Jook-Sing. A little bit of both, but never passing one way or another. We basically got a problem a lot of mixed kids have. Yu Tian That's not good enough. You'll still exhibit cultural habits and even the way you speak and what you say will be tinged with American thinking. My family tells me this all the time because I still talk about things like an American, just in Chinese.
If you speak the language perfectly and understand the culture you will be considered chinese even if you were born in US. If you come only speaking english saying "China needs democracy" to wathever has hears you will be considered a foreigner
@@aaa84gt You are an ethnic muslim in a white country. What woulf you expect? We are talking about ABC in China. So ethnic chinese with american culture in US or China.
@@uwu_senpai What's the difference? I don't think you understand the similarities I was pointing out: Both are immigrants, both live in Western countries, both are influenced by Western culture, both aren't looked upon as 100% Chinese/Pakistani. The point is the same; ABCs are looked up as different in China and same goes with Pakistani immigrants of 2nd and 3rd generation in Pakistan.
“Physically they look Chinese, but Culturally, they are Americans” - I feel that was spot on for a lot of immigrants that was born or was raised in America.
It's a relatively rare insight for a Mainlander. Usually the divergence of genetics and mentality/allegiance is the primary source of social friction, particularly when they engage with someone who is ethnically Chinese but not a subject of the PRC. I'd say much of this comes from the CCP's largely successful strategy to equate the PRC with everything "China", and filtering out any dissension from this newspeak.
@@kara8715 I think they are referring to children of immigrants or people who were born in a different country then moved to the usa at a young age. Many of these people grow up with different experiences than american born kids with american born parents, as family life is very different. your family values and home life may resemble more towards home life in your parents' home country than america. Although outside your home you may be 100% culturally american. It differs for everyone.
@Ken MacDonald I think you are talking about immigrants who moved to the usa as adults, whereas the commenter is talking about people who moved to the usa as a child or children of immigrants. You also cannot group together all immigrants culturally like you are. I know some immigrants who Americanized themselves culturally in the decades they have been here, whilst also keeping parts of their native culture. Some people never pick up any American values and just live here. Some people do not keep any cultural values of their native country. There is a huge range of experiences in immigration.
Being Asian American basically feels like you belong everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It's kind of like having an identity crisis your whole life.
That's why I think it's important to learn Chinese if you're Chinese. However, to each their own. Some people have no interest whatsoever and that's fine if that's what they choose.
Eh, it is nothing special. Same story for Asian Europeans, Asians in australia, etc. I speak multiple languages, and consider myself a world citizen. I can live almost anywhere, adapt to the culture and know how the locals think. I consider it more of an advantage than a disadvantage. Home is where my heart is together with my family and friends. The rest is trivial.
For me it's always been frustrating. To Americans, I'm Chinese and I'm not American. In China, I'm not Chinese, I'm American. I feel distinctly out of place in America pretty frequently, especially at church where I am basically the only Asian. And in China, people actually mistake me for Korean because everything about my body language just isn't Chinese at all. I always feel out of place, wherever I go. I'm treated by Americans often as some sort of "outsider", even though I was born here, just like them. The only people who truly understand my multicultural background is my mom's family. They embraced my American accent on my Mandarin, which helped me continue to push forward to master the language. That was one of the biggest things they've ever done to help me feel more comfortable about myself. When they came to America for my wedding, they admired many things about America, and were truly trying to learn more about the country I grew up in because they wanted to know me better. That was really sweet of them too.
I like to ask you this question if you don't mind. Where do you place your loyalty? To China or the US? I mean are you willing to take arms against mainland china if war ever arises between china and us?
I don't mind, thanks for asking :) I'd want to learn more about both sides of the story. Read the news, ask my friends, ask my parents, and then also ask my relatives and ask what they've been hearing on the news. Then I can formulate my own opinion, if only for myself (since it obviously wouldn't affect much since I'm not in the military). If a draft happens and we are drafted, then that is one of the civic duties of being an American, and I will take up arms against China. I've been in America all my life, enjoying what America has gifted me. Potentially ending up on the draft is a responsibility. Note that I *am* female, so I am not on the draft. As much as I love going to China to be able to visit my relatives, I would never want to live there. Even despite all the turmoil America is going through, I still have so many privileges and freedoms here. Of course, this is all assuming that China were to start a war with us... war is a very controversial topic without even diving into the aspects of who started what, and the factors leading up to it. I'd hate to see a draft happen for a war versus China because our government decided to act like an idiot and go to war for no clear reason (using an extreme hypothetical to show my reasoning). Ultimately it's going to cause a pretty big identity crisis for me and my parents, but at the end of the day, we are American. My biggest concern if that kind of war broke out would be how to make my relatives safe... that would be nightmarish for us, worrying about our family.
Great assumption you're making, assuming we live within driveable distance of one. We do not :D And thank you for assuming I'm complaining about how speshul I am. Just sharing my own life story.
That advice is really relevant for non ABC foreigners visiting China too (except the “cars don’t yield” thing cos that’s true in Australia too... American pedestrian are weird that they seem to think they’re more powerful than a 1-2 ton vehicle coming at them... but it works cos American drivers mostly seem to agree)
@@eundongpark1672 Well I'd say cars yielding is probably a good norm to have. It means people aren't willing to run other people over to get through a little bit faster. In all cases the thing that loses in a collision should have legal right of way.
Well America as a nation and what we associate with its culture were built and formed by early British settlers. Natives didn't live in America as we know it now.
@@Nandinandito My last comment was lazy. So fine, I'll be precise here. it's Puritan British in the New England region; Scottish and Irish border people in Appalachia; lesser British aristocrats in the South (Jefferson was from this stock). But there were many significant continental European contributing too; French Huguenots settled large regions of Pennsylvania; Germans in the Midwest; Scandinavians up in the northern Great Lakes region (this is why Scandinavian last names are quite common in States like Michigan and Wisconsin even till today); French Acadians in Louisiana; etc. So no America is definitely not just British, who even amongst themselves are not uniform (the Americans of the South and from New England have drastically different cultures and values). And after centuries of mixing between all these various European ethnic groups, Americans is functionally a distinct Caucasian ethnicity.
it's a stupid view, I've encountered Mainland Chinese who would try to undermine me for saying I'm not white, I don't look foreign enough, some of them are dressed to look more like a "foreigner", they use the word "foreigner", it's class consciousness in chinese society, where they believe the more western you look the higher class you are, so they don't care about your nationality, rather you classify you base on your race.
Kevin Pan I️m an ABC who’s lived in china, and honestly the mainland Chinese are just completely different from what they’re stereotyped to be. Most of them whom I’ve met were very nice and sweet, also very welcoming. I️ attended middle school and a bit of high school in china, and my classmates were always really supportive and helped me with my chinese, I’m still very grateful for their understanding. For the most part they accepted me as “one of them” but there were times where our differences would make themselves apparent, I️ never had that much respect for chinese mainlanders until I️ actually lived in China so I have a good impression on them.
Also an ABC living in China. Honestly it's just too hard to stereotype since there are so many people. You literally get all kinds, especially having experience in more northern parts vs more southern parts. The real differences I've seen are: - It's easier being an introvert in the US than in China (people bother you more in China), but you are also much more likely to be lonely - There are way more people who are excited about food in China than in the US, so if you like eating out/exploring restaurants you aren't seen as a minority ("foodie" is the term in the US) Pretty much everything else boils down to who you're talking to.
I think Chinese people and Chinese Americans are very different people. Unfortunately, in America people will treat Chinese Americans as if they are from China as opposed to actually being American.
Wait till you find out how Asian Americans treat other Asians of the same ethnicity who aren't native English speakers or who speak English with an accent. They go on and on about how they aren't treated as real Americans, yet they see themselves as superior to people of the same race all because they are "American". Bunch of hypocritical bananas.
I am Chinese ethnically, but born and grew up in Netherlands. I do not feel like a 'Dutch' person, purely because I feel like my appearance and my upbringing at home doesn't make me Dutch enough. I'd love to become friends with my 'own kind'. However, I don't feel a sense of belonging when I hang out with Chinese mainlanders. I used to room with an international Chinese student and even she would rather call me a Dutch person. That realization kind of sucks; you 'fit' nowhere except with other Dutch-Chinese/foreign-born Chinese people.
I've been told you gotta learn how to code switch, act Dutch around Dutch, act Chinese when around Chinese. That or you can be like me and embrace both and try to find the balance. If anything you can try to play up being a bit unique and be able to be a diplomat of sorts being able to translate cultural customs and such, at least if you are versed in both.
Omdat cultuur niet ethnisch bepaald is. Cultuur is de programmering van het nuture deel van het gedrag. Je bent gewoon Nederlander, net zoals blanke Pietje of bruine Mohammed. Al heeft die laatst groep erg veel moeite met integreren, in tegenstelling tot oost Aziatische migranten. Daarnaast moet je je voorstellen als een blank persoon in het buitenland zegt het liefst alleen met zijn "eigen soort" te willen om gaan. Dan is gelijk iedereen en z'n Jesse Klaver over de zeik.
This was a really interesting video but lol when they said abcs have language skills - most Chinese-Americans aren't the best at speaking their native language looool. I had an interview for a job in Shanghai once and she told me to apply again when my Chinese got better. It sounds like there's a bit of a mix up in their answers where sometimes they're referring to Chinese people who studied abroad and other times referring to Chinese people born in the states (abc).
Chinese Americans are one of the oldest Asian cultures in the USA. My friends family migrated to the USA in the 1850s and when he went to visit China, his Chinese had not really evolved in 150 years. He said his Chinese was how they talked in China 150 years ago. But I don’t know.
Lol it’s sad but true. I’ve taken 6 years of chinese in the US as an ABC and my chinese is a pity. I’ve have yet to meet another ABC that speaks amazing chinese either.
Just bc your Chinese sucks doesn’t mean all ABCs don’t speak their mother tongues at a professional level. I’m ABC, but run local businesses in China and HK. ABCs aren’t a monolith
This video is hitting extra hard, especially now that Asian Americans are experiencing a surge of hate crimes here in the US due to COVID-related racism. We Asian Americans just don't seem to belong anywhere :(
I live in Latin America, and have been yelled at the supermarket due to the COVID craze. The xenophobic and racist people are really crawling out of the woodwork. It's always hard being asian anywhere.
Fifth generation Chinese American here. My great grandparents were born in California, and my parents have always only spoken English to me. It wasnt until middle school that I realized there’s Asian Americans that know their heritage language, so I started self studying. I did a language immersion program in China last summer and really love learning Mandarin!
In West Nanjing Road. I’ve been there before and it was tooooo much expensive for a Chinese college student like me. Tiramisu there was delicious though XD
@@WoahItsRuka Shanghai is much bigger. I went to the Milan one several weeks ago but I worked at a WeWork in Shanghai across the street from it and I always take my friends to it when they visit. The Shanghai one is immense.
As an ABC I have never felt more American in my 25 years of living in the US than I did when I came to China. If you're ever in doubt about your identity as an ABC, just visit China and it'll be pretty clear afterwards.
I'm an ABC but since my parents can't speak English too well, I basically grew up speaking exclusively Mandarin. and since my parents are from dongbei, I have the dongbei accent as well so often a lot of people that speak with me in Mandarin are somewhat surprised to learn I didn't grow up in China.
I've always felt a little weird around native Chinese people as an ABC. I look pretty exotic in America but in China, I'm basically an undercover foreigner. I never felt quite "Chinese" enough and felt like an imposter even though they may be my own family. People are always impressed I understand Cantonese and even more so when my parents prompt me into greeting the relatives with their appropriate title. They compliment my parents for raising an ABC that could at least comprehend Cantonese. It was flattering but also felt a little demeaning.
Your relatives probably meant no disrespect to you but may have unintentionally diminished your efforts to learn the language. I suspect that your relatives are equally proud that you learned some of the language and culture.
Ah, I have a very similar situation. When I speak Cantonese, I sound terrible, but I can understand it very well. I’m going to China next year and I’m very nervous because I don’t know how I should act.
it's interesting how most people viewed ABCs as having parents from China. there are actually a lot of ABCs that have lived in America for many generations.
Those guys are hella rare. Yes third generation SF original Chinatown Chinese descendants exist, but more often than not, their blood and thus culture have already been diluted out.
Nomadic Nationalist Fifth generation Chinese American here. Starting learning Mandarin in my first year of high school with no prior knowledge. It’s difficult but fun and transformative!
Nomadic Nationalist I am fourth-generation Chinese diaspora: since the 1940s, my extended family has lived variously in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and Australia. Some of my brethren have returned to the Chinese homeland, and now live and work in Chinese cities (primarily Shanghai). For the most part of recent history, we have retained our Chinese blood. I can read, write, and speak Chinese - I’m not as proficient in Chinese as I am in English, that is true, but I have never forgotten my roots. Yes, I do feel a sense of alienation from certain aspects of Chinese culture, but I still regard it as a very significant part of my heritage and identity.
Very interesting. I enjoyed this video. I’m not Chinese-American, I’m actually Japanese-American. Born in Japan, but adopted and raised in the U.S. I know what it’s like to be treated differently. I was bullied all the time growing up for being Japanese-American, or just Asian in general. I was also bullied for being adopted. Not sure if you’ve already done this topic, Asian Boss, but please ask Japanese people what they think about Japanese-Americans. I would love to know.
