What is it like to live in China as a Han Chinese?

[anonymoose]

I myself am Han Chinese. Frankly, I don't feel anything particularly special about it. Among my friends are Hui, Mongolian, Manchu, Korean, and Miao (these terms refer to China's ethnic minorities). In reality, it's difficult to truly distinguish different ethnicities based solely on appearance. Of course, some ethnic groups have more distinct facial features, but this isn't absolute. For example, some Han Chinese look very much like Mongolians.

In real-life situations, people rarely ask "What's your ethnicity?" but rather "Where are you from?" Ethnicity isn't a very important factor. Because in reality, there's not much difference. What I mean is, in today's China, even if you're Uyghur, young Uyghur children are still using their phones, playing computer games, watching TikTok (the Chinese version is Douyin), and studying math, physics, chemistry, and computer science in school. What's the difference?

Some Westerners imagine China as a "museum of humanity," as if every Chinese person, regardless of ethnicity, must act as a carrier of some kind of history and culture. These Westerners often say, "I love China; China's history and culture are so rich." However, this contains an unrealistic expectation, as if Chinese people must live in a way that Westerners imagine is "characterized by history and culture." This is a very unrealistic fantasy.

I don’t know much about China or Chinese. But here’s the little I do know.
1. I’ve heard from Americans that live there working that it’s a very dirty place.
2. I visited Peking . Walking through the city on a weekday it was odd how empty the streets were.
3. Was on a boat full of Chinese while visiting Australia. They are very much in your face. From what I understand they consider it rude to keep your distance and personal space.

That’s all. Pffft!

 

[Jack Grealish]

I don’t know much about China or Chinese. But here’s the little I do know.
1. I’ve heard from Americans that live there working that it’s a very dirty place.
2. I visited Peking . Walking through the city on a weekday it was odd how empty the streets were.
3. Was on a boat full of Chinese while visiting Australia. They are very much in your face. From what I understand they consider it rude to keep your distance and personal space.

That’s all. Pffft!

1 This place is really dirty. People spit everywhere and don't clean up after their dogs. Because people do whatever they want, they simply don't listen to you. I think the younger generation will be much better.
2 You just happened to go to an area where there are relatively few people.
3 No, you probably just happened to run into a group of overly enthusiastic elderly people. In fact, personal space is respected in Chinese culture. But you know, travel acts like a filter; most Chinese people who dislike being too close to others don't like to travel.

 

[Matt Dillon]

Oh look! Sockeye made a sock!