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An overseas entrepreneur planning to go to China might refrain solely on the basis that she or he will never be "China" chinese. You can learn the language, ad

An overseas entrepreneur planning to go to China might refrain solely on the basis that she or he will never be "China" chinese. You can learn the language, adopt the customs, marry, have a house and children-- and yet still, forever, be judged by your ethnicity. If the people you live around always consider you the "Outsider" and see you as little more than your stereotype, does it matter how much money you're making? What about trying to raise a family in that kind of environment? Sure: the U.S.'s culture wars are by no means settled and racism can happen everywhere to anyone (especially to minorities). The difference here is how much xenophobia the society at large will tolerate. And in racially (mostly) homogeneous China, the meaningful conversations about how to integrate or assimilate new people are in dear short supply. Further reading: http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/mark-kitto-youll-never-be-chinese-leaving-china http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/mark-kitto-youll-... http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/15/world/asia/a-disillusioned-briton-bids-farewell-to-china.html http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/15/world/asia/a-disillusioned...

abandonliberty 11y ago
I have fond memories from Beijing where random patrons loudly and extensively scolded a clerk for not serving me in my (accented yet understandable) mandarin. Any foreigner who has spent enough time in China has been refused service even when speaking the local tongue and respecting local customs, but I've never heard of anyone else having a crowd of boisterous Beijingers come to their rescue ;) In Vancouver, Canada, it's not uncommon to hear mainland Chinese refer to locals/non-Chinese as "laowai" among themselves (literally "alien" - an informal or slang term for "foreigner," possibly impolite). Some find a way to not speak survival-level English years after arrival, in spite of school and free education programs for new arrivals. You may be confusing tolerance of xenophobia with the celebration and institutional support of it.

abandonliberty 11y ago

I have fond memories from Beijing where random patrons loudly and extensively scolded a clerk for not serving me in my (accented yet understandable) mandarin. Any foreigner who has spent enough time in China has been refused service even when speaking the local tongue and respecting local customs, but I've never heard of anyone else having a crowd of boisterous Beijingers come to their rescue ;) In Vancouver, Canada, it's not uncommon to hear mainland Chinese refer to locals/non-Chinese as "laowai" among themselves (literally "alien" - an informal or slang term for "foreigner," possibly impolite). Some find a way to not speak survival-level English years after arrival, in spite of school and free education programs for new arrivals. You may be confusing tolerance of xenophobia with the celebration and institutional support of it.