No talking, please

While having dinner at a Shanghai hotpot restaurant last night I couldn’t help but take a paparazzi shot of this couple (sorry guys): She is watching a movie on the iPad (next to the bowl with the salad), he is doing whatever on his iPhone. The perfect date, no?

I guess this is what happens when new technology hits a country where cultural revolution destroyed what we call social manners. Although the Japanese and the Koreans go even crazier on their tech gadgets I don’t think you would see a scene like this in a Tokyo/Seoul restaurant. (People doing stuff on their phones while having dinner – yes. People wearing headphones and watching movies – no.) Anyone with different experiences is welcome to correct me. My first impulse tells me to file this under a typical “China only” moment.