China is Great! Why not Permanently Move?
Living somewhere that isn't familiar can be exhilarating. Every day, we find ourselves learning more and more about everything around us; it's my favorite aspect of moving halfway across the world. Some days, we spend at home watching bad horror movies and being comfortable. Other days, we ride the metro to some unknown part of Nanning and do our best to wander around and find delicious food somewhere (it's not hard). I live for the moments where I can make the unfamiliar become familiar.
The more that we explore, the more I admire the long lasting culture, the friendly people, and the ceaseless opportunities that China has to offer. It's no secret that we really enjoy living in China and we've even entertained the idea of making our move more permanent. We've decided against that for a number of reasons, one of which I'd like to explore.
You Will Never Be Chinese
Something I've seen referenced a lot is the idea that "you will never be Chinese". I came across the saying a lot while researching what life would be like here. Now that we're here, I see it pop up every now and then in expat communities and we even occasionally reference it ourselves.
It's not exactly easy to explain all of the meanings behind the saying, either. But I'll see if I can break it down into a few points:
- No matter how much respect you have for the Chinese culture, or how much you immerse yourself in it, Chinese people will always see you as an outsider.
- Even if you speak and understand the language/local dialect better than most Chinese citizens, you'll still be seen as an outsider.
- Everyday tasks like shopping, buying train tickets, and getting hotels are made more difficult without a Chinese ID.
- If you go through the difficult process of becoming a legal Chinese citizen (which involves revoking any other citizenship you may have), you can easily have it taken away if you don't act in a way that is representative of a Chinese citizen.
This seems to make it sound like Chinese people are unfriendly and that life here is difficult as a foreigner, but that can't be further from the truth. The people love to share their culture, especially with foreigners. If you can speak better Mandarin than them, know the customs, and have a Chinese ID, they will be super impressed. But you won't be Chinese.
It's not only applicable to China, of course. There are loads of cultures and ethnicities that someone can't simply "join" and become part of. That goes against the very definition of what a culture is. Unlike most countries, where you can join the workforce and economy to be considered a part of it, a foreigner will hold a "foreigner job". Sure, it might be a regular title like architect or pilot but the majority of the jobs on offer are specifically for foreigners to fill because that promotes a positive image.
An American can get hired for a job with a German company, move to Germany, and have a relatively normal life there. If an American were hired by a Chinese company, moved to China and attempted to have a normal life, they would likely be disappointed; they will be treated entirely differently as a foreigner, no matter how integrated they become. That is what the saying "you will never be Chinese" really means.