当然，可以！ (Dangran Keyi) – Of Course You Can!

Things are a little different here in China. For instance, every morning on our way to class we pass a group of people, most of them elderly, exercising. Now what makes this scene different is not only the equipment but what they do with it. One day as we were passing we see an elderly lady hop (and I do mean hop) up on to a set of parallel bars and swing herself up on top. Now her body perpendicular to the bars, so she inserts her legs between them and begins to do a maneuver that is like a reverse sit-up; one moment her head is hanging down to the ground and then she raises her body up horizontal to it. Now, I am sure that China is not the only place with ultra-flexible grandmas but most of the older ladies that I knew back home would dislocate joints just thinking about trying that move. But here, “hey Grandma can you do that?” 当然，可以！Of Course You Can!
Another example of how things are different is how the parents encourage their children to talk to perfect strangers, especially if they are foreigners. Take the little girl pictured above. She and her mother sat next to me on the bus. Almost immediately the mother told her to say “hello” and tried to get her to carry on a conversation with me. It seems that she had recently started English lessons and her mother wanted her to get in free practice. In other developed countries, parents usually try to shield their children from any contact strangers, and they get especially testy if you try to talk to their children. But here “hey that family looks nice, can I say hello to their cute little boy?” 当然，可以！Of Course You Can!
One last example of how things are different here can be seen in the picture of me below. Due to my chosen profession and other extenuating circumstances, I had to shave just about every day. But here “hey I wonder if I can grow a beard?” 当然，可以！Of Course I Can! – 付伟国

A different language is a different vision of life.
Federico Fellini (1920 - 1993)