Greetings fellow Steemians! How was everybody's weekend? Today, we're going to have a look at subtle differences between Asian and Western ways of socialising and how this leads to quite a different interpretation of what is entertainment. Have you ever heard of a group of people who love to meet up in a small cube shaped room just to sing? That's right.. I'm talking about KTV! Some of you may be wondering what is KTV? Actually, it's something you are familiar with already, just think back to the times when you heard people singing at the bar, belting their favourite ballads whilst having not a care in the world about how it sounds to the audience. That kind of public karaoke will probably only appeal to the more daring people, but what about everyone else who enjoy singing too but are afraid to be publically judged? KTV is the solution! You can sing your heart out in the company of your friends and with the comfort of knowing no strangers are going to judge！

What is KTV?

KTV is the abbreviation of Karaoke Television. Originating from Japan, the word 'kara’ means empty and 'ok' is short for orchestra. Together, Karaoke means a personless orchestra. The standard karaoke kits will have muted vocal backing tracks, and music videos with lyrics on screen. Dynamic microphones are provided and give an 'echo' effect.

Although KTV was born in Japan, KTV quickly made it's way to Hong Kong and Taiwan where it's widespread popularity eventually brought it to mainland China. Today, Karaoke is considered the standard choice for entertainment in China. Despite its popularity in asia, KTV isn't widespread or popular in Western countries. Most KTV establishments in the West are opened by Asian people, for asian audiences.

So why is KTV only popular in Asia？

The success of Karaoke in asia can be attributed to the general personalities of asian people. Asian people tend to be more reserved and introverted, their thinking process is more conservative and therefore they are more reluctant to express themselves freely in a public setting. In addition, those with social status have suppressed people's natural freedom of expression at workplaces only making the situation even worse. KTV has provided Chinese people with a private place that allows familiar groups of people to be expressive, and liberate themselves from stress in the form of singing.

In the West, the situation is different, people have more freedom of expression and their personalities are more positive. People have more places to relieve stress even at work. Therefore, KTV isn't perceived as one of the few places where stress relief can happen. Instead, people in the West can explore a multitude of other less reclusive activities.

KTV serves more purposes than just Singing.

In China, KTV is considered a private place of entertainment, and not just a place to go sing. You can host a birthday party in a private KTV room, they will decorate the room to a birthday theme and you can enjoy eating a meal and having drinks as well as singing songs all in one place.

There are even KTV's in Gaming Arcades. You pay a few credits and get to sing a song and they will record your voice so that after you finish singing, you can download a produced version of the song. If you think it's good, you can even submit it to competitions created especially for mini KTV.

When I was an overseas student in the UK, I found that the Chinese students enjoyed gatherings in London KTV places too. However, they seemed to pick songs with no intention of singing them. In fact, they listened to the song's background music whilst playing drinking games, and drinking. It is as if the KTV room was a private function bar.

Chinese people like to conduct their social niceties privately, whether it's drinking, or socialising with new friends, it is preferred under the privacy of their own room. On the other hand, English people like to stand outside pubs and bars after work or at weekends and enjoy everybody's company together. Its convenient for people who want to smoke, and it means you can escape the noisy music inside too. This seems to be the preferred way of socialising with friends in the UK and it can certainly make the streets seem rather busy!

周末过得怎么样，Steemit的朋友们。今天我们来讨论一个有趣的话题，你有没有听说过在休息日的晚上，一群人喜欢聚在一个正方形的小屋子里，唱歌？没错，就是KTV。外国的朋友们你们不知道KTV？没关系，因为你们一定有过或者听说过在酒吧里唱卡拉OK的经历，我相信你们中间一定有不少人热衷于唱歌的，只是如果需要加入到乐队里并且唱给陌生的人听，总会有些尴尬对吗？那么KTV确实是一个可以给你机会一展歌喉并且丝毫不尴尬的好地方。

KTV是什么？
KTV 是Karaoke Television的缩写。它起源于日本，卡拉在日语里是”空“的意思，而ok是英文ORCHESTRA(交响乐队)的前两字发音，将这两个字结合（卡拉OK）就是无人乐队的意思。KTV是提供音乐伴奏配合MTV，和视唱空间的娱乐场所。KTV后来传入港台地区，并渐渐发展到中国大陆，并成为了这几十年以来非常主要的娱乐生活。但其实在世界上其他国家，KTV并没有很流行，大部分欧美国家的KTV是由中国人开的。

KTV只流行于亚洲的原因？
那么KTV在亚洲流行的原因大概是东方人性格大多比较含蓄内敛，思维相对保守，不善于在公开场合表达自己的情绪，加上等级社会的传统让多数人在日常工作生活中不得不压抑自己的情绪。KTV提供给中国人一个封闭的空间，在小范围的人群内他们愿意通过唱歌来宣泄情绪，释放压力。而西方社会比较自由，西方人个性外向开朗，压力和情绪在平时的生活工作中都有机会得到释放，所以并不需要到KTV去减压，而更愿意参加户外活动。

KTV的作用不只是唱歌。
如今，KTV不仅成为中国人生活中重要的娱乐方式，KTV也衍生出其它的作用。在KTV里开生日派对，拥有完全私密的空间，KTV提供布置包间的服务，可以实现玩游戏，用餐和唱歌同时进行。

在游戏厅里的小型投币KTV，在唱歌的同时录制下你的声音，通过微信制作并下载录制的单曲，也可以上传单曲到网络参加专门为小型KTV设计的唱歌比赛。

在英国留学的时候，我也发现中国的留学生非常喜欢去伦敦的KTV聚会，不同于传统的KTV，但是大多数人是只是点播背景音乐，喝酒玩游戏并不唱歌。所以国外的KTV更像是专为亚洲人提供的私密酒吧。

中国人喜欢密闭的空间喝酒，认识新的朋友或者交际应酬。英国人则喜欢星期五的晚上，站在酒吧外面喝酒，既方便抽烟，又可以远离喧闹的音乐，和周围的朋友交际聊天，场景非常热闹。

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If you are interested in my other blogs related to culture please check out these other blogs below

Why you don't see Chinese Girls wearing bikini's at the beach?
Taking Steemit to a Concert in China.