The Persistence of Culture
Despite the global push for the metric system, local cultures have rigidly held onto specialized units for highly cultural/local commodities—specifically Land, Gold, and Food.
The South Asian Gold & Land Market
- Tola: If you walk into a jeweler in Mumbai, Dubai, or Karachi, gold is sold in Tolas ($~11.66g$), not ounces or mere grams.
- Bigha & Kattha: Land in rural India and Nepal is measured in Bighas. The complexity is that a Bigha in Bengal is half the size of a Bigha in Uttar Pradesh!
East Asian Real Estate
- Pyeong (평): Koreans price apartments in Pyeongs. A 30 Pyeong apartment is standard. Japan uses the exact same size under the name Tsubo (坪).
Southeast Asian Agriculture
- Rai (ไร่): Thai law dictates that foreigners generally cannot own land, but when land is discussed, it is always measured in Rai (1,600 $m^2$) rather than hectares.
The Market Weight
- Jin (斤) / Catty: If you visit a wet market in China or Taiwan, the prices are listed per "Jin", which translates to precisely 500 grams (half a kilo) in mainland China, making mental math perfectly efficient.