Do not show your stomach in a restaurant. Do not touch strangers. Remember that emotionless expression from passersby is not a sign of rudeness. Tourists from China and other Asian countries are offered to get familiar with these rules before visiting Russia in order to avoid awkward situations.
Ilya Filipov with the details.
- We are tourists from Taiwan.
It takes a group of Taiwanese tourists a two-hour flight to Hong Kong and a ten-hour flight to Moscow to get to Sheremetyevo. They rarely come alone. They orient themselves well at the airport. The signs are translated into English and Chinese. Now there's a guide which contains information about our habits and taboos. Russia is a multicultural country, but there is still a difference in manners and traditions between Moscow and Beijing, for example. We are accustomed to eating from an individual plate, but not from the common one. We don't show our stomachs at the table to show how much we enjoy the dish. This guide may seem strange to us. It says that you should stand in line.
Sergei Antonov, Head of Communications at Tutu.Ru: "In China, they don't respect the idea of the line that much. They are used to pushing ahead. We may seem a bit unfriendly. But it doesn't mean that we're not kind, right?"
Many guests from Asia do their best to get accustomed to our climate. There are many vegetarians in warm Thailand. But it's not the case for Moscow, where people eat pelmeni and borsch. Sap means "tasty" in Thai.
"I used to consider Russia to be, well, somewhat dangerous. We were accustomed to thinking so because it used to be communist".
The joke that the Russians hid all their bears in their homes before the World Cup still makes any foreigner who's already visited Russia laugh. Here's a stand-up with a swear English word in a small bar in the city's center. Nikolai comes here to perform, and his American wife comes to listen.
"I think I was most afraid of the very cold in winter here. That's what I heard about Russia. It turned out to be true. I hadn't seen snow before, I'm from Los Angeles".
The city which Lee came from is famous for its whiskey in America. But this fact impresses few people in Russia.
"They're open, hospitable, like, come to my place, I'll feed you, let me fix you a drink, let's go here, let's go there. That's how people talk. I've noticed something. Russians do it, but for Americans it's okay not to do it. Americans don't take their shoes off at home and go around the house in their shoes".
David is from South Africa. He's been living in Moscow for almost a year.
“When I came to Russia, I knew four words: yes, no, goodbye, and vodka. In Domodedovo, a border patrol agent asked me if I speak Russian. I said no. And then he said, "Good luck!"
Italians have a special attitude towards Russia. They always want something exquisite.
"We drink wine. We've found good wine here. We don't drink vodka. We bought it for our friends. We'll bring a few bottles of vodka to Italy".
"I like vodka, too. I like vodka very much. I also like moonshine. It's also good. It'll be easier for the group from Taiwan".
Their guide, as a pioneer, will replace any tourist guide. As to those without experienced compatriots, they'd better read the useful tips for a trip to be enjoyable and interesting.
Ilya Filipov, Ivan Murashov, Vsevolod Savichev, Vesti.
