Every country has its unique culture and customs. People in some countries like doing things one way, while others prefer doing things in another way. This happens because they are under different social and cultural backgrounds. After coming to Canada, I realized that there were great differences between the two countries. I'd like to tell you something about them. These matters might interest you, I guess. By the way, no one has rights to make any judgement between the countries, since any custom is not right or wrong.

The differences in customs between Canada and China may be categorized into four parts: diet, main transportation, the way of greetings, and service tips.

Diet is a main part of everybody's life. Canadians are accustomed to eating bread, cheeses, and milk as major food every day. You can find a lot of different flavors and packages of them in grocery stores. Every time, I go shopping, I see that almost everyone picks up these three items. These goods have likely become necessaries in living. Compared to Canada, rice and vegetable are the Chinese main foods. People usually spend a lot of time making their meals, especially dinner. Everyone has their meals with rice, meat, and vegetable for lunch and dinner a day. People can cook rice in several ways such as, steaming, boiling, and frying. Most Chinese are good at cookery.

The main transportation in Canada is cars. Almost everyone has his or her own car. There are many different types of cars going on the streets. Unlike in Canada, bicycles are main vehicles for going somewhere in China. Every morning, you can see various bicycles going toward their destinations. There are many kinds of bicycles, which are different in colors, sizes, and shapes. Some of them are for men, while some are for women and others are for teenagers. The majority of the Chinese are able to ride bikes.

Different countries have their own way of greeting, which represents the culture of a country. There is a big difference between the two nations. When people meet some where in Canada, they often greet each other with "Hello" or "How are you?" They use these words to express their friendliness to people. In contrast, Chinese people are used to saying, " Have you had breakfast yet? " when they meet in the morning or " Have you had lunch? " when they meet in the afternoon. It does not really mean that people want to know whether you have had your meals or not. It just a custom and traditional expression of greeting among people. It is a friendly expression, indeed. Don't feel confused if someone says" Have you had breakfast? " in China some day!

A tip is a small amount of money that is paid for good service. A tip is very common in Canada. You might leave a tip in restaurant, hotel, barbers' shop and taxies. For instance, you should leave 15% of your bill as a tip to a waiter or waitress for providing good service, no matter who you are, how high social position you have, and where you came from. Yet there is no need to give a tip to those services in China because the bill has already included the fee. Of course you may leave a tip if you want, but others would think you are strange.

I have told four differences I have seen, in diet, main transportation, the way of greetings, and service tips, between Canada and China. The differences are just my observations.