Big in China

Last night I co-hosted the company annual dinner (as the token foreigner). Like the previous one, it was a pretty big occasion with over 500 employees crammed into a massive banquet hall to enjoy three hours of variety shows,  eating and drinking. Talking in front of such a large crowd for the first time was pretty nerve-wracking but it seemed to go OK and the audience got a laugh out of my pigeon-Mandarin attempts.

Company Annual Dinner

I hadn’t noticed until yesterday just how much taller I am compared to the average Chinese person here! You can guess which I am in the top picture but at 5’10” (178cm) I’m not exactly a giant either. Surprisingly the average Chinese male is 5’8″ (172cm) compared to the average US male who is 5’9″ (175cm) – not a huge difference and apparently the gap is fast closing.

In case you’re wondering the strange looking face masks are to protect the identity of the innocent, Laughing Man style!

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David avatar
Originally from the UK, David is product manager and wanderer currently based in Munich. Prior to this, he lived in Japan and China for over 15 years. He started Randomwire in 2003 to chronicle his travels and occasional musings. Feel free to drop him a line.

11 responses

  1. David avatar
    David

    Thanks Echo 🙂 Shame to miss all the delicious food though!

    Reply
  2. echo avatar
    echo

    Others couldn’t notice that it was your first time to speak in front of so many people, because you really did a great job last night.Fantastic!

    Reply
  3. David avatar
    David

    Yeah, you’re definitely not anthropomorphically designed for China!

    Where I work there’s a sign on the stairs which reads “Meet Carefully” – what it should have actually said is “Low Ceiling – Mind Your Head” but by the time you’ve worked out what it means it’s too late!

    Still, better tall than short…

    Reply
  4. clarke avatar
    clarke

    which you can understand why I have an aching back whenever I’m in China, as I’m 6’4″. Though it does make it quite easy to move through the crowds.

    Reply
  5. Adeel Javed avatar
    Adeel Javed

    What exactly did you do?

    Reply
  6. clarke avatar
    clarke

    agreed, I do love their stick figure signs.

    Reply
  7. Shuo avatar
    Shuo

    Suit and tie,nice.

    I got the feeling that you look slimmer in person.

    Reply
  8. David avatar
    David

    Adeel – just had to introduce each act and say how wonderful everything was etc…

    Shuo – are you saying I look fat?!!!

    Reply
  9. Adeel Javed avatar
    Adeel Javed

    Seems like one of your new year resolutions got completed.

    Reply
  10. V avatar
    V

    Beau~tiful hands. Get a bottle of nice hand moisturizer 😉

    Reply
  11. yaoyao avatar
    yaoyao

    Let me guess,Is the frist man on the right in the top picture David?
    It seems completely different but nice.

    Reply

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