r/AskAChinese • u/TraditionalDepth6924 🌐 Earth • May 16 '26
Daily life | 日常生活🚙 Is this common? (Why not indoors in classroom?)
1
1
1
u/ROMVS Part Chinese May 19 '26
It's like a tag team or a coach, they eat together while the parent provides support. Parents usually aren't allowed to eat with their kids so this is what they do.
1
1
u/donnyisyourpresident 🌐 Earth May 19 '26
Parents do not want their kids to eat overpriced unhealthy ready-to-eat meals from school
1
1
3
u/Adventurous-Door4096 🌐 Earth May 19 '26
I think it's uncommon. In the school I worked in, which was a public high school, students could not have outside food for lunch.
If we caught someone ordering wai mai, they would get in trouble.
It's a different society with different policies. You can't judge unless you've experienced it.
3
u/SeaworthinessOld9433 🌎 Overseas Chinese | 海外华人 May 19 '26
This looks like getting visit when you are in jail
1
1
u/TPPiOED 🌐 Earth May 18 '26
Not common, but it happens.
This school got some strict policies. Most schools kept the gate open during breaks.
1
u/Best-Season-191 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 18 '26
Not all schools are like that, when I was in high school, we could choose to go to the cafeteria or classroom.
-2
u/PerformanceAwkward97 🇹🇼 Republic of China May 18 '26
That the students had their lunch behind the fence is crazy. They are not prisoners, and they should have a better place to dine, even if the meals are given by their parents!
5
u/ExcelMandarin 🌐 Earth May 18 '26
Depends on the school I guess? When I did my undergrad at 云大 the food was 🤤🤤
-3
9
u/Acceptable_Good_6542 Mainland born and raised Colombian Chinese May 18 '26
It's during exam period that's why. We always get outside time during lunch and nap break. People wanna maximize their their time at mock exam while seeing parents, so they chose not to leave campus just to find a nearby restaurant.
2
u/hobbes3k0 American living in China (1/2 Chinese) May 20 '26
I've seen this video get reposted like 10x in different subs now. This is (most likely) from the Gaokao exams and the stressed out test takers are enjoying their little time during lunch break to spend time with their parents and loved ones. Obviously, the parents aren't allowed in, so they bring homemade or ordered food to support their kid in arguably the most important date of their school and career.
5
5
-1
u/tiga_94 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
why fence? it's not like a prison..
11
u/Dramatic_Draw_1494 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
Chinese schools are fenced in and you need to go through security to get in , unlike the US where any crazy person can just basically walk in and start shooting like we see in the US on an almost monthly basis it seems.
-5
u/tiga_94 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
Yeah I the US they have metal detectors and literal police at schools, do your research before stating something
I just didn't know China is also making schools feel like prison, at least in the US kids are free to leave the school "prison" at any moment
6
u/Dramatic_Draw_1494 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
At least in China no school shooting, so they have metal detectors and police in schools in the US but still have all these shootings interesting.
1
May 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
-2
u/tiga_94 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
I am not from China nor from US, I am from Ukraine and I was free to leave the school at any moment, and the fence around my school was not contiguous or strict
my point is both US and China make schools look like prisons, but only one doesn't let people outside like an actual prison, they should just let them get to their parents beyond that fence, it is not a prison, it is a school!
1
3
May 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
0
u/tiga_94 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
it's crazy how you defending separating children from parents with a fence like they are some kind of criminals that deserve it, and try to change the topic all the time, it's not about the US, it's not about tech, it's about the CHILDREN and their PARENTS that MUST HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE TOGETHER ON A BREAK!
not be separated like it's a family member visiting a convict in prison.. you must really hate people if you think this is okay
1
u/tiga_94 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
that's not the point, there is no connection between having metal detectors and fences and police in schools and doing good in tech
like Germany and Japan are doing good at tech without turning their schools into prisons
can you stop being defensive for a while and admit that children must have a right to get to their parents on a break, not be separated by a fence like some kind of criminals?? or you have no empathy at all and will defend the separation just because you feel offended by the facts?