Like a lot of interviews with Japanese people, I don't expect them to give their honest opinion unless it is with a Japanese person and they can remain anonymous. From what I've noticed, there is always the "pc" answers when in public situations and actual feelings in private among trusted people. edit: Just look at the recent interviews about Naomi Osaka for an idea of what I'm talking about. The only person giving honest answers was the hafu girl.
Cafelogis Yes, I’m well aware of the fact that Japanese may not speak the truth in public. Because of the whole tatemae/honne aspect. But still, I would love to know. Growing up in the U.S., I’ve always been somewhat of an outsider because I’m Japanese American or Asian American. When I went to Japan to visit, I felt like I was truly part of society. I didn’t stick out like a sore thumb and I looked like everyone else. I’ve never truly felt that way in the U.S. unfortunately. So I would love to know what Japanese people think about Japanese Americans, even if it isn’t really a truthful answer.
ShadowSpear Let me relate to you what my friend, who was born in Hawaii to ethnic Japanese parents, and raised all over because according to her, she was an Army brat. She speaks Japanese and Bahasa Indonesia. When she worked for a Japanese company in Japan for a year, she went under the radar to a certain point because even though she looks the part, her Japanese is not quite par to the locals way of speaking (idioms). Plus, she might be able to speak the language, but she never learned to read Katakana nor Hiragana. So, when she wanted to ask for directions in Japanese, she would get the look that "this person must be stupid." That is, able to converse in Japanese, but can't read the signs. She felt that she's only Japanese to a certain point there because she wasn't fully accepted. She told me that she still likes Japan, but wouldn't choose to live there because of the thinking "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down." She lived in Tokyo.
I'm an Australian Chinese, and I consider myself Australian and Chinese in equal parts. Instead of worrying about not fitting in either culture, I embrace the fact that I am lucky enough to experience both. Being Chinese means I get to speak the language and learn it from my parents at home as well as be immersed in Chinese traditions and food and culture, and being Australian means I get exposure to western education, culture and upbringing. I don't care about how others view me, because in the end the only thing that matters is that I am accepting of myself, which I am! 😊
As an Indian born in India and grown up there and having seen American life as well , your comment about accepting yourself is spot on !!!! To be honest, the best thing about people who are frustrated about all these cross-country things are, when it comes to fights across countries, all these will get reduced with generations as someone or the other will feel that their roots are from those countries and the root countries need not be bullied from a stronger country with time
This video is an absolute gem for Chinese learners, the people interviewed speak clearly and actually quite slowly as well, with mostly standard and easy to understand accents. The vocabulary they're using is also pretty common and useful, I was able to pick up a lot of things whilst watching this. Thank you!
I am not Chinese but I know how it feels to be the called ‘others’ even in my own country. Also, I like the tips about being careful on the road and also downloading VPN when in China. Very helpful indeed! 😄
Because they are 'others'. From my own experience, ABCs are different with native Chinese including minority ethic groups in China. At lease people grew up in China received similar education while ABCs generally have western education.
Han chinese expansionism is just as TOXIC! I'm mixed race grew up in China and Han chinese nationalism is worse than white supremacy, or perhaps equally disgusting!
@@Huaneyk oh pls, why all the whitening products then? you are not even a mainlander, they are white washing, look at fan bingbing after plastic surgery she prattically looks like a turk!
My parents are “TBC” , Thai born Chinese and I am American born, which makes me an ABC or ABT? Doesn’t matter but anyway naturally my English is best and in second comes Chinese. I worked really hard at it, even living in China 8 years, partly because I wanted to rediscover to my roots. If you are sincere about it, Chinese people in China will generally treat you positively and accept you to a degree. Similarly, Some in America would consider me American while some wouldn’t. What really impressed me though is after coming to Thailand where I speak the language horribly and know the culture the worst, is how they all accept me as a Thai unconditionally.
Peter I 2 seconds ago it really depends what you like better. if you like them equally though, go with Chinese because it's more useful. To me as a whole though, Chinese is more stimulating. It's great for talking about history and philosophy and culture and the world in general. Thai is more fun because the people like to joke around and flirt and be light hearted. But for the most part they don't really like to discuss anything on a deeper level.
woah, its rare to see people like us, im in a similar situation, my parents are TBC but they immigrated to Australia. I totally agree with how thai ppl are so accepting, i'm also thinking of learning Chinese because thai probs gonna be useless for future business
Im french born chinese and sometimes people ask me if I feel more chinese or french and I can't answer because I got a double culture, when i'm outside, at school i live like a french girl and when i'm at home i live like a chinese girl. Moreover i got a lot of friends from different countries. Our parents want us to learn chinese and it's kinda difficult with writing since we don't use it everyday. The thing is that we can use 3 languages, it's convenient when you travel and we can find a job easily.
You should go to w/e Chinatown is around you if you do have one and just read signs and such and also newspapers. You should also track down Chinese dramas and movies, since there's almost always subs. When I was younger and learning that was kinda what I did. Then they stopped teaching me how to read and write, and told me to focus on english, and now I've kinda forgotten a lot of it. I need to get myself back on track honestly.
Cafelogis i live in Chinatown 😂 I watch a lot of dramas too but they’re less interesting compared to korean dramas. I improved a lot in mandarin doing my internship in taiwan ! I think people should make friends and talk to them if they want to improve in languages
Indeed, especially a lot of the historical WW2 ones but with the Chinese drama machine, there's bound to be better ones eventually. Only one that ever really gripped me was the Three Kingdoms one's. I personally hope China starts producing good sci fi shows though, my Mandarin would improve tremendously, but it may be a dream. Do you have people around you that are bilingual? I've found that's usually the best way, so if something is lost in translation, it can still be explained in your more fluent language. Personally, I've been trying to speak more Mandarin instead of Cantonese with my family, since either it's Chinese people who speak only Mandarin, or ABC's who don't know or chose not to learn how to speak any Asian language. There is no in between for me lol.
Good video. I would have liked to see some interviews with much older folks, like 60+, and college students. And maybe some blue collar migrants. All the interviewees in this video seem to be educated white collar people.
Would love to hear what Chinese think about Chinese adoptees. I was adopted from China and grew up in the US. So, in addition to not feeling American enough and not feeling Chinese enough, I couldn't even relate to other ABCs!!!! A whole other layer on top of these feelings of not belonging. I feel very fortune and am very proud to call myself Chinese-American though. I have been back to China and loved it. I would love to live there again. I am learning the language and love learning about my culture again. Also, thank you for having this channel and showing us these perspectives. It is truly interesting and broadens other people's perspectives.
I am also adopted from China! I went back when I was very young. The experience was incredibly immersive. Now that I’m older, I feel very “other” from native Chinese people and sometimes even the people in my community. I would also be interested to hear native Chinese thoughts about Chinese adoptees.
Same here. Except try Sweden. Can't even relate to American, British, French or German adoptees because of the extreme lack of Chinese and Asian representation/community...
callous parents..I am mainlander. in the past, chinese are very poor, but i just cant understand why they sent kids to welfare institution. I advise you learn chinese, all of us are 炎黄子孙. Chinese are friendly.
I have a neighbor in Philly, also adopted from China. She doesn’t speak Mandarin (maybe a few words) and doesn’t have a Chinese surname either (adopted by an Irish family). I totally understand and actually would be happy if she shows interest in Chinese culture. But funny thing is, we met in a potluck and 2 white guys there speak very fluent mandarin lol
Ooo I’m Chinese-Canadian and I really wanna here about this too! Not relating to other asians in a western country also really resonated with me (A lot of the Asian representation in western media about the struggles of being Asian in a western country didn’t fully relate to me since I didn’t grow up with the culture.. 😅 at least not the full experience (my mum tried but it kinda failed)
I 100% agree with the fact that we are more open-minded, because having grown up with 2 opposite cultures really gives you more perspective. I also find it funny how when I visited school in China, many students just thought of me as 'the American' while here, I am thought of as Chinese. I feel like I am both nationalities in my heart, as I have been brought up by parents that grew up in China, but am experiencing the American culture.
its surprised how Chinese nowadays are confident and feel comfortable about themselves. Compared six years ago we were still hesitating about ourselves and admiring western culture, it indeed changed a lot and got me thinking if going back to China could be an option.
Guide for ABCs in China. If you Cant speak Chinese - you are considered totally foreigner or bananas Can speak Chinese, but not fluent -- considered part of bananas Fluent in Chinese = Chinese Speak Chinese without accent- Congrats, you are considered true Chinese, Descendants of Dragon
well ABC and mainland chinese do style and conduct themselves differently. ABC are more likely to have bold style that mainlanders feel like is too exaggerated and their preferences would clash
Thank you for this informative video! As a Chinese American contemplating living in China for a year or two, I found this super helpful. The people interviewed seem so honest and kind
For me, it's even more complex because I'm from Hong Kong, grew up in the States. I speak Cantonese, yet I often get made fun of for not knowing Mandarin well enough...So in order to be considered culturally "Chinese," I have to both master my native dialect as well as a second language...and that's very difficult and a bit of an unfair expectation for someone raised overseas.
Born in the Philippines, but grew up in the states. Growing up I've always felt like I was in an awkward middle zone. I didn't really fit in with other Filipinos (especially when going back to PI) but I wasn't "western" enough to fit in with my white friends. I feel like Asian-Americans in general end up being outsiders on both ends.
I feel the same way because I don't fit in with the Filipinos back in the Philippines since I haven't grown up there; however, I do know Filipino history and look around for news. On the other hand, I feel that I am too Filipino for Americans due to differing cultural values. For example, I view family as an important thing while other Americans may not and want to live on their own as soon as possible. I don't want to put my parents in nursing homes; in fact, I'm willing to take care of them when they're older. It stinks knowing that I don't fit in both cultures 100% but I know that I'm more open minded about different cultures.
@Maj L. Buena don't forget the part of "Filipinx" and as a Filipino it annoys me how filams would always be patriotic about the Philippines (but would not choose the Philippines over the US) while trashing the USA when literally they are not different from other Americans other than the fact that they are darker
oh, no one calls Philippines, PI now. It's so 1940s. PI in the Philippines today is used as a curse word. Like basically the P-word (P*ta*****). So, as a Filipino from the mainland PH, I suggest you not to use PI as an acronym of our country.
It’s impressive to me how thoughtful and literate their answers are! I am so appreciative of their open mindedness to Americans. Sadly, I fear that many Americans would not be so thoughtful or generous.
As US has been world most powerful country since WW2, they barely learn other languages(different to EU countries). Some are ignorant & arrogant to other countries, American exceptionalism? Chinese(mainland) used to be very poor, so you need to learn from other people, work harder and be humble.
I consider myself both Chinese and American, and I'm proud of it. IMHO, the balance is important to really embracing the bi-cultural identity. 第一次回国的体验我就感觉像是找到了自己内心的另一部分，感觉自己那样才完整。虽然每次都会生病 （水土不服没办法）但还是会对在国内的日子回味无穷。
I'm a half-Iraqi half-Russian born in America. I can related to ABC's so much. It's hard because we have this identity crisis (not everyone) but I don't let it get to me because there are definitely many upsides to being this way.
That sad realisation you don't quite fit anywhere :/ This is pretty much the same with all kids born/raised for a large part of their life elsewhere to their migrant parents or grandparents.
Then wouldn't that mean you going to belong with other kids born and raised from country that isn't country of their ancestors. Also isn't it over generalizing that no one going to accept you. There always going be certain percentage of people who going to accept you just like how there going be percentage people who going to deny/reject you.
Jeremy lin is a pretty good example for this topic. He even can't fluently speak a complete Chinese sentence before enter the NBA. Now he can easily playing jokes in Chinese on camera. And he always speaks for Asians in US and his hard working ethics also gain lots of respects from China. When he give advises to some Chinese young basketball players in humble way,I know that's why so many mainland Chinese basketball fans admire him. He respects Chinese people in China,then the mainland Chinese people will respect him as well. But some ABCs seems to avoid touch with mainland Chinese,that's different. I completely understand that ,I think they want a different identity,but please don't bring hatred against mainland Chinese .
His value set is unique and not really typical of the post 1990 generation. As time goes on with 2nd third fourth generations the culture will be harder to retain. Regardless never put people in to a box that is a big mistake.
@@lnterestingg Yes and like most Taiwan people over age 50 - they consider themselves Chinese. They took he and his siblings to their ancestral villages on the mainland... Same as another famous ABC - Eddie Huang
I love how they assume that our knowledge of multiple languages will be our big advantage, but many of us can hardly speak a complete sentence in Chinese :(
As an ABC, it really wasn’t difficult for me to speak fluent Mandarin, probably because I grew up with it from my parents who speak it at home. I think the main reason many ABCs don’t want to learn is simply because they don’t have the motivation. This is at least in the earlier age groups. Then once we reach high school, we feel like we’re now in an identity crisis, and at this point it’s very hard to start learning and assimilating into Chinese culture. For me, it was with reading and writing. I didn’t appreciate the daily Chinese school work I got at a chinese school I went to directly after school ended each day, but now it becomes apparent that I regret quitting. Now I can only read around 500-600 characters, and it’s a lot harder to go past this point at this age 🤷🏻♂️.
