[Winter Wolf]

A lot of people in China spit. I believe there's an old joke in Taiwan about it. "Why do mainlanders spit all the time? Because ever since the Communist party took over, they've been trying to get the bad taste out of their mouths!"

But really, I think part of it is the air quality here just really causes a need to spit. That and a lack of education about how unsanitary it is to spit everywhere you go. I find that people with a basic understanding of hygene in this part of the world spit a lot less, and into trash cans. When I spit, it's either into a trash can or into a tissue which then finds its way into a trash can.

It's not an issue of being cool, it's an issue of clearing the gunk out of the throat. That said, I still can't believe the number of people who I see spit indoors here, on the floor, next to where they're sitting because they're too frikkin' lazy to get up and walk that ONE METER to the trash can. I mean, even a dog knows not to do its business where it sleeps, so to speak.