Quote: (01-04-2015 03:47 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:
Very insightful post Feisbook Control! Thanks for sharing that cultural insight into Taiwanese marriage practices!
Curious about the stripper tradition in weddings and specially funerals! Like for real, during funerals people would hire strippers? Could you share some insights as to the reasons behind this?
Is it the same in HKG and China? Maybe TravelerKai can chip in on that topic as he is THE China expert in here.
In some cultures in Asia but also in the Middle East, the bride and her family pay the engagement party, which can be quiet big and expensive and the groom and his family pay for the wedding. This is a way where both are contributing financially.
Very interesting, if not outright fascinating topic!
Basically, as far as I can tell, in Taiwan, everything comes down to one of six things (or a combination thereof): food, money, luck, face, guanxi (connections/relationships) or spirits/ghosts, though not necessarily in that order. In this case, it's about the spirits.
Here is an article about it. Here is a video. I've never actually seen strippers here in the seven and a half years I've been living here. I currently live in a pretty rural part of the country, so I am surprised I haven't seen it here at some point. I think it's kept under wraps these days because it's both illegal and considered gauche.
As far as I can tell, it's specifically a Taiwanese cultural practice, though I couldn't say for sure.
Another wedding custom is giving out free cigarettes and betel nut (which is really disgusting, although it too is usually sold by scantily clad women, see here).
Zelcorpion: Rest assured, I am sure those people in other cultures know exactly what's what and who gave what. Perhaps they don't keep a physical ledger, but I'm sure more than one person keeps a mental ledger. It does seem really crass to Westerners the way Taiwanese do things, but you get used to it, and you see that in many ways, they're a very practical people, if quite materialistic. It makes more sense than getting three toasters.