Chinese is hard. That’s part of the reason why my parents took me to China when I was 6 and enrolled me in a local school. Learning Chinese actually isn’t as hard as assimilating into Chinese culture, because Chinese values are at times contradictory to American values, at least from what I’ve observed： 1. Our ancestors are farmers rather than sailors and hunters. They work with each other and with the environment in order to grow crops, etc. As a result, Chinese people value uniformity, humility, and harmony more than individuality and freedom. And it's not just the harmony between man and man that is important, but also the harmony between nature and man. Harmony teaches one humility, because you realize it’s not about one and one’s little universe, but more about the vast universe we share. To teach this, Chinese middle schools and high schools have a few weeks of military training. It used to be a lot more gruelling, but by the time I had mine, it pretty much mellowed out. Just a lot of marching under the sun. Personally, I think that Chinese culture is very accepting, in the sense that it does not pretend to be universal or superior to another set of values. 2. On the flip side, Chinese people may seem unwelcoming to foreign people. This is mainly because China has been pretty mono-ethnic, historically. And added with the fact that Chinese culture places more importance on humility and harmony instead of being forthcoming about your own desires and opinions, you get awkward, and vaguely cold, situations. I struggled a lot with this at first, because I simply did not know what the people want from me. Sorry, I didn’t intend to write this much. But I found you’re story really interesting and before I knew it I was rambling in text...
I'm Brazilian but I lived in the US for a year. I made many friends that were Americans but their parents were Chinese, therefore I learned they were Chinese-Americans. 10 min ago I didn't even know about this expression, "ABCs". As a foreigner, all I can say is: the ABCs I met in the US were just AMAZING. Really loving people that totally embraced me and helped me getting ajusted in US. It was hard for me because I felt alone and was experiencing a huge cultural shock. I will be forever grateful for them. It has been 9 years that I was a foreign exchange student there, and they are still in my heart. I also made friends from mainland China, and they were just as wonderful. All of them really influenced me to get to know more about their culture and country, that's why I am about to apply for a Ph.D degree in China. I fell in love with the country because of the amazing people I met. (: Thank you guys!
Such a complex topic. I totally relate, although I am not an ABC but a French Born Chinese. I used to feel so sad because I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere but you just gotta embrace the fact that you have two cultures and that’s okay not being considered 100% Chinese or 100% French (American etc.) thanks for the content!
Being Chinese American born and raised in NYC and my parents are from China, I find this video interviews very interesting. I do speak Chinese but not fluently enough as I would like and have friends both ABC and from China and other parts of Southeast Asia. I have been to the Far East and I learned a lot of things about them and many stereotypes we have of them that are not true. I would welcome more of video interviews like this to learn more about the more about my Chinese roots and their views. I found them on this video to be very honest and fair.
I find this pretty spot on! As mentioned, I find one of the biggest differences is Asian-Americans think more individualistically but are also more accepting and understanding of people of other backgrounds. Even though I live in an Asian majority American city and am fluent in Chinese, my values are still Western.
german born chinese here, i view myself as chinese in germany and german in china. i appreciate both cultures, both countries have values i put in high regard and few i don’t, it’s the good mixture of both i can luckily choose from and live out. imo it depends on the individual, you can look very chinese and have zero interests in your roots and history and been pretty whitewashed - which is alright; each to its own. i don’t really get along with strict conservative chinese people but that’s also the case with them germans, i guess it’s all about adapting yourself and having the willingness to learn and people will at least accept you to a certain degree. in the end it doesn’t really matter where you’re from but how you act as human being, cos in the end you are just you and you are the one who is constantly living with yourself so 🤷🏻♀️
8:13 That girls advice is absolutely spot on. All of those things are absolutely critical to visiting China lol. She must be a 5000 iq genius or something.
No matter where I'm born, if I'm Chinese then I should be proud of being Chinese, and I should learn to understand my own culture, heritage, and language.
I remember some pretty bad experiences with Chinese studying abroad here and ABC's like me about 10 years ago. They called us "fake Chinese" and treated us like an inferior person in general, almost subhuman. Literally wouldn't help us if we needed or requested it and just gave ABC's dismissive arrogant attitude. It honestly left a bad taste in my mouth going forward and I think we responded with that attitude in kind and that's where these people see that attitude presented by us. I see that today it isn't so bad unless they are the stereotypical super rich spoiled kids, then again they give that arrogant asshat attitude to anyone they see below them.
as a southeast asian chinese myself, they feel like the clueless grouchy distant cousin still clinging to grandma or something lol. a mainlander tourist once asked us if we were chinese and we forgot the right chinese words of how to say overseas chinese so we ended up saying something like we were locals or something and they seemed so dumbfounded like what we said was something so impossible since we looked prominently chinese. they began comparing their arm to ours and said that we didn't have a different skin tone lol. (since locals of my country were a bit more brown skinned) felt really accidentally racist of them lol but they were pretty clueless anyways.
I’ve felt the same thing! I was so devastated by the experience. I’m from the US, and all my life I’ve been called Chinese despite feeling Asian-American. I went to China to volunteer for the first time and people were so coldhearted! When I asked for help with the train, the woman wanted me to beg her. I was confused and horrified. We would never treat mainland Chinese like that in the US
I'm sorry you had that experience because I've had the completely opposite experience in Shanghai when I went to visit and travel two years ago. Everybody was really nice and courteous towards me but I think that is contributed to the fact that I was with my dad and we both speak Mandarin fluently. China has changed a lot in my opinion, it's one of the fastest growing countries and I actually enjoyed being in Shanghai.
I, as a previous international student, had entirely opposite experience. The ABC kids in our class only hang out with themselves, and some white people, and never talk to others including us international student, or brown, blacks, etc. Whenever I talk to them (and for clarity in English), they looked at me like a freak and just mumble some words before rudely walking away. One of them was trying so hard to fit in a "white kids group" but got cold treatment all the time. So pathetic to see.
I was born and raised in Nigeria..and left to study in the us at the age of 17..now I am 20..though not still accustomed to many things in the us perhaps bcz I have few friends and ve been focusing on school alone..friends from Nigeria no longer see me as one of them..they see me as an american now..which makes me wonder what it will be like when I travel to visit
I'm an ABC, I was born in the US. I'm currently 14, and I can tell y'all that I live like a true Chinese. My parents don't know English, and I have to communicate to them in Chinese. I can read, write, and speak Chinese fluently. I go to Chinatown on weekends, and at school, all my friends are Chinese. I feel like the idea of this video is too broad. I feel like it depends on how you were raised, and the culture that you are immersed in at home. For me, when I go to China, people would think I grew up in China. People have no idea that I'm an ABC. My parents grew up in a town about 2 hours away from Guangzhou, and they have a dialect named Taishanese. I can speak Taishanese, Cantonese, and Mandarin fluently.
My mom is german , my dad is chinese, i was born in shanghai, but moved to germany when i was like 2 yrs old, so my "mind" is basically german, the way i think, the way i behave is all prob at least 80% german, bcs thats the environment that i grew up in... no matter where u come from, u usually learn from your current surroundings, so i do think that the environment in which u live in has more influence on ur character than ur "home"/where u came from. But as a mixed child, i have like zero problems here in germany (could be bcs i dont even rly look that chinese lol) and it is prob easier & more comfortable to live here than in china ,i also sometimes prefer living in china but yeah, atleast need to finish school lol.....but i srsly want to improve my chinese since i only speak like a lil bit & cant read & write that much, ..... its prob at the same level as my english hhh Anyways, sry for ma bad english & have a good night🌜 Nice video~
Jay Ma Your English is good! My cousin in law is Vietnamese from Germany and lives in the US after marrying my cousin. His English is pretty good too. He speaks fluent German too. He is still very German to me too. For some reason Asians they grow up in Europe seem to have absorbed some Europeaness too.
For me, most of what they said is completely wrong from what I think. Being an ABC myself, I sometimes feel out of place. But “Americans” have accepted me and I rarely feel uncomfortable. I am currently in 9th grade and my dream is to move to China when I grow up. My Mardarin is considered really good, because at home, I am only allowed to speak Chinese and I have been going to Chinese school on Sundays ever since I was six years old. I admire Chinese culture and I believe that I will have no problem adapting to the lifestyle and culture in the future. Although I am considered an American citizen and grew up in America, I fully believe that I am a full Chinese at heart. I am proud of China and proud of being Chinese. To be honest, when I was younger, I thought I was “better” than mainland Chinese people because I was born in America. I used to see myself as American and was often embarrassed by my Asian looks, family, and lifestyle. But I’ve grown to admire my roots and my love for China grows everyday. I hope mainland Chinese people can see and understand that we ABCs are Chinese at heart.
This is a comment that I can really relate to! I'm an ABC but I'm also considered very fluent in Chinese: From reading to writing to speaking. My dream is to move to China when I grow up. I'm born in America, so I'm technically considered American. Like you, I've always thought of myself as Chinese at heart. Sometimes while I go on Douyin and see comments on videos, I just truly hope that people can understand not all Americans are bad and not all Chinese are bad.
You guys either find very reasonable people by chance for your interviews, or Chinese people seem just wise and aware of the world around them. It's very respectable. Also it's cool to see them be proud of their country. I'd like to see more of that here in the west. Starting to seem like Bizzaro World here.
Want to commend this channel for the noticeable improvement in the quality of translations and subtitles. The kinds of glaring inaccuracies that pervaded some older videos have largely been eliminated, and not repeated here.
You are where you born. I was born in Oakland CA, growing up in the neighborhood where the majority of my friends were Latino, Black, Asian, and White. Never had a problem...God Bless America!!
It's really interesting to see how different countries reject their "American Born" counterparts. I am Italian both my parents were born there and I speak it fluently at home. But whenever I go back to Italy I am an American.
My ABC friend (we live in America) way saying to me, “I don’t really belong anywhere. I am a foreigner in China, and a foreigner in the USA.” That really stuck with me.
That's why there should be more interracial marriages. Tell your children to marry someone of the dominant ethnic group and have kids and tell their kids to also marry someone of the dominant ethnic group. Within a few generations, everything will be "melted" into the main ethnic group.
I'm an ABC, and where I live, there are a ton of Asian-Americans. I tend to stick with that group, just because Asian values in general share a lot of similarities and it's a lot easier to connect with people that i have this in common with. However, a lot of American families these days are starting to value education a lot more, and so I also hang out with non-Asians who also tend to be academically oriented and kind of edgy.
Hey random question but is you profile pic jungkook and v from BTS? If so fellow ARMY here! And good idea for the question I think they should do one for each of the countries they report from, I am sure there are subscribers that are from one of the countries but grew up in the U.S.
I was born in Korea, 100% Korean blood in my veins, but grew up in Denmark since i was 3yo. Here people consider me Korean (with all the ups AND all the downs) but I doubt Koreans in Korea would consider me Korean but instead a European. Sometime they call me a "Banana" (Yellow on the outside, but white on the inside, Yes I've actually been told this to my face by native living koreans) I cant help but feel like Chinese people are way more understanding and accepting about overseas Chinese people. And I agree with the girl saying China will be strong... Hen hen hao qiang! Wo ai Zhongguo ren
When I was living in Shanghai, China, I was mistaken for being a Chinese born Chinese! They always thought my accent and how I spoke it was that of. Whenever I told them that I was born in the States and that I learned Chinese from university because my parents didn't teach me, they were extremely shocked and didn't actually believe me. It was kind of difficult at times, but on the other hand I was grateful because that meant that they would continue to speak to me in Chinese more than they would my fellow peers.
I’m German Chinese and when I was studying in Hangzhou, China, I was either looked down on or looked up too. Most people were just curious though, but once a group of people were kind of bashing on me and my family because to them, we kind of betrayed the country. We left the country when it was doing badly and now came back when the country is getting better. To them we were being greedy
哈哈 ，It is making sense that people pursue a good life. so if your family hasn't done crime things in China before they migrated to germany，I don't think that was a Betrayal. On the contrary, It is good for the country. so just ignore the shallow bashing. Hope you enjoyed in Hangzhou.
@valen, You still live in China or back on Germany? I ask because, with the deteriorating demographic situation taking place in Germany atm, China might be even more appealing than it otherwise would've.
yup that's quite true. can't blame the chinese too since today's world 2nd largest gdp china is been built by them from scratch, the people who chose to stay behind. overseas chinese diaspora doesn't really contribute much other than being anti-china and look down on china when china was at its lowest point.
@@LoverGetamped There are definitely Overseas Chinese who look down upon Mainlanders and say ignorant things about modern China. However to say that the Overseas Chinese disapora did nothing and imply that we are all disloyal to the Chinese people is flat out unfair and wrong. The Overseas Chinese were ones that helped Sun Yat-sen start the KMT, raised money to help China during the war against Japan and later they brought many vital skills and capital that kicked started China's Economic Opening and Reform. If you are going to critique the Overseas Chinese please make specific points.
I was born and raised in Germany. My parents immigrated from China to Germany 30 years ago (I am 24 years old now). It is true that you are rarely fully accepted as German in Germany ("where are you really from"), whereas in China, people treat me both as a Chinese and as a "whitewashed" foreigner. I've had struggled with my identity while growing up, especially since there are almost no role models for people like me in Germany. You hear about ABCs a lot, but rarely about other "foreign-born Chinese". In the end, I am glad that my parents raised me and my sister in Germany for many reasons . One reason is that I speak 6 languages (which I probably wouldn't if I had grown up in China) - one of them is obviously Mandarin because I attended Chinese classes since the age of 3 and also took Chinese classes in university. I love visiting my grandparents and other family members in China (Shanghai and Beijing) whenever I can, and I'm grateful that my parents had me learn Chinese properly. Nowadays, I am very proud of my Chinese roots and all the advantages that come with it, especially when I think of all the hardships my parents had to overcome (and are still struggling with) in order to leave post-Mao China and find a better life (in their opinion) for their children abroad.