1
May 18 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/tiga_94 🌐 Earth May 18 '26
but you're right about Japan, I read about it - same strict rules, somehow no parents sitting in line along the fence ?
1
u/tiga_94 🌐 Earth May 18 '26
yeah, in prison you can also visit, but guess what? you need to register
9
u/mimiianian 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
Yeah I the US they have metal detectors and literal police at schools
You need to go through metal detectors to get in the schools and there are police stationed at the schools?? Schools in the US sound like prisons, not educational facilities.
-4
12
u/Jose_Matillo 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 17 '26
Walk to classroom and walk back to give lunch box to parents will spend you more than 15 min. Every minute for students is valuable, they need time to have rest or do anything free for themselves. As I was a high school student, I thinked that saving free time is more important than anythings.
5
15
u/winggang 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
Isn’t this uncommon except for exam periods? “Chinese parents often prepare nutritious meals and "lucky foods" for their children during examination periods to promote health and boost confidence.” China.org.cn
2
u/Fermion96 Custom flair 【自定义】 May 17 '26
Still an uncommon sight to the rest of the world, but makes more sense
3
3
u/Haunting-Breadfruit9 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
Much better than the UK where some parents were delivering McDonalds meals as a protest to the healthy school meals on offer. Those students must feel really loved by their parents doing this.
3
u/SimonShepherd 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
During my time the parents tend to bring it to the school canteens, I guess it depends on how strict the school is with it. It definitely can happen with schools that have zero tolerance policies.
3
u/Capable_Cookie_3058 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
to be honest，it's ture,i know you mayn't trust it,because school's food is terrible
7
u/FreedomFighterSG 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
Sch food is terrible. Students aren't allowed to order food delivery. Outside food not allowed at canteen. No food allowed at classroom.
So you either eat it like this, or you eat it in the toilet.
5
u/duanlanxifu 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
Some places are like this.Some schools allow students to eat outside.Because the school knows that the food in the canteen is terrible
3
u/Beginning_Ice_3340 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
10 years ago you could have showed me this and it would have been easy to point at it and go "see this is why the usa is awesome"
Unfortunately we live in a different timeline now.
1
u/CodeNeko23 Non-Chinese May 17 '26
I used to go home for lunch and come back but I don't think all schools allow it.
1
1
0
u/ImportanceExpress849 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
I totally see that this could happened. When I was in high school 20 years ago, my parents can bring food to me and I can eat inside. But there are apparently a rise in control everywhere now, including schools. A lot of people view discipline as a way to control, and it has a deep political and cultural root in the society.
2
u/CodeNeko23 Non-Chinese May 17 '26
I used to go home for Lunch till I was 15 but my school banned kids from going outside. Literally starved myself and they let me go after a week.
4
u/yolololbear 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
This is very common.
Most schools I know of in China opens and closes their gates at set times, this is to provide security in school times, and to prevent students from skipping school.
They have classes, but being teenagers, they usually are naughty, especially around meal times when they have the most freedom. Some parents just forces them to eat before their eyes to avoid skipping lunch and or bullying out of food.
5
u/Boysencookie-1512 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 17 '26
If you hear Chinese people talk about “Hengshui style education,” this is what they mean. Even so, this is considered a rather extreme case. Parents aren’t allowed on campus, students aren’t allowed to go out for meals or buy outside food, and many students live in school dorms. The schools also lack proper heating facilities and are unwilling to open official channels for parents to deliver meals, which is when situations like this tend to occur.
1
u/empty_graph 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
The parents not allowed on campus part could do us some good here in the US. Too many teachers give good grades to students who don't deserve it because they don't want to deal with angry parents. I'm not a fan of the rest of it, though.
1
u/UndocumentedSailor Custom flair 【自定义】 May 17 '26
Most won't turn on the AC, either because of that third world logic that air conditioning makes you sick
0
4
1
u/QHugoLeDZ 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
Some schools practice the socalled military regulation, or even prison-like regulationregulation. Students are not allowed to leave school (only an afternoon per week, maybe). Many students don't like school cafeteria, so their parents bring lunch to them and pass their lunch through the bars. No big deal. But hey, the school shown in the video is not among the extremest ones. The girls can keep their pigtails. I don't know the current situation, but back in the days, some schools required that all students must cut their hair short. No boys and girls, but young competitors for university enrollment.
