for all people say about the chinese standard of hygiene, whether it’s random spitting on the road, the public picking of orifices, the eating of animal organs which process the almost-completed stages of fecal matter, you can’t beat the overfastidiousness of them when it comes to eating with spotless cutlery. in most eating places, especially those found by the roadside or even mid-level chinese restaurants, you might find people neurotically wiping their utensils with tissue paper or napkins the minute they are set on the table.

i was in kuala lumpur a couple of weeks ago, and i just managed to import this video from my phone. it starts with someone going on about the importance of the water source’s location, then her anecdote on diarrhoea. towards the end someone realises i’m just filming so she reaches over and wipes mine for me too. twitch, twitch.

download the minute-long clip [wmv, 1.69 mb]