For any African American person who thinks of the abbreviation "CP" connected with time, the meaning is clear: colored people time. Although the labeled "colored" was assigned to African Americans during a time of extreme racial prejudice/discrimination, I've found that the phrases "CP Time" is both applicable and acceptable as long as it's used by Black people about Black or colored people. The phrase simply refers to a stereotype about a tendency for Black people to be late for things. Since I've been living in China these past few moths, I've noticed that this stereotype can also apply to Chinese people based on the fluidity of how time is viewed in the East in general and China especially. That being said, I've begun to refer to the popular phrase "CP Time" as Chinese People Time. I've found that both "CP" times make for a disastrous combination. . .
It all started on Thursday morning (January 10th) when my friend Jess and I have set off for our travels. Our first destination was Beijing. (We're in Xi'an now and will travel to Hong Kong next. Then I will go to Japan and we'll meet back up in Thailand.) After much discussion about what time we should book out train, we decided that booking the 8:28 D train- one of the faster, nicer, newer trains from Changchun to Beijing that takes 7 hours- so we could have more time to hang out in Beijing. Our plan was to go to bed early and leave an hour before our train left. Let's see how things actually happened.
It all started on Thursday morning (January 10th) when my friend Jess and I have set off for our travels. Our first destination was Beijing. (We're in Xi'an now and will travel to Hong Kong next. Then I will go to Japan and we'll meet back up in Thailand.) After much discussion about what time we should book out train, we decided that booking the 8:28 D train- one of the faster, nicer, newer trains from Changchun to Beijing that takes 7 hours- so we could have more time to hang out in Beijing. Our plan was to go to bed early and leave an hour before our train left. Let's see how things actually happened.