to help me on any issue regarding schedule, classes or living in China. It's fkg maddening and has had a direct effect on my personal income and opportunities during the summer break. But finally understanding that it's a cultural thing, and not a personal thing, helps me to navigate the culture a little better. And you can bet I will be using that phrase to my advantage the coming school year. ;)
In portuguese we have "Desenrrasca-te", which is something like "McGuiver yourself"
"te vira"?
That's bad ass
I guess "te vira" sounds brasilian portuguese. "Desenrasca-te" is from european Portuguese.
I guess you could also translate it as "unsh*t yourself"
Precisely.
At 15:37 you "mei ban fa'd" people being "mei ban fa". I fell out of the chair laughing.
Love these videos guys, thank you for your insight and sharing your knowledge. As always, AWESOME!
Great song in the outro! and great videos, keep it up ^^
Thanks, needed a ADVChina fix
We have a similar saying in Australia , "CAN'T BE BOTHERED" but only as a last resort . I think you guys should put rear vision mirrors on your bikes . Winston get your tacho fixed , mei ban fa :-)
or shit happens.....
more accurately, "can't be arsed"
and difficult problems go into the "Too hard basket" (where they will never be addressed unless someone makes a fuss).
I'm also Australian and I can say that our 'can't be bothered' attitude is completely different. I think we use it more at home or for personal things when we're lazy, where as in China it's everywhere, even in the workplace, which is why service is often very poor and the level of professionalism remains lacking. I personally hate the fact that regularly I can see people 100 meters from my home, fishing oil out of the drain to go and process and sell and there are people all around that don't even blink at this behaviour....
but of course meibanfa!!!
I think this was the first ADV video I watched. 9 months i must have watched hundreds between your three channels.
Depending on how confident the staff was about having customers stick their SD card onto their computer. I would say most employees everywhere in the world would refuse.
Well... if a stranger comes and ask me to use the store laptop to copy i would deny simply because i'm not sure if there is a virus or some other form of malware...
To be fair. I wouldn't have let a random dude's SD card anywhere near my laptop. :D
Samsonite Dove prolly kiddie pR0n and warez
Depends. If he's some shady person of the street, then no. If he visibly has a camera or other professional equipment, I wouldn't care.
Great vid. "Where there's a will, there's a way!" The apathy is amazing.
Great useful and inspiring episode. Thanks. "The farmer makes a plan." Nice.
mei ban fa = c'est la vie...
Han Onyme I didn’t hear this phrase all the time when I lived in France
Because we don't say it that much and it doesn't really have the same meaning. Actually, the closer thing I can think of is "flemme", meaning something like slackness or being an expression of laziness, that we can say as is or like "j'ai la flemme" which means "I don't feel like it" or something like that.
"C'est la vie" makes much more sense when speaking about something there is nothing you can really do about except deal with it. Like you just got fired or something. Except in France, you can sue your ex-employer in certain circumstances for that..France in a nutshell.
= Oh well
tough titties
In German you can say "Da kann man nichts machen" ("You can't do anything about it"). But much more often you hear "Wo ein Wille ist, ist auch ein Weg" ("Where there's a will, there's a way").
Clicking the like button and commenting? Mei ban fa ...
Oh, wait ...
Thank you for the cultural observation and the phrase. ^.^
Good grief these are great videos. Very enlightening. Thank you!
I had this same experience. When I lived in the middle east, (Oman) I had a lot of trouble in business trying to get things done on deadlines. The Omanis would always say "inshala" which means god-willing. Basically if it was supposed to get done god would find a way to complete it within the working hours lol. This response was very religion-driven though. On the flip-side they were very nice and generous when it came to helping people. I had my car break down once on the highway and immediately someone stopped to help me! He told me that it was god's will that he was there to help me. Honestly, I think the pro's outweigh the con's in Oman though!
Was trying to make appointment with my University course mate (I'm the team lead). I needed everyone to be punctual on the meeting time. Then the word "inshala".....
Sounds to me like being punctual is god's will, and not coming on time is god's will too....
