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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: Whats up with the Fenqing and Nationalism on Hongmei Lu
So this morning i am on the 9 Metro... a pregnant lady walks in... I kindly give her my seat, even though my seat is not the designated area. Its right across from me where some middle aged dude is pretending to sleep.... 8 stops later I am still standing and another pregnant girl arrives...looks to be about 7 months....No one offers her a seat....I look at one middle aged guy sitting in the designated area and motion to him that he should give it up...He stares at me in a stupor...I let it pass.
Fast forward to 9:00 pm on Hongmei LU and me in a rush to get to my family( my wife is Chinese and we have a daughter)...Me and this one Chinese see a taxi... we both get to the taxi at the same time. He gets aggressive and I say...
Hey man I saw it first ...come on..
we argue a bit and the taxi drives off because it was reserved...
Then all of a sudden this guy gets bold and says
"You are in China you should should behave yourself...I am Chinese...You are a guest"
And I shoot back...
"So what I'm American...and?"
Then some other guy with his gf, who has nothing to do with the convo and comes out of no where butts in and says to me...
"You better watch out you are in China and we are Chinese...you had better respect our culture!"
At that I just walked away...I ended up getting a taxi at that exact same spot before that guy....it was a small victory for me....This is not the first time this has happened to me on Hongmei Lu...Always some moderately looking rich guys starting mess.
But why is it that some of these cats decide to go full retard nationalism when it best suits them...But when it's time to give a seat up to a pregnant girl or open a door, or help an old lady across the street, or pooping and spiting anywhere they please it's every man for themselves.
Everyday i stay here I get more disappointed...and I am a black guy here so it's a double whammy with all the displays of racism...I mean Chinese are flooding New York....and you are saying I'm the invader? How do you guys deal with the none sense? I'm on my last straw. Help me please!
Very sensitive issue. You're not going to change the mind set here by setting examples. At best, you will be scorned and laughed at. At worst, you will have the s-h-*-t beat out of you for being so daring and arrogant as to suggest that certain citizens mend their ways and follow your example because it's the RIGHT THING to do. It's you - and me - against one thousand, 500 million people who think alike. It's been studied, reported and documented: the ONE mind in China. You've got to credit the guys at the top of the heap for the great job they've done to harmonize such a large population. In a free society, it's a far more difficult task to keep track of each and every citizen, native-born or naturalized. But I'd rather live in a free society than one that chokes my thoughts, ideas, and actions.
So, like beating your head against the wall day after day? Or do you want to relax and go with the flow until you can return to the motherland?
I feel for you, bro. You said you are a black guy? Believe me: it's no different for you than it is for a white guy. Funny, isn't it? We are all from Pluto.
Final word: A silver lining. Young people in this vast nation are fed up and expressing themselves more and more with greater vehemency and vigor. For change. It'll happen. Maybe not in my lifetime or yours. But the Chinese kid next door will usher in a new age and bless his bravery.
chamaflauge:
Thanks man...I like what you have to say....echinacities needs writers like you instead of the bull feces on the expat corner.....Yeah I have been here long enough to know.. It was amazing how they could gang up on me so quickly...but when some young chinese gal is getting beaten half to death they stand around and take pictures...I am in a Dilemma, because I love my wife and kid who are Chinese but I despise what my loved one's culture has become...I just try to keep to myself most days.
The middle aged men are the worst. Especially if they seem to be "middle class".
Guess they resent that we are taking away their "Xiaosans" ( 小三) t through a lot of the younger ones will also go apeshit towards Black people, Japanese and (now) Indians.
No words of wisdom except try to be patient, especially since you have a family here.
Good luck.
It's really hard to put some sense in their mind, since this kind of behaviour is anchored in them since they were born, in the same way common courtesy is anchored in people from abroad.
Regarding race, I'll tell you one thing, it doesn't have much to do with the way you look, although it's easier for them to distinguish Blacks and Whites and pick on that to make themselves feel superior. I too get the same speech and despicable behaviour, and I am partly Overseas Chinese. I experience the exact same "this is China, you are a guest here!" response when I try to make them do an act of kindness.
Earlier this year I accompanied a friend to the hospital after she got food poisoning and I got insulted with all kinds of words and threatened by a guy there, who was basically shouting on the phone at his driver while another woman was hopelessly trying to explain to the nurse what was wrong with her small child under the noise. I tried to get his attention and gave him the hush finger while showing him the woman and her child, but he got angry and started to shout at me. When he realised that my Chinese wasn't that good, he turned to the nurse and angrily shouted "that's a phucking laowai dog, isn't he?". And he rest of his speech was exactly like what you've experienced, apart from the American bit.
All I can say is that I am glad that some of my ancestors left that place. At least I got to grow up with Western manners and morals.