Does Size Matter?

[crazynanhai]

Hey I'm 6.2 and the tallest in my family , and the tallest when with any of my 5 sisters familys . And when in China its hard to lose me , or me lose her . And when I get in a plane and my left shoulder is against the window and my right one is against my buddys shoulder and his right shoulder is against the window , with no luggage because we are at gross take off weight smaller is better . So if your big enough to do what you like to do , your the right size . I know I can't be a horse jockey , tad bit to tall . So size only maters when you can't get the job done . Witch is LITTLE to none

[tonyontherock]

Yes, of course it did. Just ask JM. 

Well, I had that done twice and each time I limped for a week or so. But then even the body massage caused me great pain and discomfort. I guess it depends on the person. Not the growth part, just the comfort part.

[tonyontherock]

I know that when I lived in China, many of my female students often commented that they would not date, let alone marry, a boy who was too short.

ok what is short in China, I know by US standards I am short, heck I was even dwarfed by a 6' Chinese woman when I was there.

I don't think you would be considered too short in China. I think short basically equals shorter than the girl in question. Seeings how most of the ladies over there are much shorter than their American counterparts, short (vertically challenged) is kind of a relative issue. I am 5'9'', not tall by any means but I guess about average. Back to China, it is a general perception that folks from the north are taller than folks from the south. With some exceptions, this seems to be the case.

People in the North and North East are taller than people in the South. My girl is 5"2 and we always joke about her height, till I went to Nanning. It seems that was the average for girls in Nanning. Back up north, the shorter ones I found were 5'3 or 5'4. I am 5'9 and when I was in college, the comment was that I was a tad on the short side. Well this is up north.

Genetics is the most important factor, then there is the diet. In the South people eat a lot of rice, which is not that nutritious. Here in the states, meat seems to be the main diet and kids do grow a lot taller. My son is 14 and already my height.

[owenkrout]

The Chinese from the North-East, Liaoning, Heilongjiang and Jilin are definately taller than the rest. I am 5'8" and teaching in Liaoning I was constantly towered over by six foot girls. Average heights up there for the women seem to be at least US standards but the men average about my height. I have one neice who is about six foot and her husband and his brother I would both estimate at about 6'8" and built to go with it! Not a pair of stingbeans!

 

Interesting thing is that despite the average person being considerably bigger, things like bus seats, doorways, chairs, etc. are still sized for the smaller southern Chinese sizes. Guess it is the same mentality that leads to the frozen Northeast not having the central heat turned on until the same time that is considered appropriate for Beijing, November 1st. If it is good enough for Beijing then it is good enough for everyone else!

[Mick]

The Chinese from the North-East, Liaoning, Heilongjiang and Jilin are definately taller than the rest.  I am 5'8" and teaching in Liaoning I was constantly towered over by six foot girls.  Average heights up there for the women seem to be at least US standards but the men average about my height.  I have one neice who is about six foot and her husband and his brother I would both estimate at about 6'8" and built to go with it!  Not a pair of stingbeans!

 

Interesting thing is that despite the average person being considerably bigger, things like bus seats, doorways, chairs, etc. are still sized for the smaller southern Chinese sizes.  Guess it is the same mentality that leads to the frozen Northeast not having the central heat turned on until the same time that is considered appropriate for Beijing, November 1st.  If it is good enough for Beijing then it is good enough for everyone else!

At the university where I taught in China, which was in the far south, we had a female basketball player from Heilongjiang. She stood a six feet two. One heck of a table tennis player as well. I went to the gym on several occasions to watch the team work out. This girl was amazing. Of course she towered over the rest of the team. The other players, southerners, averaged about 5'5'', tall by southern standards.