Updated November 26, 2020
I was asked certain question by “Southern Metropolis Daily” in the comments, and here goes my answers.
Question 1
We realize that you always have strong enthusiasm to answer people’s questions about China, and you even have your personal blog to give a lot of tips for foreigners living in China. When you start doing this, and why you would like to insist in showing people the real China looks like?
Well, I feel that there is not enough awareness about China and Chinese culture in the western counties. I thought it would be fair to share some of my real life experiences about living in China. In particular, since I have already been living in the mainland China for a few years (after visiting a good number of countries), and I know basic Chinese, I can act as some sort of a “bridge” between China and the western world, and share meaningful information in a positive way.
Running a simple blog/website would be very helpful since it can be assessed worldwide. Therefore, I launched the site a few months ago in 2020.
Further, foreigners often have myriads of questions about living in China. So, I try to answer relevant questions in my blog-posts.
Question 2
We realize that there are still a lot of stereotype/bias or even discrimination about China in western world. In your opinion, what is the reasons before this situation, and how to change it?
I agree there are biases and stereotypes about China, and Chinese people. Often, Quora questions are loaded as well. For example, just a couple of days ago, I answered a question:
I was surprised to see such question. So, I answered this question, and clarified why China is NOT a backward country.
In my experience, most of the foreigners (myself included), who are living in China, have a very positive opinion about living/studying/working in China. However, the relative number of China dwelling expats is still not that high. So, most of the foreigners, as mentioned earlier, don’t know much about China.
In particular, here are some of the reasons why foreigner don’t know much about China and certain ways to improve the situation:
- Traditionally, China is not a country of immigrants (if we compare the immigration to the US/UK). Not many foreigners can come to China for a long-term stay. Even now in 2020, it’s difficult to get a Chinese permanent resident (PR), let alone citizenship. Maybe China needs to further streamline the immigration process. I mean, if someone has legally worked in China, say for 10 years, he/she should be given a fair chance to get a Chinese PR. This will encourage more and more foreigners to understand China.
- Chinese Universities can promote exchange programs. Let more foreign students come to China, and see the real life situations. Further, Chinese universities can establish their branches abroad. I mean if the New York University (上海纽约大学), and Liverpool University (西安交通利物浦大学) can come to China, Chinese university can also explore overseas options.
- Language barriers: if I want to know more about the latest living conditions in the US/USA, I can just read the local newspapers (BBC, The Guardian). However, if I want to know more about China, I need to know the Chinese language as a good number of Chinese media outlets are in Chinese. And the foreigners often don’t know Mandarin. Hence, it’s difficult to read Chinese newspapers. I understand there are many Chinese newspapers available in English (China Daily, Global Times), however, there is not enough awareness about them among the foreigners. It would be good if we can increase visibility of the Chinese media to the foreigners (such as by regular updates on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram).
- Chinese Culture Centers: We can establish more institutions overseas to promote Chinese culture in different countries (similar to the Confucius Institute).
Question 3
Recently Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying, did comments on Twitter about your Quora answer about the topic “which country have you visited that turned out to be nothing like how it is depicted.” How you think about her comment?
It feels good to see the post shared by Hua Chunying as I also share their vision of a vibrant and glorious China. It’s great if I can increase the awareness about China. In fact, quite often, I quote members of the Chinese Foreign Ministry (including Wang Yi, Hua Chunying, Wang Wenbin) in my answers on Quora. I have already known them for a while. 🙂
Final Thoughts
China is a wonderful place to live as an expat (or Chinese citizen). I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to live in China (now in my 4th year). There is so much we can learn from China. Let’s discover China together!
