Question Re Hosting Japanese in China

A good Japanese friend of mine is unable to take day off next Friday so I will be showing her mother and sister around Shanghai that day as I happen to day off. I have their itinerary well planned out (I hope). Mostly will be showing them around several big wholesale markets and older local neighbourhoods (they love to shop). I anticipate 6-7km of walking + carrying stuff they bought during 8 hours if we stick to my schedule. Is that too much for a 58 yr old Japanese woman? (I am afraid she will be tired but too polite to say anything).

6/7km is a lot of walking to do for any 58-year-old woman. It doesn't matter if she's Japanese or not! I'd advise you to split the shopping between two days. Eg shopping in the mornings, and sightseeing/eating in the afternoons.

Mei,

Happy New Year. A 58-year-old woman can walk as much as an 18-year-old woman, and as far as I know, 6km in 8 hours is already quite an athletic length for people of any age or most nationalities. Not something an ordinary shopper can handle. Why not cut it down to 3km in 8 hours taking meals and tea in between. If they tend to speed up, you can add the alternatives.

The average walking pace is 4 km/hour... with sensible shoes o course!

Here in Vancouver (Canada) we have a famous promenade along the seawall that separates Stanley park from the sea. It is 8 km long and by good weather thousands of walkers of all ages and shapes, from children 7-10 to grand mothers in their late 70s, walk that walk in 2.5-3.5 hours, including a few short breaks here and there..

I am more concerned that the ladies from Japan will be terribly bored by walking around so many stores.. for many people shopping means more "window shopping" rather than actually buying stuff and it is much more interesting to look at a small area for 1 to 2 hrs at the most, then have a break then take transit to another area and so on.

I walk at least 6km on workdays (3km to work+3km back) and I don't consider myself athletic.

The problem is the several sightseeing and shopping areas are within 1-2km of one another. If they easy tired, then we can keep taking taxi for every 1km distance. The taxi fee is probably nothing to them (approx. 163 Yen each time)... that will reduce walking by half.

As for the shopping areas, I am afraid we have to go to many because my friend said her sister is fat (at least 60kg and average Japanese height) so it will be a little hard to find fashionable clothes.

Not much of your friend nor a sister to her sister if she told you that. Sisters are truly a 'best friends' to each other... not much of a sister for criticizing her own sister. Who is your friend trying to impress?

And regards to your shopping plans, is there a reason to run a marathon - no one enjoy rushed shopping venues. So they don't see everything in one day or two days. Purpose of their visit, have good times and enjoy your hospitality.

Her mother age must be considered, not yours or your friend sister's. Plus host must be catering and patient. Another words, don't rush but WAIT on them.

I asked my friend about her mum's and sister's likes/dislikes so I can better arrange their day. That's when she mentioned her sister is fat because her sister loves to eat. My friend reminded me that fatter people get hungry faster (or else I would have forgotten too). She was just being informative, that's all.

I bet it's rude to say someone is fat in the western world, but here in China it's still acceptable. Actually in the near past (and even still so) it is good to be a little fat because it shows health and wealth.

Thank you standfordgal. I will make sure I wait for them and that they eat more than enough when we break.

I suppose the word "fat" could've been misleading. After all, both the OP and her friend aren't native English speakers. I simply thought that they were being informative, though. Expressions like "has a lot of weight on" or "chubby" or "big size clothes" might've been better.

I am glad that all went well, I had a really good time too. They are very polite and very well mannered people.

I was given some strange? compliments:
1. Having a small face
2. Having long legs for an asian

Are those common compliments for Japanese?

I didn't expect to get a hug from the both of them upon parting. Even my friend never hugged me before. I felt uneasy getting a hug as I haven't showered for 2 days. Japanese people usually don't hug, am I right?

Mei,

Thanks for the feedback. I'm happy to hear it all went well.

And yes, as mentioned somewhere in this forum, having a small face and long legs are very common compliments among the Japanese, as the Japanese tend to have larger faces and shorter legs compared to a lot of other races or compared to Chinese people for that matter. But actually, the newer Japanese generation tend to have smaller faces and longer legs.

You are also right that the Japanese people usually don't hug.