By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: I think Chinese people are friendlier than people from my country (US).
And it's not just because I'm white. Strangers become friends so fast here. Two Chinese strangers will meet, and immediately start talking about food or whatever, and their laughing and horsing around in no time. Americans don't do that.
Well I'm British and we invented warmth and the bringing together of people, albeit at gunpoint for the most part and the people were usually warm because we had set them on fire, but it still counts for something. I agree though, the Chinese are genuinely friendly people, I was thinking so this morning. In my opinion they are the friendliest, most welcoming, most annoying people I have ever met.
Well I'm British and we invented warmth and the bringing together of people, albeit at gunpoint for the most part and the people were usually warm because we had set them on fire, but it still counts for something. I agree though, the Chinese are genuinely friendly people, I was thinking so this morning. In my opinion they are the friendliest, most welcoming, most annoying people I have ever met.
I love Chinese people. Genuine, down to earth, fun, friendly and helpful.
I also think the Chinese ladies are pretty sexy. (Chinese dudes, sorry no)
All in all, Chinese ppl are the reason why I love China. They have their faults but overall I feel welcome.
JanShanghai:
No. I've been here two and a half years now. We all have different experiences that shape our opinions. I've been lucky I guess.
Friendly they certainly are but the friendliness that most Chinese people show, especially to foreigners, is very shallow and in some cases backed by ulterior motive.
The overwhelming majority of Chinese cannot accept a foreign national because we are seen as being outsiders. There is no doubt that most Chinese do not want us here but accept it as a necessary evil for the development of the country.
Well educated Chinese have a differing point of view and it is with these people that true friendship can be built.
The less educated group just look for whatever advantage they can draw from being around us often imaging that, one way or another, we can help them to prosperity or a better future. Quite often this group can also become aggressive or rude when failing to achieve what they desire from a foreigner or are rebutted.
silverbutton1:
"Well educated AND WELL TRAVELED Chinese have a differing point of view and it is with these people that true friendship can be built." Kaiwen, I modified your sentence.
Kaiwen:
Thank you Silver. I agree that, on most occasions, well educated and well travelled go together, though I have met about ten or twelve Chinese nationals that I have built long and trusting friendship with. They are well educated and thoughtful but have not visited many places away from their own home. They are inquisitive and use friendship as a means to develop an understanding of how the outside world works. They do not ask benign, repetitive questions like the majority of Chinese but ask deep, thoughtful questions that can lead to an informative conversation. Rare they certainly are but they do exist. Sadly, I find them the most repressed in China because they have minds that the governing classes in China cannot handle.
mArtiAn:
Maybe I'm naive but in my experience most Chinese consider foreigners a welcome novelty. I've been in cities with very few foreigners for these past 11 years though, I'm quite sure they have a different opinion of us in places like Shanghai and Beijing. As for not being accepted, well yes, I had a Chinese friend tell me as much once before, probably under the assumption that their acceptance was something I sought, and after drying my tears I told her that in my opinion acceptance on the whole was usually superficial in nature, wherever you are in the world. Just as any football supporter accepts and gravitates towards other supporters of his team, it's really just out of a desire to belong and a fear of persecution (a kicking) from those who are not of his social persuasion. But it's when we get up close and personal with those we 'accept', be it fellow countrymen, political affiliates, people who share our religious beliefs, members of our chosen sub-culture, family members, whatever, that we suddenly find ourselves judging each other once again - she's fat, he's too pretty, she's too rich, he likes Coldplay, she's an intravenous drug user, his sideburns make him look like a cunt, the list by which we categorize those we do not deem worthy of our true acceptance is endless - in the end most of us only 'accept' a very select group of people, and these we truly call friends, or in my case video game store owners and retailers of quality, German bought pornography. In any meaningful sense, we most of us live in a very small world.
I have met some of my closest friends in China but let's not generalize here, China has both good and bad people, and then you get the opportunists who are only friendly for as long they can get something out of you, be it financial rewards or face "look, I know a foreigner".
The genuinely good and genuinely bad people are few and far between, though you always get some local dudes hating on Foreign guys here and there, but the opportunists are many in China.
Delphine, didn't you use to be French ?
I agree that when two Chinese meet, conversation breaks out easily. Personally in my home country I have not problem discussing food with random strangers. I also have no problem discussing politics, proper upbringing of children, favorite color etc. Lots of things that Chinese people would never talk to newly met people about.
In our home I can generalized like this
- My wife generally feels I overshare with strangers
- I generally feel my wife overshares with family
Then why do so many of them act like complete arseholes all the time?
...Where is USA are you from, Compton? People are considerably more friendly in my hometown than people have been to me here. The "friendliness" here seems to be much more shallow. More of a "I'm friendly to you because I can benefit from it later" kind of feeling here.
WooMow:
I was wondering the same thing. People are almost too friendly in middle America, the Chinese have their moments but nothing even close to what I'm used to.
I think being an antagonist blinds you from the truth and stunts your personal growth.
Yeah, conversation does break out so easily. I get to talk about how I'm stealing Chinese women, too much of a loser to find a job back home, need to go back to my country, or just listen to random racial slurs. It gives me the warm and fuzzies.
Also, you're right about the quick friendship. When a random guy on the subway asks to add me, and states that he wants to be my friend (solid friendships are totally built within seconds), it's totally genuine, and not at all an attempt to get in some free English lessons.
cub:
@mateuz Is it common a chinese person wants to know or learn some English from a stranger they just met?
sorrel:
@ cub
for many Chinese people, the possibility of a free English lesson is the only reason they speak to non-Chinese.