I love China. I love Chinese. Actually, I love Asians, just as much as I love Americans and any other group of people. The world is vast and diverse. There is something unique about every country and its people. I'm an American/Pacific islander. I am proud of my heritage. No matter where I go, I will always be my heritage, first!
@@TheSunshineRequiemI agree these are opinions of random Chinese people that you will never meet. Focus on yourself and your family and cherish those moments. All these race stuff is irrelevant.
As an ABC that is traditional and loves China, it makes me cry to see them so understanding. I always am afraid I would never fit in if I ever was to move to China due to the unique upbringing I have here. But its so good to see otherwise. As long as we treat each other with respect i think we can all get along. There is nothing more I would love to do but to learn about the culture more than I could over here, and if they ever came to the States, to welcome them and show them the best we got here. Much love across the ocean!
I'm Chinese but have lived in the UK since the age of 8, so the real question is, what am I? My answer? I don't really care, as long as my closest friends stay true to themselves
As someone commented before, Being an Asian American you don't really fit in America or Asia. I grew up in a white neighborhood in Orange County California and was one of the only Asians at my school. When I met other Asians in College I didn't really fit in with them at all and they didn't consider me Asian. I'm a 5th Generation Japanese American with all my family from Hawaii. My great-great grandparents moved from Japan to Hawaii on both sides and they were some of the first immigrants to Hawaii from Japan. I have no cultural ties to Japan at all being an American, I can't speak Japanese, read, or write. The only ties we have is the food, i know very little of the culture and when I visited Japan I definitely felt like an outsider tourist. No one in my family speaks Japanese, only very few words that most people know already.
I think you also should cover the topic interviews with Cantonese ABCs on how well connected they are to either their own Cantonese or Chinese culture as a whole. Too often, many of the Cantonese ABCs especially if they do not have the Mandarin linguistic skills, they often are very disconnected from the overall Chinese culture much more so than the other ABCs and sometimes, they don't not even want to be Cantonese. Also, especially the Cantonese ABCs that were born in the 1980s or earlier, they were already growing up in a metropolitan area already used to and familiarly comfortable feeling at home with the Chinese communities being long time Cantonese dominated until the 1990s and were used to being able to use basic conversational Cantonese to get around in their cities' established Chinatowns, despite the fact a growing influx of Mandarin speakers already began arriving in the 1980s and 1990s in these cities including some of their Chinatowns, but all of a sudden in the late 1990s, but more in the 2000s, the influx of Mandarin speakers grew even more drastically and highly changed the Chinese demographics including in some of the Chinatowns that had been long time Cantonese dominated of these big Metropolitan areas, especially in New York City and now many of these Cantonese ABCs born in the 1980s or earlier that had been so familiarly comfortable and feeling at home with their Chinatowns being mostly Cantonese began to develop resentments against the influx of Mandarin speaking immigrants due to not knowing Mandarin and started feeling this pressure to have to know Mandarin to be part of the Chinese culture, which they did not have an important need to know Mandarin before and they began to feel like the Chinatowns they were once comfortably familiar with feeling at home began to deteriorate and started to feel completely out of place and many of these Cantonese ABCs increasingly felt they are a total separate culture from the Chinese culture as a whole an exact equivalent to the differences between the Russians and English and either decided to just be American Cantonese enjoying only Hong Kong and American/English speaking entertainment or just plainly American only enjoying American/English speaking entertainment, but very highly often just decided to be plainly American. Unfortunately, only a handful of the Cantonese ABCs born from the 1980s or earlier were or are willing to learn Mandarin including Chinese literacy to feel more a part of the Chinese culture as a whole including also wanting to know more about their own Cantonese culture, but those handful of Cantonese ABCs still often do not fully feel part of the Chinese culture as a whole all the time and often their Cantonese American culture and language will still come in first place because that is what they have grown up accustomed to and Mandarin is something they often learn or become fluent in much later in their life during their adulthood resulting in the Chinese culture as a whole and Mandarin to come in second an exact equivalent to an Italian person born in and grew up in Italy and then moving to France as a young adult for only a number of years picking up French as a secondary language/culture and then returning back to Italy and only traveling to France once in a while.
As a white guy who has spent most of his life in China, the Chinese views on nationalities are what we in the west would consider racist. To them, "Chinese" is not a nationality, its a race. If two white parents have a white child in China that grows up and goes to school etc there, he will NEVER be considered as "Chinese" or "one of us", he will always be a "foreigner". It does not matter how many generations you have lived there, its all about the skin color. Another funny things is when Chinese go abroad they actually call the people in the country they are visiting "foreigners" although obviously its they that are the foreigners :D
actually, race like white yellow brown black is an outdated concept in anthropology. Many of us don't know Chinese itself is a cultural identity. We have manchurian, korean, Mongolian, Tibetan, Uighur(Turkish ),north Han, south Han,(Han is a more difficult and conflicted concept, many Han ppl are not Han at all during the endless civil war ). but magically, during longtime mixed and some climate reason we all look same, except uighur and some Russian border areas. But yeah, skin color is still important, my korean and Japanese friends who speak fluent mandarin with local peking accent, are counted as insider, or non foreigner. btw, if the mixed child tells others she/he is uighur, ppl will accept it quickly and take her/him as Chinese cuz ppl just so get used to it. haha
@@xxabigail7939 Its kind of funny because I speak fluent Chinese with no "foreign accent" and I also have a very common Chinese name, so when I speak to people on the phone and tell them my name, they think I am Chinese and then when we meet in person they dont believe that I am the same person as the one they spoke on phone with. One guy actually thought I was trying to scam him or something.
Spot on. 'Another funny things is when Chinese go abroad they actually call the people in the country they are visiting "foreigners" although obviously its they that are the foreigners :D'.
For an ABC, the most relatable type of people would be expats living abroad. Most of them also don't feel like they identify with friends from home, but at the same time they are not fully accepted as a local in where they've moved to working in. At least that's my personal experience. Instead of trying to FIT IN everywhere you go, the best thing is to embrace yourself and find other similar people. The most unique thing about yourself is your set of life experiences.
Proud Chinese 🇨🇳 Canadian here. Got a know our roots. Learn Chinese and got to visit the old country. That's where we are from and where we belong at the end of the day.
As a Korean American i am not lost i can speak Korean , write and read and know all the culture about Korean + i went back and forth from Korea to usa.
Honestly there’s also a different between ABCs (American born Chinese) and those who immigrated there at a later age. Our personalities definitely differ for sure
I'd love a video of what Chinese or non western Asians feel about mixed/hapa people. As a mixed half asian myself ive always been fascinated with how differently the different asian cultures and generations view people within that category.
I've been reading in the comments that people get treated differently because of their Asian ethnicity in the US, which is weird to me. As an Asian American, I grew up in a white neighborhood and was never treated differently, I was always considered American. People would sometime make fun of me through stereotypes for being Asian, but I would just make fun of them back for being Irish, German, Mexican etc. I work retail so I meet a lot of people everyday, not speaking English usually doesn't generate any discrimination unless someone gets too frustrated and starts yelling. When I or anyone of my co-workers see an immigrant we usually consider them Americans, assuming they came here legally.
Royalmerc yeah I’ve never heard of this either?? My only guess is they grew up in some strange backwoods enclave where the town hasn’t connected with the rest of the country in half a century... or maybe they are associating the lack of Asian American representation in the past media as this sense of foreigness they are feeling?
@@wholesome122 Who knows? I mean I've literally never been told to "Go back to your own country" or been rejected socially because of my ethnicity. Maybe it's because they are identified as Asian? I know I am at work, for example my co-workers might say "Sorry sir but I'm with another customer right now but that Asian gentalman over there might be able to help you." But I wouldn't consider this discrimination in any sense.
I also work retail in a predominantly Italian- and Irish-American area. They’re still used to the idea that most Asian Americans are first-generation immigrants with fewer roots laid down in the country. The teasing and bullying from school kids can maybe be tough, but will fade as everyone matures and grows older. I barely got any of that either. The patronizing artificial acceptance of some individuals in the older generations hits closer to home. I don’t let it bother me because they’re not being malicious...but when you get multiple comments that you “speak English better than [some white person] does,” that’s when you know they don’t fully consider you American yet.
When you're Asian American you're neither fully accepted in America or Asia. You're always too different wherever you go.
Jook-Sing. A little bit of both, but never passing one way or another. We basically got a problem a lot of mixed kids have.
Yu Tian That's not good enough. You'll still exhibit cultural habits and even the way you speak and what you say will be tinged with American thinking. My family tells me this all the time because I still talk about things like an American, just in Chinese.
If you speak the language perfectly and understand the culture you will be considered chinese even if you were born in US.
If you come only speaking english saying "China needs democracy" to wathever has hears you will be considered a foreigner
I'm from Pakistan and I live in Norway, same thing here. Not completely accepted here nor their. Immigration life struggles :p
@@aaa84gt You are an ethnic muslim in a white country. What woulf you expect?
We are talking about ABC in China. So ethnic chinese with american culture in US or China.
@@uwu_senpai What's the difference? I don't think you understand the similarities I was pointing out: Both are immigrants, both live in Western countries, both are influenced by Western culture, both aren't looked upon as 100% Chinese/Pakistani. The point is the same; ABCs are looked up as different in China and same goes with Pakistani immigrants of 2nd and 3rd generation in Pakistan.
“Physically they look Chinese, but Culturally, they are Americans” - I feel that was spot on for a lot of immigrants that was born or was raised in America.
Most accurate description of asian americans tbh. Most asian values are very conservative compared to american values.
kara y these people are crazy lol they just don’t like capitalism
It's a relatively rare insight for a Mainlander. Usually the divergence of genetics and mentality/allegiance is the primary source of social friction, particularly when they engage with someone who is ethnically Chinese but not a subject of the PRC. I'd say much of this comes from the CCP's largely successful strategy to equate the PRC with everything "China", and filtering out any dissension from this newspeak.
@@kara8715 I think they are referring to children of immigrants or people who were born in a different country then moved to the usa at a young age. Many of these people grow up with different experiences than american born kids with american born parents, as family life is very different. your family values and home life may resemble more towards home life in your parents' home country than america. Although outside your home you may be 100% culturally american. It differs for everyone.
@Ken MacDonald I think you are talking about immigrants who moved to the usa as adults, whereas the commenter is talking about people who moved to the usa as a child or children of immigrants. You also cannot group together all immigrants culturally like you are. I know some immigrants who Americanized themselves culturally in the decades they have been here, whilst also keeping parts of their native culture. Some people never pick up any American values and just live here. Some people do not keep any cultural values of their native country. There is a huge range of experiences in immigration.
Being Asian American basically feels like you belong everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It's kind of like having an identity crisis your whole life.
That's why I think it's important to learn Chinese if you're Chinese. However, to each their own. Some people have no interest whatsoever and that's fine if that's what they choose.
W 21 I made efforts to learn and love my heritage language and culture so you can actually create and improve your sense of belonging.
That’s how it is for any mixed person in America
Eh, it is nothing special. Same story for Asian Europeans, Asians in australia, etc.
I speak multiple languages, and consider myself a world citizen. I can live almost anywhere, adapt to the culture and know how the locals think. I consider it more of an advantage than a disadvantage. Home is where my heart is together with my family and friends.
The rest is trivial.
That's like being American. So many ethnic groups tangle with that. You will be okay. And you belong.
Lol that lady telling you to not drink the tap water and get a vpn giving the real advice right there
Went back to China a few years back, I did exactly this. She knows whats up lmao. Very intune with modern culture
Real talk
She's da real MVP.
still us westerners (white too) so want to see china and all its beauty, history and such great food -- AND WHAT A WALL (lol --
Exactly what I was thinking
For me it's always been frustrating. To Americans, I'm Chinese and I'm not American. In China, I'm not Chinese, I'm American. I feel distinctly out of place in America pretty frequently, especially at church where I am basically the only Asian. And in China, people actually mistake me for Korean because everything about my body language just isn't Chinese at all. I always feel out of place, wherever I go. I'm treated by Americans often as some sort of "outsider", even though I was born here, just like them. The only people who truly understand my multicultural background is my mom's family. They embraced my American accent on my Mandarin, which helped me continue to push forward to master the language. That was one of the biggest things they've ever done to help me feel more comfortable about myself. When they came to America for my wedding, they admired many things about America, and were truly trying to learn more about the country I grew up in because they wanted to know me better. That was really sweet of them too.
I don't think you need any validation from anybody at this point. Just enjoy life.
I like to ask you this question if you don't mind. Where do you place your loyalty? To China or the US? I mean are you willing to take arms against mainland china if war ever arises between china and us?
I don't mind, thanks for asking :) I'd want to learn more about both sides of the story. Read the news, ask my friends, ask my parents, and then also ask my relatives and ask what they've been hearing on the news. Then I can formulate my own opinion, if only for myself (since it obviously wouldn't affect much since I'm not in the military).
