Goodbye, My Dear Nightlife

    Until I landed in the U.S., I had never imagined to be alive without my Chinese nightlife. In China, I used to hang out with my friends in the evening. If there were more boys among us, we would play pool or snooker, which is my most favorite sports, and go to KTV where we could can easily hold a karaoke party overnight. Otherwise we might go shopping or wander for some special food, go to an amusement park or watch movies until midnight. Besides these younger choices, seniors often prefer to take a walk or do some workout outside. In China, night means fun, night means recreation, and night means the most interesting part of a day. However, in the U.S., the nightlife is totally different from that in China in many aspects, and I have taken pains to adapt to the U.S. nightlife.





    First, the closing time of stores and shopping malls is much earlier in the U.S.. In China, public places are always open until midnight, and some even open until the following morning. For instance, many fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s and KFC always open twenty-four hours. In addition, a lot of night markets only open at night, which are public areas where sellers put a variety of goods on tables in front of themselves. It looks like a combination of retailers and supermarkets with cheaper prices and free fresh air as a bonus. In the past, I used to wander through these places almost every night. However, in the U.S., most of stores close at about six pm. When I first came to Chicago, I was confused about why my family and friends barely went out shopping after sunset. They just replied to me that the stores were all closed. That is unbelievable! Was that the breakup signal of night shopping and me? After that it took a rather long time for me to accept the reality that my interesting nightlife has gone.



    Second, it is much more dangerous to walk on the streets in the U.S. than in China. In China, I can directly walk home through dozens of quiet blocks without any worry. In the U.S., I will receive dozens of warnings from family or friends before I decide to walk home, even only several blocks. According to the crime statistics, the murder rate of the U.S. is four point two times more than China’s. The robbery rate of the U.S. is six times more than China’s, and the violent crime rate of the U.S. is incredible-eighteen times more than China’s. That is a big reason why the nightlife in the U.S. is always indoors. (http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/China/United-States/Crime)



    The most important reason that my old nightlife is slipping away is culture. Different phenomenons come from different cultures. People in China think night is the time to get outdoors and have some fun. They may play some games like Mahjong under the overpasses, or dance in groups on the squares, or even just sit on the park chairs from six to ten at night. In fact, I don’t know why this happens, but Chinese people do like to be outside in the evening. Even though the temperature is very low, there are always some men drinking and chatting by the side of street. On the other hand, people in the U.S. do not have this kind of natural necessity, but it doesn’t mean that they do not go out at night. In fact, lots of pubs are full of people all the night in the U.S., and if there are some festival shows or parades, where we can see the crowds everywhere until midnight. The real difference is that night in China is the time to get out, while night in the U.S. could be time to get out to do something. In China, the purpose is getting out. In the U.S., the purpose is doing something.





    I am not saying that the life in the U.S. is boring. Actually it is a fabulous place to live, but the nightlife overall has been a little disappointing when talking about the nightlife here. After all, my Chinese nightlife which I deeply miss has been lost in translation. Although I really want to go back China and plunge into the nightlife for a few days, I realize that when there is something to lose, there is always something to gain. Therefore, I have decided to explore something like my Chinese nightlife, which particularly exists in the U.S. culture. It may be pub-life, travel-life, or music-life, even someday I will create a new nightlife style which is combined with both Chinese nightlife and the U.S. nightlife.