Culture – finger pointing

In most Western countries we point with our finger all the time. We point out things of interest to our friends and children. We point to one another when giving our family's names to others. All the time we point and show people with an extended finger.

In China it is very rude to point at someone, especially a Chinese. They see it as offensive to point with the finger. If you do have to point then you do it with the hand held flat so that you are pointing with your four fingers and that seems to be acceptable.

If you want to see a display of finger-pointing then watch two Chinese when they argue. This will be a central part of the argument. Sometimes there will be a lot of pushing and pulling, if the argument is between a man and woman. The advice in most tour guidebooks is do not interfere. If you feel that it is getting beyond pushing and pulling and one of them needs help then you will need to call the police (P.S.B. or Public Security Bureau) but only do that in extreme cases and far better to let the locals Chinese deal with it.

There is a time when finger pointing can be a positive advantage. Beggars can be a problem in China. Often these are old people who for one reason or another cannot support themselves. I can think of one old blind man who obviously could not work. Some beggars use their children to try and extract money from people. My practice is never to give to beggars as no matter how much you give them they will not give up their life of begging. Some of these children beggars can be very persistent. I had one case where this little beggar child refused to take no for an answer. In the end the child grabbed my leg and if I had been smaller or lighter then I would not have been able to get away from him. Instead of giving him money I stamped on the ground with him clinging to my leg. He was so surprised that he let go of my leg. I then gave the kid a good telling off in a loud voice, and even though he almost certainly did not understand English, I pointed my finger in his face to reinforce the fact that this type of behavior was not to be tolerated. He ran off.