If a draft happens and we are drafted, then that is one of the civic duties of being an American, and I will take up arms against China. I've been in America all my life, enjoying what America has gifted me. Potentially ending up on the draft is a responsibility. Note that I *am* female, so I am not on the draft. As much as I love going to China to be able to visit my relatives, I would never want to live there. Even despite all the turmoil America is going through, I still have so many privileges and freedoms here.
Of course, this is all assuming that China were to start a war with us... war is a very controversial topic without even diving into the aspects of who started what, and the factors leading up to it. I'd hate to see a draft happen for a war versus China because our government decided to act like an idiot and go to war for no clear reason (using an extreme hypothetical to show my reasoning). Ultimately it's going to cause a pretty big identity crisis for me and my parents, but at the end of the day, we are American. My biggest concern if that kind of war broke out would be how to make my relatives safe... that would be nightmarish for us, worrying about our family.
Great assumption you're making, assuming we live within driveable distance of one. We do not :D And thank you for assuming I'm complaining about how speshul I am. Just sharing my own life story.
LOL I've been asked this exact same question by friends in China. Honestly, who cares. Wherever it is safe. Just hope all hell doesn't break loose.
lol that advice is so practical
- Don't assume cars will yield
- Don't drink the water
- Get Wechat
- Come with a VPN
Preach
VPN for sure
Yes, no jaywalking in China
That advice is really relevant for non ABC foreigners visiting China too (except the “cars don’t yield” thing cos that’s true in Australia too... American pedestrian are weird that they seem to think they’re more powerful than a 1-2 ton vehicle coming at them... but it works cos American drivers mostly seem to agree)
@@eundongpark1672 Well I'd say cars yielding is probably a good norm to have. It means people aren't willing to run other people over to get through a little bit faster. In all cases the thing that loses in a collision should have legal right of way.
"Are they American or Chinese?"
"I think it depends on the DNA"
lol in the case, almost no one would be "American"
Yeah, except native Americans lol they would all be German, British, French,...
Well America as a nation and what we associate with its culture were built and formed by early British settlers. Natives didn't live in America as we know it now.
@@NomadicNationalist that would basically be only British DNA then. Which may as well be called like that 🤷🏻♂️
@@Nandinandito My last comment was lazy. So fine, I'll be precise here. it's Puritan British in the New England region; Scottish and Irish border people in Appalachia; lesser British aristocrats in the South (Jefferson was from this stock). But there were many significant continental European contributing too; French Huguenots settled large regions of Pennsylvania; Germans in the Midwest; Scandinavians up in the northern Great Lakes region (this is why Scandinavian last names are quite common in States like Michigan and Wisconsin even till today); French Acadians in Louisiana; etc.
So no America is definitely not just British, who even amongst themselves are not uniform (the Americans of the South and from New England have drastically different cultures and values). And after centuries of mixing between all these various European ethnic groups, Americans is functionally a distinct Caucasian ethnicity.
it's a stupid view, I've encountered Mainland Chinese who would try to undermine me for saying I'm not white, I don't look foreign enough, some of them are dressed to look more like a "foreigner", they use the word "foreigner", it's class consciousness in chinese society, where they believe the more western you look the higher class you are, so they don't care about your nationality, rather you classify you base on your race.
Maybe u can interview ABCS living in China and ask them about what they think of the Native Chinese
Kevin Pan I️m an ABC who’s lived in china, and honestly the mainland Chinese are just completely different from what they’re stereotyped to be. Most of them whom I’ve met were very nice and sweet, also very welcoming. I️ attended middle school and a bit of high school in china, and my classmates were always really supportive and helped me with my chinese, I’m still very grateful for their understanding. For the most part they accepted me as “one of them” but there were times where our differences would make themselves apparent, I️ never had that much respect for chinese mainlanders until I️ actually lived in China so I have a good impression on them.
White Atlas
So you despise Chinese before you approached China?Even if you are ethnically Chinese,why?
@white atlas it's a shame I don't see them in the comments though.
张炜 I️ never said I️ despised them, I️ simply didn’t think much of them. Literally, they were not on my mind
Also an ABC living in China. Honestly it's just too hard to stereotype since there are so many people. You literally get all kinds, especially having experience in more northern parts vs more southern parts. The real differences I've seen are:
- It's easier being an introvert in the US than in China (people bother you more in China), but you are also much more likely to be lonely
- There are way more people who are excited about food in China than in the US, so if you like eating out/exploring restaurants you aren't seen as a minority ("foodie" is the term in the US)
Pretty much everything else boils down to who you're talking to.
The blue shirt guy I rlly liked. He seemed open was very kind. Plus the "accent" FREAKED me out it was so accurate
I had the same thoughts. And Jin is my bias too 💖
what’s up with people with blue shirts and their big brains
And them being Asian lmao. There was this one video where the really smart Indians were wearing blue shirts
Uh not all abc have accent! Some are fluent
Uh i don't have an accent at all. Think it really depends on upbringing.
I think Chinese people and Chinese Americans are very different people. Unfortunately, in America people will treat Chinese Americans as if they are from China as opposed to actually being American.
@YU TIAN 你好～ 看个人吧，我就是ABC 但我很佩服能出国留学的人。从小到大我都很自豪自己是中国人，所以就坚决把中文学好。后来，我很庆幸自己能讲中文，因为那样我才可以跟很多留学生有深入的交流，以便更多的去了解彼此不同的背景与文化。
@YU TIAN It just goes to show you how much self hate and white worship some ABCs have.
Wait till you find out how Asian Americans treat other Asians of the same ethnicity who aren't native English speakers or who speak English with an accent. They go on and on about how they aren't treated as real Americans, yet they see themselves as superior to people of the same race all because they are "American". Bunch of hypocritical bananas.
YU TIAN you reaching, fobs and abcs are so different, you can tell them apart from simply listening.
@YU TIAN 我一定再接再厉😊
I am Chinese ethnically, but born and grew up in Netherlands. I do not feel like a 'Dutch' person, purely because I feel like my appearance and my upbringing at home doesn't make me Dutch enough. I'd love to become friends with my 'own kind'. However, I don't feel a sense of belonging when I hang out with Chinese mainlanders. I used to room with an international Chinese student and even she would rather call me a Dutch person. That realization kind of sucks; you 'fit' nowhere except with other Dutch-Chinese/foreign-born Chinese people.
Im Chinese from Sweden, I'm planning to do exchange studies in NL next year and I have a Dutch bf. Wanna meetup? Haha
I've been told you gotta learn how to code switch, act Dutch around Dutch, act Chinese when around Chinese. That or you can be like me and embrace both and try to find the balance. If anything you can try to play up being a bit unique and be able to be a diplomat of sorts being able to translate cultural customs and such, at least if you are versed in both.
Cream, what a surprise.
Welkom bij de club.
Omdat cultuur niet ethnisch bepaald is. Cultuur is de programmering van het nuture deel van het gedrag. Je bent gewoon Nederlander, net zoals blanke Pietje of bruine Mohammed. Al heeft die laatst groep erg veel moeite met integreren, in tegenstelling tot oost Aziatische migranten. Daarnaast moet je je voorstellen als een blank persoon in het buitenland zegt het liefst alleen met zijn "eigen soort" te willen om gaan. Dan is gelijk iedereen en z'n Jesse Klaver over de zeik.
In America: "go back to china!"
In China: "go back to America!"
@Jason Voorheese no. go to the ocean
Come back to China
Come to Singapore. We won't know where to tell you to go back to. :D
Hahahahahhaha make my day
welcome to china，if I say so,you are no longer a member of us now,so we never talk too much,just wait and get ready to help our own
This was a really interesting video but lol when they said abcs have language skills - most Chinese-Americans aren't the best at speaking their native language looool. I had an interview for a job in Shanghai once and she told me to apply again when my Chinese got better. It sounds like there's a bit of a mix up in their answers where sometimes they're referring to Chinese people who studied abroad and other times referring to Chinese people born in the states (abc).
CantoMando Hello 👋🏼 I love your videos
Chinese Americans are one of the oldest Asian cultures in the USA. My friends family migrated to the USA in the 1850s and when he went to visit China, his Chinese had not really evolved in 150 years. He said his Chinese was how they talked in China 150 years ago. But I don’t know.
Lol it’s sad but true. I’ve taken 6 years of chinese in the US as an ABC and my chinese is a pity. I’ve have yet to meet another ABC that speaks amazing chinese either.
Just bc your Chinese sucks doesn’t mean all ABCs don’t speak their mother tongues at a professional level. I’m ABC, but run local businesses in China and HK. ABCs aren’t a monolith
@@tokenjay *most* there’s obviously some abcs that speak Chinese very fluently.
This video is hitting extra hard, especially now that Asian Americans are experiencing a surge of hate crimes here in the US due to COVID-related racism. We Asian Americans just don't seem to belong anywhere :(
Come to Singapore....the only non-China UN member which is majority Chinese,, and where only 75% of its population are resident citizens or PRs. :D
Not just asian Americans, it happens in almost all western countries unfortunately
Asian Americans do dominate in Hawaii, it's probably the only place where a white person will feel like a minority "visitor" especially at school
covid will pass, be confident.
I live in Latin America, and have been yelled at the supermarket due to the COVID craze. The xenophobic and racist people are really crawling out of the woodwork. It's always hard being asian anywhere.
Fifth generation Chinese American here. My great grandparents were born in California, and my parents have always only spoken English to me. It wasnt until middle school that I realized there’s Asian Americans that know their heritage language, so I started self studying. I did a language immersion program in China last summer and really love learning Mandarin!
Laurent Nick Huor As far as I know, my ancestors are all from China
加油
Fith gen wow I'm impressed...can't imagine how your ancestors thought about u.s. when they first arrived
wow thats cool
Can't imagine how your ancestors maintain that " 100% Pure" Chinese descent😂
when that guy did the chinese american accent 😭😭 lmao he really called us out
I know right 😭😭
IKR HELPPP I SCREAMED HE WAS SO ON POINT WITH THAT ACCENT
as a Canadian born Chinese, that's exactly something that I would say (I have the accent too)
@@bykevinzhong eyyy Canada! xd
I have like Chinese online friends and they tell me I have an acent
the background is the world's biggest starbucks
I am currently doing an internship at a place nearby that Starbucks. It feels so weird to see that background haha
The new one in Milan is bigger i think.
In West Nanjing Road. I’ve been there before and it was tooooo much expensive for a Chinese college student like me. Tiramisu there was delicious though XD
ruks nope, they actually got a record for it
@@WoahItsRuka Shanghai is much bigger. I went to the Milan one several weeks ago but I worked at a WeWork in Shanghai across the street from it and I always take my friends to it when they visit. The Shanghai one is immense.
As an ABC I have never felt more American in my 25 years of living in the US than I did when I came to China. If you're ever in doubt about your identity as an ABC, just visit China and it'll be pretty clear afterwards.
great cuz we don't really like abc too
Tang Sen Do you dislike white Americans, too?
@@LoverGetamped What a stupid comment.
@@LoverGetamped you better learn how to read because you're misunderstanding the original comment
@@LoverGetamped stupid. 真是个傻缺。
I'm an ABC but since my parents can't speak English too well, I basically grew up speaking exclusively Mandarin. and since my parents are from dongbei, I have the dongbei accent as well so often a lot of people that speak with me in Mandarin are somewhat surprised to learn I didn't grow up in China.
haha hard to see abc who has a 东北 accent.
东北老铁，难道是new England内片儿的？
haha, so funny. dong bei accent is actually quite popular in some Chinese comic show
good for you.
Both my parents were originally from the north... but apparently I have a southern accent... idk lmao
I've always felt a little weird around native Chinese people as an ABC. I look pretty exotic in America but in China, I'm basically an undercover foreigner. I never felt quite "Chinese" enough and felt like an imposter even though they may be my own family. People are always impressed I understand Cantonese and even more so when my parents prompt me into greeting the relatives with their appropriate title. They compliment my parents for raising an ABC that could at least comprehend Cantonese. It was flattering but also felt a little demeaning.
The situation you encountered kinda implies the amount of ABCs who do not speak or understand chinese are considerable
Your relatives probably meant no disrespect to you but may have unintentionally diminished your efforts to learn the language. I suspect that your relatives are equally proud that you learned some of the language and culture.
Ah, I have a very similar situation. When I speak Cantonese, I sound terrible, but I can understand it very well. I’m going to China next year and I’m very nervous because I don’t know how I should act.
@@vicipedia just act yourself and learn mandarin
wish I would have been born pure Chinese either in China or am a white person in America
it's interesting how most people viewed ABCs as having parents from China. there are actually a lot of ABCs that have lived in America for many generations.
Those guys are hella rare. Yes third generation SF original Chinatown Chinese descendants exist, but more often than not, their blood and thus culture have already been diluted out.
Nomadic Nationalist Fifth generation Chinese American here. Starting learning Mandarin in my first year of high school with no prior knowledge. It’s difficult but fun and transformative!
