One day a good friend of mine, who was shopping with me in the supermarket, asked me: “Have you ever felt that the supermarkets in the United States are so quiet and have less of a shopping atmosphere than the totally different supermarkets in China?” Somehow, I had never thought about the differences until then. In my mind, America has the strongest consumer group to buy products and luxuries that are imported from all over the world and you can easily find an abundance of top-class brands in the supermarket. After thirty years of reform and open, the Chinese economy has grown up really fast, and the quality of life has been pulled up to the level of America, in the same areas such as the supermarkets. Basically, goods both in China and America are very similar. But, suddenly, I detected that I had overlooked some differences of culture and local traditions, and that is the original reason. All in all, even though both China and The United States are openly cosmopolitan, the distinct cultures have induced some different phenomena in the local supermarkets.

First, when I stand in a Chinese supermarket, the main words that pop into my mind to describe the atmosphere are boisterous, busy, and crowded, whereas atmosphere in a American supermarket is totally different: quiet and ordered. For example, for my grandmother, the most important topic to communicate with the neighbors about every day is what she will buy for cooking. It is a tradition among older people to go shopping together and communicate in the supermarket, which is already full of people. Let’s think about it:” because of the large population, hundreds of people have to stay in a limited, small area and keep speaking to each other. How can that be quiet and ordered?” Somehow, the sound doesn’t bother their shopping, and the busyness atmosphere is a support to show that the quality of goods can be ensured in the supermarket. So, more people like to go. On the other hand, in the United States, the high quality of life havs affected Americans’ mind so that they enjoy shopping, and shopping is one part of life. They want to relax and feel comfortable when they are shopping, so excessive noise is like a nightmare for them. Also, for most Americans, what they buy for dinner is a kind of personal question, and most of them don’t want to talk about it. These differences are the result of distinct cultures; however, neither is better or worse.