See? This behaviour is actually common to many countries outside of China, but Sepertza is trying to make big deal about it, when practically most people in rest of the world (outside of America) would use a similar approach.
Well, I mean it can be a big deal. Especially if there are needlessly dangerous things not being fixed. Coming from a western perspective it can be frustrating to say the least
+Aaron Madsen In my opinion, one example that fits the "needlessly dangerous things not being fixed" is the loose guns laws in USA. Its much easier to commit crime like robbery in USA, because people have access to guns, which is why some "white" Caucasian cops shoot the African American suspect first, because of possibility of the suspect being armed with guns. But nothing seems to be being done to amend US gun laws, because people want the right to bear firearms.
Love your videos
When you ask an African if they stock an certain item, they say no before they even think. Saying no means they do not have to worry about it anymore. Saying yes means more work.
I know this “no solution” attitude from my immigrant parents, thankfully I was born and raised in the West. Now, here’s the irony: for a Gov, for a society TRYING to rework itself into a “global leader”, with an alpha status, it’s ironic that their entire social structure has trained them to be sheeps. I ponder how the rise of “intellectual criminals” (intellectual property crimes)....also, other criminals has risen out of Sheep Like mentality. Are these people outliers in a system conditioning its population to be sheeps?
Sounds like a cop-out to me ~
I live in Korea as a teacher, and it's totally the opposite of this type of culture here. If there is an issue Koreans try to find a solution as fast as possible. They have an opposite phrase that's commonly used. "빨리빨린" (Bali Bali) which means "Hurry Hurry" This culture is centered around providing good service and finding solutions for problems. Was an interesting video, guys. Thank you for posting.
Dmn your videos are really eyeopening.
With your background in IT I can't imagine you would allow a perfect stranger to put some random removable media into your personal computer, I know I wouldn't.
China is a country you can get very frustrated once you understand the language - different situations (1) mainlanders were used to have things provided and have no willingness to change any situation (lack of responsibility or laziness) so say in a fatalistic way "Mei you ba fan" because the problem do not impact them directly or they can live with it ; (2) some times they use it when they want you to understand that they do not have what you expect : so you have no choice / no chance to argue : an impersonal way to get rid of you.
Sounds like they didn't want some random foreigners using their computers and card reader to copy shit from an SD card... which makes complete sense when you actually think it out.
I was thinking that too, it's a random stranger, they could have malware or anything on those SD cards, you never know, i'd be a little suspicious, and be looking over their shoulder if I allowed them to use my business PC
Yup, even in a developed western country, you wouldn't let some stranger even touch your personal or business PC, let insert unknown devices or memory/data storage device, etc.
True, and Winston addressed that, by saying that the computer guys could have just said "no". The point is that they will give ridiculous lies as excuses instead of just giving a reasonable response.
I am glad that normal, sane people do not complain if others choose to use their computers. Computers store lots of data that you won't show to any random stranger.
motouechi that’s called culture difference, we think it’s rude to just say no on sb’s face
Keep up the good work. You guys are on to something special.
I really, really want some chinese people in a western country making a video like this explaining about how "mei ban fa" is a totally alien concept.
Thank you for risking your life to do this. Obviously, as a foreigner, you are quite advantaged. Please be safe. Lucky you, nobody said:”Meibanfa, trucks love to hit you because of your good looks.” Please don’t travel that road again. No fun.
This helps to explain the complete lack of compassion for other people when watching Liveleak videos of car accidents and other injuries in China, everyone just walks past as if nothing happened.
About 30 years ago, China was once a poor and starving country plagued by wars, invasion, rebellions and revolutions, unlike your stable Western countries who grew up with enough food to eat and so on, so why are you blaming Chinese mentality here?
Your Western countries grew up with food, electricity, running water, gas and plumbing, means you can despise and look down on other countries who grew up without those amenities?
Ya, and it may take forever a generation to learn to be humble and not generalizing others to please their moral superiority complex mindset.
There is always a reason people behaves a certain way. Its because of their past experience in life.