@@NomadicNationalist there's a lot in new york as well
Nomadic Nationalist I am fourth-generation Chinese diaspora: since the 1940s, my extended family has lived variously in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and Australia. Some of my brethren have returned to the Chinese homeland, and now live and work in Chinese cities (primarily Shanghai). For the most part of recent history, we have retained our Chinese blood. I can read, write, and speak Chinese - I’m not as proficient in Chinese as I am in English, that is true, but I have never forgotten my roots. Yes, I do feel a sense of alienation from certain aspects of Chinese culture, but I still regard it as a very significant part of my heritage and identity.
@@user-zk5lj5uu1u that is amazing.
Very interesting. I enjoyed this video. I’m not Chinese-American, I’m actually Japanese-American. Born in Japan, but adopted and raised in the U.S. I know what it’s like to be treated differently. I was bullied all the time growing up for being Japanese-American, or just Asian in general. I was also bullied for being adopted. Not sure if you’ve already done this topic, Asian Boss, but please ask Japanese people what they think about Japanese-Americans. I would love to know.
Like a lot of interviews with Japanese people, I don't expect them to give their honest opinion unless it is with a Japanese person and they can remain anonymous. From what I've noticed, there is always the "pc" answers when in public situations and actual feelings in private among trusted people.
edit: Just look at the recent interviews about Naomi Osaka for an idea of what I'm talking about. The only person giving honest answers was the hafu girl.
I want an American-Indian vid too
Cafelogis Yes, I’m well aware of the fact that Japanese may not speak the truth in public. Because of the whole tatemae/honne aspect. But still, I would love to know. Growing up in the U.S., I’ve always been somewhat of an outsider because I’m Japanese American or Asian American. When I went to Japan to visit, I felt like I was truly part of society. I didn’t stick out like a sore thumb and I looked like everyone else. I’ve never truly felt that way in the U.S. unfortunately. So I would love to know what Japanese people think about Japanese Americans, even if it isn’t really a truthful answer.
ShadowSpear Let me relate to you what my friend, who was born in Hawaii to ethnic Japanese parents, and raised all over because according to her, she was an Army brat. She speaks Japanese and Bahasa Indonesia. When she worked for a Japanese company in Japan for a year, she went under the radar to a certain point because even though she looks the part, her Japanese is not quite par to the locals way of speaking (idioms). Plus, she might be able to speak the language, but she never learned to read Katakana nor Hiragana. So, when she wanted to ask for directions in Japanese, she would get the look that "this person must be stupid." That is, able to converse in Japanese, but can't read the signs. She felt that she's only Japanese to a certain point there because she wasn't fully accepted. She told me that she still likes Japan, but wouldn't choose to live there because of the thinking "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down." She lived in Tokyo.
peko I see.
I'm an Australian Chinese, and I consider myself Australian and Chinese in equal parts. Instead of worrying about not fitting in either culture, I embrace the fact that I am lucky enough to experience both. Being Chinese means I get to speak the language and learn it from my parents at home as well as be immersed in Chinese traditions and food and culture, and being Australian means I get exposure to western education, culture and upbringing. I don't care about how others view me, because in the end the only thing that matters is that I am accepting of myself, which I am! 😊
Instagram?
✊🏻😀👍🏻
best comment right here. well said!
As an Indian born in India and grown up there and having seen American life as well , your comment about accepting yourself is spot on !!!!
To be honest, the best thing about people who are frustrated about all these cross-country things are, when it comes to fights across countries, all these will get reduced with generations as someone or the other will feel that their roots are from those countries and the root countries need not be bullied from a stronger country with time
Thats a really mature way to look at it nice.
This video is an absolute gem for Chinese learners, the people interviewed speak clearly and actually quite slowly as well, with mostly standard and easy to understand accents. The vocabulary they're using is also pretty common and useful, I was able to pick up a lot of things whilst watching this. Thank you!
I am not Chinese but I know how it feels to be the called ‘others’ even in my own country.
Also, I like the tips about being careful on the road and also downloading VPN when in China. Very helpful indeed! 😄
Because they are 'others'. From my own experience, ABCs are different with native Chinese including minority ethic groups in China.
At lease people grew up in China received similar education while ABCs generally have western education.
not true, they love "western foreign" look, they think it's more prestigious, White privilege is there in China.
@@directorlunchie2322 What? absurd......
Han chinese expansionism is just as TOXIC! I'm mixed race grew up in China and Han chinese nationalism is worse than white supremacy, or perhaps equally disgusting!
@@Huaneyk oh pls, why all the whitening products then? you are not even a mainlander, they are white washing, look at fan bingbing after plastic surgery she prattically looks like a turk!
My parents are “TBC” , Thai born Chinese and I am American born, which makes me an ABC or ABT? Doesn’t matter but anyway naturally my English is best and in second comes Chinese. I worked really hard at it, even living in China 8 years, partly because I wanted to rediscover to my roots. If you are sincere about it, Chinese people in China will generally treat you positively and accept you to a degree. Similarly, Some in America would consider me American while some wouldn’t. What really impressed me though is after coming to Thailand where I speak the language horribly and know the culture the worst, is how they all accept me as a Thai unconditionally.
Thai people are friendly.
I am someone from a similar background. I am currently deciding between learning Thai and Chinese? In your opinion, which would you learn first?
that's cool...
Peter I
2 seconds ago
it really depends what you like better. if you like them equally though, go with Chinese because it's more useful. To me as a whole though, Chinese is more stimulating. It's great for talking about history and philosophy and culture and the world in general. Thai is more fun because the people like to joke around and flirt and be light hearted. But for the most part they don't really like to discuss anything on a deeper level.
woah, its rare to see people like us, im in a similar situation, my parents are TBC but they immigrated to Australia. I totally agree with how thai ppl are so accepting, i'm also thinking of learning Chinese because thai probs gonna be useless for future business
The man who said that they are physically chinese but culturally american was so well spoken and logical
Im french born chinese and sometimes people ask me if I feel more chinese or french and I can't answer because I got a double culture, when i'm outside, at school i live like a french girl and when i'm at home i live like a chinese girl. Moreover i got a lot of friends from different countries. Our parents want us to learn chinese and it's kinda difficult with writing since we don't use it everyday. The thing is that we can use 3 languages, it's convenient when you travel and we can find a job easily.
hey , do u have facebook? can u add me . Grant Reznor
writing is very difficult, i can only listen, speak and read
You should go to w/e Chinatown is around you if you do have one and just read signs and such and also newspapers. You should also track down Chinese dramas and movies, since there's almost always subs. When I was younger and learning that was kinda what I did. Then they stopped teaching me how to read and write, and told me to focus on english, and now I've kinda forgotten a lot of it. I need to get myself back on track honestly.
Cafelogis i live in Chinatown 😂 I watch a lot of dramas too but they’re less interesting compared to korean dramas. I improved a lot in mandarin doing my internship in taiwan ! I think people should make friends and talk to them if they want to improve in languages
Indeed, especially a lot of the historical WW2 ones but with the Chinese drama machine, there's bound to be better ones eventually. Only one that ever really gripped me was the Three Kingdoms one's. I personally hope China starts producing good sci fi shows though, my Mandarin would improve tremendously, but it may be a dream. Do you have people around you that are bilingual? I've found that's usually the best way, so if something is lost in translation, it can still be explained in your more fluent language. Personally, I've been trying to speak more Mandarin instead of Cantonese with my family, since either it's Chinese people who speak only Mandarin, or ABC's who don't know or chose not to learn how to speak any Asian language. There is no in between for me lol.
Good video. I would have liked to see some interviews with much older folks, like 60+, and college students. And maybe some blue collar migrants. All the interviewees in this video seem to be educated white collar people.
And maybe outside of Shanghai too..
Would love to hear what Chinese think about Chinese adoptees. I was adopted from China and grew up in the US. So, in addition to not feeling American enough and not feeling Chinese enough, I couldn't even relate to other ABCs!!!! A whole other layer on top of these feelings of not belonging. I feel very fortune and am very proud to call myself Chinese-American though. I have been back to China and loved it. I would love to live there again. I am learning the language and love learning about my culture again.
Also, thank you for having this channel and showing us these perspectives. It is truly interesting and broadens other people's perspectives.
I am also adopted from China! I went back when I was very young. The experience was incredibly immersive. Now that I’m older, I feel very “other” from native Chinese people and sometimes even the people in my community. I would also be interested to hear native Chinese thoughts about Chinese adoptees.
Same here. Except try Sweden. Can't even relate to American, British, French or German adoptees because of the extreme lack of Chinese and Asian representation/community...
callous parents..I am mainlander. in the past, chinese are very poor, but i just cant understand why they sent kids to welfare institution. I advise you learn chinese, all of us are 炎黄子孙. Chinese are friendly.
I have a neighbor in Philly, also adopted from China. She doesn’t speak Mandarin (maybe a few words) and doesn’t have a Chinese surname either (adopted by an Irish family). I totally understand and actually would be happy if she shows interest in Chinese culture. But funny thing is, we met in a potluck and 2 white guys there speak very fluent mandarin lol
Ooo I’m Chinese-Canadian and I really wanna here about this too! Not relating to other asians in a western country also really resonated with me
(A lot of the Asian representation in western media about the struggles of being Asian in a western country didn’t fully relate to me since I didn’t grow up with the culture.. 😅 at least not the full experience (my mum tried but it kinda failed)
me: understands every word that they're saying
also me: looks at the english subtitles anyways
I like seeing how accurate the translations are!
@@tommyliu7020 yes me too. Lol
Just like me watching movies looking at Chinese subtitles (I'm mainland Chinese BTW)
😂
@@flamingmonkey7712 你用VPN？
I 100% agree with the fact that we are more open-minded, because having grown up with 2 opposite cultures really gives you more perspective. I also find it funny how when I visited school in China, many students just thought of me as 'the American' while here, I am thought of as Chinese. I feel like I am both nationalities in my heart, as I have been brought up by parents that grew up in China, but am experiencing the American culture.
Yeah if you visit China, you will be seen as a foreigner there. People will view you as an American, not a real Chinese. 😂
its surprised how Chinese nowadays are confident and feel comfortable about themselves. Compared six years ago we were still hesitating about ourselves and admiring western culture, it indeed changed a lot and got me thinking if going back to China could be an option.
Guide for ABCs in China.
If you Cant speak Chinese - you are considered totally foreigner or bananas
Can speak Chinese, but not fluent -- considered part of bananas
Fluent in Chinese = Chinese
Speak Chinese without accent- Congrats, you are considered true Chinese, Descendants of Dragon
I'm a dog (Chinese zodiac sign) and dragon and dog don't mix.
funny name "bananas" : ))
I can speak Chinese without an accent, but cant read it, wtf am I lmao
wifebeater69 You are an illiterate true Chinese hahaha
@@杜子垩 : My waipo cannot read Chinese well. Like a true villager. I know more than her.
The first girl with that first answer. "Depends on what they look like.." Straight out the gate with the shallow honest answers. 00:23
well ABC and mainland chinese do style and conduct themselves differently. ABC are more likely to have bold style that mainlanders feel like is too exaggerated and their preferences would clash
yeah at least she gave good advice towards the end of the video
IMO probably better translated, "if he's hot"
At least she's honest.
@@hemeiyun I like my chinese BOLD and Daring. that's an attractive feature instead of the coerced complacency
Thank you for this informative video! As a Chinese American contemplating living in China for a year or two, I found this super helpful. The people interviewed seem so honest and kind
For me, it's even more complex because I'm from Hong Kong, grew up in the States. I speak Cantonese, yet I often get made fun of for not knowing Mandarin well enough...So in order to be considered culturally "Chinese," I have to both master my native dialect as well as a second language...and that's very difficult and a bit of an unfair expectation for someone raised overseas.
You will feel at home in Hong Kong, most people there don’t speak Mandarin either.
确实，香港将粤语视为第一语言，但是在中国大陆，粤语被视作地区性方言，人们交流时使用普通话。这就像是你在美国，有非常浓厚的南方口音，你认为这就是英语，而实际上你的口音严重到甚至对沟通造成了极大困难，那么在日常交流时，其他地区的人可能就会视你为乡巴佬(这样的一种“瞧不起”)
Born in the Philippines, but grew up in the states. Growing up I've always felt like I was in an awkward middle zone. I didn't really fit in with other Filipinos (especially when going back to PI) but I wasn't "western" enough to fit in with my white friends.
I feel like Asian-Americans in general end up being outsiders on both ends.
True, It's interesting and kinda ironic that being an outsider allows you to meet and mesh well with a variety of different people!
Tom Smith Great advice and well said!
I feel the same way because I don't fit in with the Filipinos back in the Philippines since I haven't grown up there; however, I do know Filipino history and look around for news. On the other hand, I feel that I am too Filipino for Americans due to differing cultural values. For example, I view family as an important thing while other Americans may not and want to live on their own as soon as possible. I don't want to put my parents in nursing homes; in fact, I'm willing to take care of them when they're older.
It stinks knowing that I don't fit in both cultures 100% but I know that I'm more open minded about different cultures.
@Maj L. Buena don't forget the part of "Filipinx" and as a Filipino it annoys me how filams would always be patriotic about the Philippines (but would not choose the Philippines over the US) while trashing the USA when literally they are not different from other Americans other than the fact that they are darker
oh, no one calls Philippines, PI now. It's so 1940s. PI in the Philippines today is used as a curse word. Like basically the P-word (P*ta*****). So, as a Filipino from the mainland PH, I suggest you not to use PI as an acronym of our country.