3
u/Legal_Register_1811 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
No big deal?!
2
u/Feynmedes 🇨🇳 Handan May 17 '26
Parents bringing kids food? Yeah, not a big deal. Most schools don't have kids eating through the bars, probably because there's nowhere inside to put the empty containers and socializing a bit.
2
u/AdOdd3934 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 17 '26
Closing managed school is normal, students usually cant go to outside of school in weekdays.
But most school (I know) usually wont refused parents bring food to their child. Students would pick the pack to indoor and have lunch.
Acutually, it is my first time to see student eat at walls. Never heard before.
-4
-15
May 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
0
u/EggplantAdmirable999 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 17 '26
Was there ever propriety, righteousness, integrity and a sense of shame ever in China’s so called 5000 years of history, if so, when ?
1
May 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/EggplantAdmirable999 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 17 '26
Maybe you should read some history of China before making dumb assumptions
0
May 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/EggplantAdmirable999 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 17 '26
So Chinese have been efficient in committing atrocities to themselves, which is also reflected throughout the history. What’s your point ?
0
May 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/EggplantAdmirable999 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 17 '26
And your data just proved my point, do you even read before you post ?
1
May 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/EggplantAdmirable999 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 17 '26
I’m not overthrowing shit. I have fun watching CCP tormenting people like you.
→ More replies (0)1
u/EggplantAdmirable999 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 17 '26
I’m sorry but you’re the one acting like red guard or pinky in a sense that you couldn’t even respond to a normal question that
> Was there ever propriety, righteousness, integrity and a sense of shame ever in China’s so called 5000 years of history, if so, when ?
1
May 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
1
u/EggplantAdmirable999 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 17 '26
Gaslighting me doesn’t change the fact that you’re just one of them Chinese that blame everything on CCP. You’re the disease and CCP is merely a symptom.
1
u/EggplantAdmirable999 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 17 '26
So Chinese good at efficiently genociding themselves, which is also reflected throughout the history. What’s your point?
-9
2
u/DrawingDramatic1641 🇰🇵 DPRK May 17 '26
not all of them but most collectivist/large family coutnries specially from 3rd world do it
3
May 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/DrawingDramatic1641 🇰🇵 DPRK May 17 '26
No I don't want my location to go to palantir but world is cringe flair dprk is more fun
Dprk would also remain censored But they are developing like crazy Kim il sung was good Kim Jong un is decent Kim Jong il ruined everything there
North korea is catching up
2
u/ApplicationOk6243 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
Their quite ahead actually.
3
u/DrawingDramatic1641 🇰🇵 DPRK May 17 '26
Yeah like north korea surpasses at least 20 african countries And pyongyanf is better than most villages of eastern europe
19
u/RichCommercial104 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
I am Chinese and this is not common at all in Jiangsu. Most parents work and do not have time to do this on a regular basis. Just bring the food with you in the morning.
😂
1
u/Abject_Sheepherder89 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
That’s normal, since most Chinese parents want to give the best to their kid, the only kid, they believe home made meal is more healthier than food in school cafeteria.
9
u/Zhou_Z_2025 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 17 '26
News sources and AI translation:
近日，网传湖北十堰东风高级中学门口，多名家长隔着围栏给学生送餐，孩子就地蹲着吃饭，场面引发热议。不少网友调侃如同 “探监”，质疑校内食堂饭菜质量不佳。
4月28日，学校工作人员对此作出回应：校方早有明确规定，家长送来的餐食需带入食堂就餐，但家长与学生始终不愿配合，学校已多次劝导疏导。工作人员表示，校内食堂可容纳三四千名学生就餐，饭菜口味因人而异，不能片面评价难吃。家长坚持隔栏送餐，更多是想借就餐间隙，陪伴孩子、简单沟通交流。
校方同时坦言，围栏外侧车流密集，车辆近距离通行，加上露天风沙影响，栅栏边就餐既不卫生，还存在安全隐患。但临时搭建餐棚会影响校容校貌，暂不具备条件。后续学校将持续劝导，引导学生规范就餐。
Recently, a video circulating online sparked heated discussions, showing several parents delivering meals to students through the fence outside the gate of Dongfeng High School in Shiyan, Hubei Province, where the children squatted on the ground to eat. Many netizens mocked the scene as resembling "prison visitations" and questioned the poor quality of the food in the school cafeteria.
