Michael Dunn
Zest
Word play in China is an important part of humor. Jesse Appell, an exchange student in Beijing from the US learned this first hand. He still remembers the first time he told a joke in chinese.
"I got a nose bleed in class. The word liuxue means to flow blood but it's a perfect pun for the word exchange student," explained
Appell.
Appell.
So when Jesse left class to take care of his nose bleed, he called out to the class in Chinese, 'Don't worry about me I'm just an exchange student.' His classmates erupted in laughter he says.
Word play is an essential element in the ancient Chinese art of comedy. Substituting words with different meanings are a common form of humor. Some humor is shared with the US. For example, jokes about north Korea are considered funny in both countries.
Improvisation is also popular in China.
http://www.pri.org/stories/2013-09-04/why-whats-funny-china-might-surprise-you
Isn't word play important in the West, too? This is a funny story for sure, but not exactly a culture clash.
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