Those Western countries grow up with food, education, safety, water, etc, so of course they won't know what's it like growing up in country without those amenities. Yet they despise Chinese people for our "starving peasant" mentality here.
well they also torture animals for their food just because they can....its no wonder they dont care about other humans. animals are here to teach us compassion and they learn from a young age to not care and be sadistic. most asian countries are like this but they keep it quiet
In Quebec it's "Pas capab yé mort, son pti frère s'appelle Essaye."
"Can't do it is dead, his little brother is named Try."
Ive never heard anyone say that in my entire life
Ca fait longtemps que j'ai entendue cette expression.
@@leorickt.9604 If you're from Quebec you did.
That's one reason I hate French.
@@redMaple_QC Je suis de Montréal et j'ai jamais entendu cette expression de ma vie lol.
interesting video...I lived in china for a year and I can relate to some of yours stories......i am kind of amazed of some of the commentaries below....which bring me to the point of thinking that stupidity is universal......I guess mei ban fan can be apply everywhere.....
keep on the good work guys....
Are the dead people on the side of the road, motorcyclist who got hit, drug addicts, homeless people, or what?
But if you are faced with "Mei banfa", the magic "solution-finding" followup question is "Zenme ban?" 怎麼辦? And the person will often come up with a solution for you.
CNVideos really? I've had the opposite experience, whenever I ask 怎么办 the response would be 没办法
What does that word mean?
"What is to be done?"
then you say 不可能没办法 hahahaha. Then again it really depends on the situation and how much you want to push it~
Here in Canada we use the saying where there is a will there is a way. I blew my water pump but took a shirt and wrapped it tight around the pun and kept putting water in till I got to where I could repair it about 130 KL.
An interesting look into a side of China I wasn't aware of. Thank you!
You guys- BE CAREFUL driving out there. I'm not saying you aren't careful, I just want to see you make videos for many years to come.
I'll second that!
I doubt it is going to be them that causes an accident, but the other terrible drivers on those roads.
Que Sera Sera, or "You can't fight city hall" in America.
Fanniumen, It's an old saying.
Here's some possible info but I'm pretty sure I've heard it in old movies.
forum.quoteland.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/99191541/m/282100823
Of course, we can fight whatever power we choose. 😁
The best
@@mplwy but at what price?
@@mplwy æ
4:17 Woah !!
I just "discovered" (quotation marks here will make sense after reading my comment) SerpentZA's channel a few weeks ago thanks to the body guard video (I think it was this one that I found first ?), and binged watch probably more than an hundred videos from SerpentZA's channel, C-Mik's channel, and this channel.
And turns out that I just learned right now that it wasn't the first time I've watched SerpentZA on CZcams. I remember watching that video you made with Scotty (because I've followed Scotty for years) when it was released.
That threw me back a few years :o
I like your ' road movie ' style, pretty relaxing, like bunch of friends hanging together
You should have an smartphone with OTG support and sdcard reader so you can pass to your smartphone.
Yes, when I first came to China I was doing an office management position for a foreign company. Of course, the largest part of the employees were Chinese. I was given the task of overseeing all the bookkeeping and had to constantly audit departments. Every single time I ran into a problem "mei ban fa" aka: lazy and don't want to do things correctly. Even people "borrowing" money out of the petty cash box and not returning the money. Mei ban fa is pretty annoying, it ranks right up there with "this is china".
Everyone who ever worked in a Chinese company has probably a story or two about climbing that Chinese mei ban fa wall.
The same thing happened in US. I was in an external auditing company and we audited lots of American MNCs. Corruption was rampant and when we wanted more details to flag out the corruption, the rank and file would resist us and said, "couldn't be helped as higher authority did not allow it."
That is the US that is not known to the public eye.
Don't Americans also have to climb a similar wall to become part of the 1%?
M&M Of course it happens. That's why we have a job. I was just amazed how many people thought the petty cash box was for them to buy lunch with lol
Been watching this channel for a while, learnt a lot about China so far. Interesting place, this China we got.
Almost doesn´t matter what you guys are talking about, it is told so compelling. Thx for sharing your experiences!