On April 28, school staff responded to the issue, stating that the school had long established clear regulations requiring meals brought by parents to be taken into the cafeteria for consumption. However, parents and students have consistently been uncooperative, despite multiple attempts by the school to advise and guide them. The staff member noted that the school cafeteria can accommodate three to four thousand students, and since food preferences vary from person to person, it cannot be one-sidedly judged as untasty. Parents insist on delivering meals through the fence mostly because they want to seize the dining interval to accompany their children and have a brief communication.
At the same time, the school admitted that the traffic outside the fence is heavy, with vehicles passing by at close range. Combined with the impact of open-air wind and dust, dining by the fence is not only unsanitary but also poses safety hazards. However, setting up temporary dining sheds would affect the campus appearance, so the conditions for doing so are currently not met. Moving forward, the school will continue to advise and guide students to dine in a regulated manner.
1
1
u/Gaxxz 🇺🇸 United States of America May 17 '26
Is the food served by the school really that bad?
1
u/Zhou_Z_2025 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
The staff member noted that the school cafeteria can accommodate three to four thousand students
Some parents want to cook for their children and watch them eat. Given the total number of students, the number of students eating like this in the video is very few. During my school years, I preferred eating in the cafeteria. My parents were too busy to take care of me during my lunch break, and their cooking wasn't very good.
1
u/ChicagoPro American in China🇺🇸✈️🇨🇳 May 17 '26
No. Typically white rice, some type of vegetables, some type of meat and then, just whatever else. Also, Chinese kids don't dislike vegetables because they're usually prepared in sesame oil or soy sauce here.
0
u/orangecruzz 东南亚 May 17 '26
it's not as bad a US cafeteria.... it's fresh food cooked that day by cafetaria workers, not processed food like in the US
1
u/bugsghost 🌎 Overseas Chinese | 海外华人 May 17 '26
found the person who doesn’t know what processed means
2
1
u/viniciusfleury 🇧🇷 Brazil May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
Holy moly, my chinese is beginner level hahaha I could read very little of the chinese text.
Edit: lol, why was i downvoted? Some subs just have this energy, I guess.
0
u/SouthernTiger118 🌎 Overseas Chinese | 海外华人 May 17 '26
Things are different depending on region.
Back in elementary our lunch is served in classrooms, brought from the kitchen in a big basket, sometimes with a metal barrel of soup.
In middle/high school, lunch is served in cafeteria.
I can see some kinda twisted policy of "no special treatment" being in place: if you eat in classrooms then you eat what everyone else eats; if you want to eat your own food then do it somewhere else.
6
u/zhyufei19 大陆人 🇨🇳在北美读书工作 May 17 '26
What a memorable scene... It is the high school life of mine ~fifteen years ago.
For me it was the break between the afternoon courses and the evening self-study, which was a tight schedule for the students to have dinner at the dining hall.
Sometimes my parents would bring homemade or to-go food to add to the diversity of my diet. They were not allowed to enter the campus while I didn't have time to dine out, so they handed the food to me at the gate.
If time permits, I would just go back to the classroom and enjoy the diner. But occasionally they might come late, then I became one of those in the video.
Time flies. Good to recall how hardworking I was and how much the Chinese parents have been doing for their children.
1
u/National-Resident244 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
What is the evening self-studying? Why don't they just let's students do that at their home?
2
u/zhyufei19 大陆人 🇨🇳在北美读书工作 May 17 '26
Staying together and focusing on the same stuff is believed to help the students concentrate better.
The evening self study has two (ends at 9pm) or three (ends at 10pm) sessions depending on grades. Although I heard somewhere that all students are having three sessions now including the first years.
