As advanced as China is, they are still backwards on a lot of stuff. Here's some things I learned through experience with my Chinese relatives:
1. Earthworms are used for the coating on capsules. - Hubby has hypertension, so MIL imported hypertension med from China. He broke out in a rash after he took it. She was shocked, because it said it was an herbal medicine in Chinese. The ingredients were listed in English...Ginsing, (known by Auntie is supposed to be used to men...) Donquoi, (known by Auntie is supposed to be used for women only for PMS-lots of men are allergic to it) marigolds, and earthworm for the casing.
2. Just because it says it's herbal medicine, doesn't mean it is. - Once again MIL got some herbal cold tablets for hubby and assured us that it won't react with the Tylenol he took. He wound up in the hospital with extremely high liver enzymes. In Chinese it said, "100% herbal." Guess what? Yep, it was herbal alright. In English it said the ingredients where echinacea and erythromycin.
3. Don't use white streamers on anything! - Son wanted a blue pinata with blue and white streamers on it. MIL ripped the pinata apart and screamed! White means death, but it's ok for a girl to have pink and white streamers.
4.Don't drop anyting! - All I have to do is drop a carrot or spoon on the floor while perparing food and MIL runs for the hills and hubby yells. Still don't know what that means. All I know is that you can't drop something in front of somebody 3 times. I gues it's like baseball.
5. Don't buy a senior citizen a clock or anything that resembles one including a watch. - MIL still blames me for my father's death, because I got him a big school clock that he asked for when he was in the nursing home. That winter he died from conjestive heart failure from a flu that was going around, which killed other senior citizens in that home.
6. Turtle soup has some sort of special power as does bear. Yeah, whatever.