It’s impressive to me how thoughtful and literate their answers are! I am so appreciative of their open mindedness to Americans. Sadly, I fear that many Americans would not be so thoughtful or generous.
As US has been world most powerful country since WW2, they barely learn other languages(different to EU countries). Some are ignorant & arrogant to other countries, American exceptionalism? Chinese(mainland) used to be very poor, so you need to learn from other people, work harder and be humble.
Agree.
I consider myself both Chinese and American, and I'm proud of it. IMHO, the balance is important to really embracing the bi-cultural identity.
第一次回国的体验我就感觉像是找到了自己内心的另一部分，感觉自己那样才完整。虽然每次都会生病 （水土不服没办法）但还是会对在国内的日子回味无穷。
you were born in China?
@@Genuinepleather nope, American-born
我也是啊，虽然我英文比中文好多了 每次回中国会感觉我回到家似的
即便是ABC，绝不能忘记自己的根！！！！
@@catherinechen3379嗯^^ 🤝 你回国都去哪里呢
福州！我大部分的亲戚都在福州 但还是会去国内的各种地方玩
This is everyone's internal struggle in Subtle Asian Traits
I FEEL CALLED OUT LMAOOO.
Janice Mok lol its really all of us 😂
I'm a half-Iraqi half-Russian born in America. I can related to ABC's so much. It's hard because we have this identity crisis (not everyone) but I don't let it get to me because there are definitely many upsides to being this way.
That sad realisation you don't quite fit anywhere :/ This is pretty much the same with all kids born/raised for a large part of their life elsewhere to their migrant parents or grandparents.
Then wouldn't that mean you going to belong with other kids born and raised from country that isn't country of their ancestors. Also isn't it over generalizing that no one going to accept you. There always going be certain percentage of people who going to accept you just like how there going be percentage people who going to deny/reject you.
Jeremy lin is a pretty good example for this topic. He even can't fluently speak a complete Chinese sentence before enter the NBA. Now he can easily playing jokes in Chinese on camera. And he always speaks for Asians in US and his hard working ethics also gain lots of respects from China. When he give advises to some Chinese young basketball players in humble way,I know that's why so many mainland Chinese basketball fans admire him. He respects Chinese people in China,then the mainland Chinese people will respect him as well. But some ABCs seems to avoid touch with mainland Chinese,that's different. I completely understand that ,I think they want a different identity,but please don't bring hatred against mainland Chinese .
are you seriously comparing a famous basketball player to random chinese-americans ?
@@Sami-yy5lq why not ? how they are treated in the society is pretty similar to how Jeremy lin is treated in NBA.
His value set is unique and not really typical of the post 1990 generation. As time goes on with 2nd third fourth generations the culture will be harder to retain. Regardless never put people in to a box that is a big mistake.
Jeremy Lin has Taiwanese parents
@@lnterestingg Yes and like most Taiwan people over age 50 - they consider themselves Chinese. They took he and his siblings to their ancestral villages on the mainland... Same as another famous ABC - Eddie Huang
I love how they assume that our knowledge of multiple languages will be our big advantage, but many of us can hardly speak a complete sentence in Chinese :(
As an ABC, it really wasn’t difficult for me to speak fluent Mandarin, probably because I grew up with it from my parents who speak it at home. I think the main reason many ABCs don’t want to learn is simply because they don’t have the motivation. This is at least in the earlier age groups. Then once we reach high school, we feel like we’re now in an identity crisis, and at this point it’s very hard to start learning and assimilating into Chinese culture. For me, it was with reading and writing. I didn’t appreciate the daily Chinese school work I got at a chinese school I went to directly after school ended each day, but now it becomes apparent that I regret quitting. Now I can only read around 500-600 characters, and it’s a lot harder to go past this point at this age 🤷🏻♂️.
Chinese is hard. That’s part of the reason why my parents took me to China when I was 6 and enrolled me in a local school. Learning Chinese actually isn’t as hard as assimilating into Chinese culture, because Chinese values are at times contradictory to American values, at least from what I’ve observed：
1. Our ancestors are farmers rather than sailors and hunters. They work with each other and with the environment in order to grow crops, etc. As a result, Chinese people value uniformity, humility, and harmony more than individuality and freedom. And it's not just the harmony between man and man that is important, but also the harmony between nature and man. Harmony teaches one humility, because you realize it’s not about one and one’s little universe, but more about the vast universe we share. To teach this, Chinese middle schools and high schools have a few weeks of military training. It used to be a lot more gruelling, but by the time I had mine, it pretty much mellowed out. Just a lot of marching under the sun. Personally, I think that Chinese culture is very accepting, in the sense that it does not pretend to be universal or superior to another set of values.
2. On the flip side, Chinese people may seem unwelcoming to foreign people. This is mainly because China has been pretty mono-ethnic, historically. And added with the fact that Chinese culture places more importance on humility and harmony instead of being forthcoming about your own desires and opinions, you get awkward, and vaguely cold, situations. I struggled a lot with this at first, because I simply did not know what the people want from me.
Sorry, I didn’t intend to write this much. But I found you’re story really interesting and before I knew it I was rambling in text...
If ABCs speak Chinese know about Chinese culture, native Chinese will
still think you are one of us (
Psychologically and culturally).
Some interviewees totally messed up the concepts of ABC and Chinese international student in the West.
I'm Brazilian but I lived in the US for a year. I made many friends that were Americans but their parents were Chinese, therefore I learned they were Chinese-Americans. 10 min ago I didn't even know about this expression, "ABCs". As a foreigner, all I can say is: the ABCs I met in the US were just AMAZING. Really loving people that totally embraced me and helped me getting ajusted in US. It was hard for me because I felt alone and was experiencing a huge cultural shock. I will be forever grateful for them. It has been 9 years that I was a foreign exchange student there, and they are still in my heart. I also made friends from mainland China, and they were just as wonderful. All of them really influenced me to get to know more about their culture and country, that's why I am about to apply for a Ph.D degree in China. I fell in love with the country because of the amazing people I met. (: Thank you guys!
Such a complex topic. I totally relate, although I am not an ABC but a French Born Chinese. I used to feel so sad because I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere but you just gotta embrace the fact that you have two cultures and that’s okay not being considered 100% Chinese or 100% French (American etc.) thanks for the content!
bonjour! chinois de souche qui a grandis à montréal! salut de la communauté francophone chinoise montréalaise :))
Being Chinese American born and raised in NYC and my parents are from China, I find this video interviews very interesting. I do speak Chinese but not fluently enough as I would like and have friends both ABC and from China and other parts of Southeast Asia. I have been to the Far East and I learned a lot of things about them and many stereotypes we have of them that are not true. I would welcome more of video interviews like this to learn more about the more about my Chinese roots and their views. I found them on this video to be very honest and fair.
When I'm in China I feel like people are testing me to see how Chinese vs how American I really am... kinda scary.
ikr!!! Most Chinese people are very crazy at politics...
Btw I’m Chinese
how is that scary? Americans asking the same thing to me lol
Actually no one cares about you
I find this pretty spot on! As mentioned, I find one of the biggest differences is Asian-Americans think more individualistically but are also more accepting and understanding of people of other backgrounds. Even though I live in an Asian majority American city and am fluent in Chinese, my values are still Western.
Me, a chinese american watching this: 👁👄👁
Same XD
Make the eyes smaller
@@veryhotpotato8167 shut up
@@veryhotpotato8167 I am Chinese, I bet my eyes are bigger than yours, I am sure you are talking about Korean
@@veryhotpotato8167 你在说你🐴呢井底之蛙？
german born chinese here, i view myself as chinese in germany and german in china. i appreciate both cultures, both countries have values i put in high regard and few i don’t, it’s the good mixture of both i can luckily choose from and live out. imo it depends on the individual, you can look very chinese and have zero interests in your roots and history and been pretty whitewashed - which is alright; each to its own. i don’t really get along with strict conservative chinese people but that’s also the case with them germans, i guess it’s all about adapting yourself and having the willingness to learn and people will at least accept you to a certain degree. in the end it doesn’t really matter where you’re from but how you act as human being, cos in the end you are just you and you are the one who is constantly living with yourself so 🤷🏻♀️
Nailed it. It's about adaption and not generalization. It amazes me how people generalise China. with over 50 minorities and 1.6 billion people.
It takes years for ABCs to fully fit in either group. The young ABCs are usually in their own bubble.
When that guy imitated the ABC accent, I felt that as an ABC lmao
8:13
That girls advice is absolutely spot on. All of those things are absolutely critical to visiting China lol. She must be a 5000 iq genius or something.
Never clicked so fast
U did!!!
same lmao
Same
邓龙豪 是的。
为什么在每个评论问别人姓什么哈哈😄你是在学中文姓氏吗
No matter where I'm born, if I'm Chinese then I should be proud of being Chinese, and I should learn to understand my own culture, heritage, and language.
I remember some pretty bad experiences with Chinese studying abroad here and ABC's like me about 10 years ago. They called us "fake Chinese" and treated us like an inferior person in general, almost subhuman. Literally wouldn't help us if we needed or requested it and just gave ABC's dismissive arrogant attitude. It honestly left a bad taste in my mouth going forward and I think we responded with that attitude in kind and that's where these people see that attitude presented by us. I see that today it isn't so bad unless they are the stereotypical super rich spoiled kids, then again they give that arrogant asshat attitude to anyone they see below them.
as a southeast asian chinese myself, they feel like the clueless grouchy distant cousin still clinging to grandma or something lol. a mainlander tourist once asked us if we were chinese and we forgot the right chinese words of how to say overseas chinese so we ended up saying something like we were locals or something and they seemed so dumbfounded like what we said was something so impossible since we looked prominently chinese. they began comparing their arm to ours and said that we didn't have a different skin tone lol. (since locals of my country were a bit more brown skinned) felt really accidentally racist of them lol but they were pretty clueless anyways.
I’ve felt the same thing! I was so devastated by the experience. I’m from the US, and all my life I’ve been called Chinese despite feeling Asian-American. I went to China to volunteer for the first time and people were so coldhearted! When I asked for help with the train, the woman wanted me to beg her. I was confused and horrified. We would never treat mainland Chinese like that in the US
I'm sorry you had that experience because I've had the completely opposite experience in Shanghai when I went to visit and travel two years ago. Everybody was really nice and courteous towards me but I think that is contributed to the fact that I was with my dad and we both speak Mandarin fluently. China has changed a lot in my opinion, it's one of the fastest growing countries and I actually enjoyed being in Shanghai.
I, as a previous international student, had entirely opposite experience. The ABC kids in our class only hang out with themselves, and some white people, and never talk to others including us international student, or brown, blacks, etc. Whenever I talk to them (and for clarity in English), they looked at me like a freak and just mumble some words before rudely walking away. One of them was trying so hard to fit in a "white kids group" but got cold treatment all the time. So pathetic to see.
I guess the conclusion here is, the person you met does not simply represent his/her community.
I was born and raised in Nigeria..and left to study in the us at the age of 17..now I am 20..though not still accustomed to many things in the us perhaps bcz I have few friends and ve been focusing on school alone..friends from Nigeria no longer see me as one of them..they see me as an american now..which makes me wonder what it will be like when I travel to visit
I'm an ABC, I was born in the US. I'm currently 14, and I can tell y'all that I live like a true Chinese. My parents don't know English, and I have to communicate to them in Chinese. I can read, write, and speak Chinese fluently. I go to Chinatown on weekends, and at school, all my friends are Chinese. I feel like the idea of this video is too broad. I feel like it depends on how you were raised, and the culture that you are immersed in at home. For me, when I go to China, people would think I grew up in China. People have no idea that I'm an ABC. My parents grew up in a town about 2 hours away from Guangzhou, and they have a dialect named Taishanese. I can speak Taishanese, Cantonese, and Mandarin fluently.
你好呀，后浪
Feel like it's rare to meet young people who speak Toisanese... I'm impressed
My mom is german , my dad is chinese, i was born in shanghai, but moved to germany when i was like 2 yrs old, so my "mind" is basically german, the way i think, the way i behave is all prob at least 80% german, bcs thats the environment that i grew up in... no matter where u come from, u usually learn from your current surroundings, so i do think that the environment in which u live in has more influence on ur character than ur "home"/where u came from. But as a mixed child, i have like zero problems here in germany (could be bcs i dont even rly look that chinese lol) and it is prob easier & more comfortable to live here than in china ,i also sometimes prefer living in china but yeah, atleast need to finish school lol.....but i srsly want to improve my chinese since i only speak like a lil bit & cant read & write that much, ..... its prob at the same level as my english hhh
Anyways, sry for ma bad english & have a good night🌜
Nice video~
Jay Ma 👍
You should get a good understanding of language acquisition!
@Tom Smith k I will try my best~ thx
@@charlespowell7138 k I will do my best
Jay Ma Your English is good! My cousin in law is Vietnamese from Germany and lives in the US after marrying my cousin. His English is pretty good too. He speaks fluent German too. He is still very German to me too. For some reason Asians they grow up in Europe seem to have absorbed some Europeaness too.
OMG when that guy did the "American" accent, it sounded EXACTLY like how I speak Mandarin!!!