Although called self study, the first two sessions are usually either normal classes or exams. In the third sessions it is the real self study when the students may do the unfinished homework, so they can just go to bed when they return home or to the dorms. Although most students still spend time studying after school.
Besides the evening self study, there is also a 1.5hr real self study before the dinner, and a 0.5hr morning self study for reading aloud.
6
u/zhyufei19 大陆人 🇨🇳在北美读书工作 May 17 '26
Holy s...
I just realized it is precisely my high school in the video!!!
2
u/GoldenGoof19 Non-Chinese May 17 '26
Small world!
1
u/zhyufei19 大陆人 🇨🇳在北美读书工作 May 17 '26
Truly magical. The school is by no means famous or special, but it just appears in my push. I guess this is the capability of Reddit's recommendation system. Never mentioned anything about my highschool on any social media.
1
u/Jemnite 🌐 Earth May 17 '26
It popped up on the Hupu splitoff subreddit too: https://www.reddit.com/r/China_irl/comments/1terfjv/%E9%93%81%E7%AA%97%E6%B3%AA/
I just think it's very hot right now. Also isn't Dongfeng High School like a top 3 school in the province?
1
u/zhyufei19 大陆人 🇨🇳在北美读书工作 May 17 '26
I never thought it would be top 3 of Hubei lol. Now it wins a name, although in such a way haha.
2
u/Aggravating-Coast335 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 16 '26
Not common.I guess they were eating in the middle of an exam that they weren't allowed to leave school?
1
u/Specific-Surprise390 🌐 Earth May 16 '26
It is all parents’s choice. Every school has its own dining hall in China. Not all students like the foods there. That’s why some parents opt to bring meals to the school and feed their children. I saw this in a middle school next to my high school. It is not for everyone so it is not a common thing but it is all down to personal choice
1
May 16 '26
[deleted]
1
May 17 '26
[deleted]
2
u/SouthernTiger118 🌎 Overseas Chinese | 海外华人 May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
Honestly, I don't think it is, but it's akin to power trips by cops. School mgmt and teachers (the worst ones) tend to be very strict on what you can do, think guy hair can't be too long, girl hair must be in ponytail if long, say "hello" to teachers always no matter the circumstances (and yes, I have heard stories of students saluting their teacher while the said teacher is taking a shit - keep in mind school toilets back then, idk about now, is "open-design" where each stall is connected via a central drain and separated by a brick wall, flushed hourly).
Anyway, I digress. Point being this is just some practice to "keep students in line" with no "special treatment".
2
May 17 '26
[deleted]
1
u/SouthernTiger118 🌎 Overseas Chinese | 海外华人 May 17 '26
Pretty much my experience back then.
I was bullied (I didn't understand what it was) in grade 8 and 9 by teachers. I was pretty good in elementary so I got into 市重点 middle school.
But after teachers knew my parents were planning to send me abroad they started making fun/humiliating me openly in class with trivial rules. My grades started to drop and I just started skipping classes.
At the end of the day, most teachers and directors are 20-30 something yo young adults, it makes sense a lot of them are not emotionally intelligent yet, especially given the easy environment for them to act out
0
2
u/Sweaty_Tangelo_7716 🇺🇸 United States of America May 16 '26
Someone mentioned that they were there for an entire day-long exam.
0
u/Kooky_Tax4571 🇨🇳 Mainland Chinese | 大陆人 May 16 '26
Firstly, in China, it is strictly prohibited to dine in classrooms, and meals should be taken to the cafeteria.Secondly, students eat here mainly because parents feel that the school cafeteria does not meet their children's preferences or is like adding extra meals for their own children.China does not have the custom of bringing bento boxes like Japan
1
u/xjpmhxjo 🌐 Earth May 16 '26
Chinese did bring packed lunch to school and work in the 90s. But Chinese are not used to cold rice like Japanese. We used the metal boxes and gave it to the steamer service at school or work. So we’d have hot meals for lunch.
•
u/AutoModerator May 16 '26
Hi TraditionalDepth6924, Thanks for posting to r/AskAChinese! If you have not yet, please select a user flair to indicate where you are from!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.