For me, most of what they said is completely wrong from what I think. Being an ABC myself, I sometimes feel out of place. But “Americans” have accepted me and I rarely feel uncomfortable. I am currently in 9th grade and my dream is to move to China when I grow up. My Mardarin is considered really good, because at home, I am only allowed to speak Chinese and I have been going to Chinese school on Sundays ever since I was six years old. I admire Chinese culture and I believe that I will have no problem adapting to the lifestyle and culture in the future. Although I am considered an American citizen and grew up in America, I fully believe that I am a full Chinese at heart. I am proud of China and proud of being Chinese. To be honest, when I was younger, I thought I was “better” than mainland Chinese people because I was born in America. I used to see myself as American and was often embarrassed by my Asian looks, family, and lifestyle. But I’ve grown to admire my roots and my love for China grows everyday. I hope mainland Chinese people can see and understand that we ABCs are Chinese at heart.
This is a comment that I can really relate to! I'm an ABC but I'm also considered very fluent in Chinese: From reading to writing to speaking. My dream is to move to China when I grow up. I'm born in America, so I'm technically considered American. Like you, I've always thought of myself as Chinese at heart. Sometimes while I go on Douyin and see comments on videos, I just truly hope that people can understand not all Americans are bad and not all Chinese are bad.
@@weiyee3252 以前我去美国体验高中的时候学校里面有两个美国华人（他们是兄弟），有一个对我很亲近，另外一个很冷漠，美国华人对大陆长大的人的态度确实差别很大，所以我从来没不会把刻板印象套在一类人当中（黑人除外哈哈）。顺便问下抖音下载没有地区限制吗？好像非大陆地区下载的都是国际版tiktok
@@载一路月光 对的，不同人是有不一样的偏见所以态度也会不一样吧。但是这也不代表全部人。也就好像美国人去中国或者去其他国家一样。没有哦，在美国也是可以下载抖音的。我的手机是安卓所以可以直接从网上下载。iPhone好像可以把地区换成中国然后再下载
中国大陆东北人看到了，你回来吧。这才是你的家，这才是自己人，我们几十年在中国共产党带领之下，虽然现在不如美国，但是已经位居世界第二
You guys either find very reasonable people by chance for your interviews, or Chinese people seem just wise and aware of the world around them. It's very respectable. Also it's cool to see them be proud of their country. I'd like to see more of that here in the west. Starting to seem like Bizzaro World here.
Want to commend this channel for the noticeable improvement in the quality of translations and subtitles. The kinds of glaring inaccuracies that pervaded some older videos have largely been eliminated, and not repeated here.
True, I took notice of the quality of translation here.
You are where you born. I was born in Oakland CA, growing up in the neighborhood where the majority of my friends were Latino, Black, Asian, and White. Never had a problem...God Bless America!!
It's really interesting to see how different countries reject their "American Born" counterparts. I am Italian both my parents were born there and I speak it fluently at home. But whenever I go back to Italy I am an American.
you play up the american when you are in italy.
My ABC friend (we live in America) way saying to me, “I don’t really belong anywhere. I am a foreigner in China, and a foreigner in the USA.” That really stuck with me.
That's why there should be more interracial marriages. Tell your children to marry someone of the dominant ethnic group and have kids and tell their kids to also marry someone of the dominant ethnic group. Within a few generations, everything will be "melted" into the main ethnic group.
I'm an ABC, and where I live, there are a ton of Asian-Americans. I tend to stick with that group, just because Asian values in general share a lot of similarities and it's a lot easier to connect with people that i have this in common with. However, a lot of American families these days are starting to value education a lot more, and so I also hang out with non-Asians who also tend to be academically oriented and kind of edgy.
Can you please do one about how Indians feel about American-Indians? I myself am an American-Indian and want to know more about how Indias feel.
same here
Please!!!
Hey random question but is you profile pic jungkook and v from BTS? If so fellow ARMY here! And good idea for the question I think they should do one for each of the countries they report from, I am sure there are subscribers that are from one of the countries but grew up in the U.S.
Theresa George
no it’s Felix and Bang Chan from Stray Kids. i dont know how you see the resemblance but it’s so funny xD.
apparently the accent is of notable discussion
Interesting question. Thanks for the upload!!!!
I was born in Korea, 100% Korean blood in my veins, but grew up in Denmark since i was 3yo. Here people consider me Korean (with all the ups AND all the downs) but I doubt Koreans in Korea would consider me Korean but instead a European. Sometime they call me a "Banana" (Yellow on the outside, but white on the inside, Yes I've actually been told this to my face by native living koreans) I cant help but feel like Chinese people are way more understanding and accepting about overseas Chinese people. And I agree with the girl saying China will be strong... Hen hen hao qiang! Wo ai Zhongguo ren
When I was living in Shanghai, China, I was mistaken for being a Chinese born Chinese! They always thought my accent and how I spoke it was that of. Whenever I told them that I was born in the States and that I learned Chinese from university because my parents didn't teach me, they were extremely shocked and didn't actually believe me. It was kind of difficult at times, but on the other hand I was grateful because that meant that they would continue to speak to me in Chinese more than they would my fellow peers.
炎黄子孙
I’m German Chinese and when I was studying in Hangzhou, China, I was either looked down on or looked up too. Most people were just curious though, but once a group of people were kind of bashing on me and my family because to them, we kind of betrayed the country. We left the country when it was doing badly and now came back when the country is getting better. To them we were being greedy
哈哈 ，It is making sense that people pursue a good life. so if your family hasn't done crime things in China before they migrated to germany，I don't think that was a Betrayal.
On the contrary, It is good for the country. so just ignore the shallow bashing. Hope you enjoyed in Hangzhou.
@valen, You still live in China or back on Germany? I ask because, with the deteriorating demographic situation taking place in Germany atm, China might be even more appealing than it otherwise would've.
yup that's quite true. can't blame the chinese too since today's world 2nd largest gdp china is been built by them from scratch, the people who chose to stay behind. overseas chinese diaspora doesn't really contribute much other than being anti-china and look down on china when china was at its lowest point.
That's the truth. But there's nothing wrong about it. It's only nature for people to seek what's best for them.
@@LoverGetamped There are definitely Overseas Chinese who look down upon Mainlanders and say ignorant things about modern China. However to say that the Overseas Chinese disapora did nothing and imply that we are all disloyal to the Chinese people is flat out unfair and wrong. The Overseas Chinese were ones that helped Sun Yat-sen start the KMT, raised money to help China during the war against Japan and later they brought many vital skills and capital that kicked started China's Economic Opening and Reform.
If you are going to critique the Overseas Chinese please make specific points.
I was born and raised in Germany. My parents immigrated from China to Germany 30 years ago (I am 24 years old now). It is true that you are rarely fully accepted as German in Germany ("where are you really from"), whereas in China, people treat me both as a Chinese and as a "whitewashed" foreigner. I've had struggled with my identity while growing up, especially since there are almost no role models for people like me in Germany. You hear about ABCs a lot, but rarely about other "foreign-born Chinese". In the end, I am glad that my parents raised me and my sister in Germany for many reasons . One reason is that I speak 6 languages (which I probably wouldn't if I had grown up in China) - one of them is obviously Mandarin because I attended Chinese classes since the age of 3 and also took Chinese classes in university. I love visiting my grandparents and other family members in China (Shanghai and Beijing) whenever I can, and I'm grateful that my parents had me learn Chinese properly. Nowadays, I am very proud of my Chinese roots and all the advantages that come with it, especially when I think of all the hardships my parents had to overcome (and are still struggling with) in order to leave post-Mao China and find a better life (in their opinion) for their children abroad.
身份认同，这个确实是个问题。欧洲国家多，有语言环境；你要是去了美国，大概率就只会中文英语了。看到很多为了反华而反华的海外华裔，这个就大可不必了；各自安好就可以了。即便是这群人给中国人贴各种标签，我想其他国家仍然不会把拿着该国护照的华裔和中国人区分开多少。
Joey from Friends: "How ya doing? :)" lol
I love China. I love Chinese. Actually, I love Asians, just as much as I love Americans and any other group of people. The world is vast and diverse. There is something unique about every country and its people. I'm an American/Pacific islander. I am proud of my heritage. No matter where I go, I will always be my heritage, first!
I mean as an adopted Chinese American who’s entire family is Caucasian I don’t need to explain the problem with identity
remember to focus on yourself and your family, those race and nationality topics are worthless and pointless
identify make no sense. callous biological parents! there are lots of poor chinese parents in the past, but they never thought abandon a baby. 加油，活自己。
@@TheSunshineRequiemI agree these are opinions of random Chinese people that you will never meet. Focus on yourself and your family and cherish those moments. All these race stuff is irrelevant.
As an ABC that is traditional and loves China, it makes me cry to see them so understanding. I always am afraid I would never fit in if I ever was to move to China due to the unique upbringing I have here. But its so good to see otherwise. As long as we treat each other with respect i think we can all get along. There is nothing more I would love to do but to learn about the culture more than I could over here, and if they ever came to the States, to welcome them and show them the best we got here. Much love across the ocean!
Interesting topic, keep it up Asian Boss!
I'm Chinese but have lived in the UK since the age of 8, so the real question is, what am I?
My answer? I don't really care, as long as my closest friends stay true to themselves
A very interesting perspective, thank you for this segment. I'm Cambodian American but when I visit Cambodia, many treat me as American.
1:40
That was actually accurate, I’m from Canada and my grandmother told me that it’s an American accent.
I love the Chinese people who are more open minded. Different is always good!!! 💕✨
As someone commented before, Being an Asian American you don't really fit in America or Asia. I grew up in a white neighborhood in Orange County California and was one of the only Asians at my school. When I met other Asians in College I didn't really fit in with them at all and they didn't consider me Asian. I'm a 5th Generation Japanese American with all my family from Hawaii. My great-great grandparents moved from Japan to Hawaii on both sides and they were some of the first immigrants to Hawaii from Japan. I have no cultural ties to Japan at all being an American, I can't speak Japanese, read, or write. The only ties we have is the food, i know very little of the culture and when I visited Japan I definitely felt like an outsider tourist. No one in my family speaks Japanese, only very few words that most people know already.
That's an interesting experience indeed. Thanks for sharing!
I think you also should cover the topic interviews with Cantonese ABCs on how well connected they are to either their own Cantonese or Chinese culture as a whole. Too often, many of the Cantonese ABCs especially if they do not have the Mandarin linguistic skills, they often are very disconnected from the overall Chinese culture much more so than the other ABCs and sometimes, they don't not even want to be Cantonese. Also, especially the Cantonese ABCs that were born in the 1980s or earlier, they were already growing up in a metropolitan area already used to and familiarly comfortable feeling at home with the Chinese communities being long time Cantonese dominated until the 1990s and were used to being able to use basic conversational Cantonese to get around in their cities' established Chinatowns, despite the fact a growing influx of Mandarin speakers already began arriving in the 1980s and 1990s in these cities including some of their Chinatowns, but all of a sudden in the late 1990s, but more in the 2000s, the influx of Mandarin speakers grew even more drastically and highly changed the Chinese demographics including in some of the Chinatowns that had been long time Cantonese dominated of these big Metropolitan areas, especially in New York City and now many of these Cantonese ABCs born in the 1980s or earlier that had been so familiarly comfortable and feeling at home with their Chinatowns being mostly Cantonese began to develop resentments against the influx of Mandarin speaking immigrants due to not knowing Mandarin and started feeling this pressure to have to know Mandarin to be part of the Chinese culture, which they did not have an important need to know Mandarin before and they began to feel like the Chinatowns they were once comfortably familiar with feeling at home began to deteriorate and started to feel completely out of place and many of these Cantonese ABCs increasingly felt they are a total separate culture from the Chinese culture as a whole an exact equivalent to the differences between the Russians and English and either decided to just be American Cantonese enjoying only Hong Kong and American/English speaking entertainment or just plainly American only enjoying American/English speaking entertainment, but very highly often just decided to be plainly American. Unfortunately, only a handful of the Cantonese ABCs born from the 1980s or earlier were or are willing to learn Mandarin including Chinese literacy to feel more a part of the Chinese culture as a whole including also wanting to know more about their own Cantonese culture, but those handful of Cantonese ABCs still often do not fully feel part of the Chinese culture as a whole all the time and often their Cantonese American culture and language will still come in first place because that is what they have grown up accustomed to and Mandarin is something they often learn or become fluent in much later in their life during their adulthood resulting in the Chinese culture as a whole and Mandarin to come in second an exact equivalent to an Italian person born in and grew up in Italy and then moving to France as a young adult for only a number of years picking up French as a secondary language/culture and then returning back to Italy and only traveling to France once in a while.
Actually... ABC and CBC, most of them, are pretty proud of their culture and heritage.
Chinese ppl are so polite. They speak much nicer than ABCs.
As a white guy who has spent most of his life in China, the Chinese views on nationalities are what we in the west would consider racist. To them, "Chinese" is not a nationality, its a race. If two white parents have a white child in China that grows up and goes to school etc there, he will NEVER be considered as "Chinese" or "one of us", he will always be a "foreigner". It does not matter how many generations you have lived there, its all about the skin color. Another funny things is when Chinese go abroad they actually call the people in the country they are visiting "foreigners" although obviously its they that are the foreigners :D
actually, race like white yellow brown black is an outdated concept in anthropology. Many of us don't know Chinese itself is a cultural identity. We have manchurian, korean, Mongolian, Tibetan, Uighur(Turkish ),north Han, south Han,(Han is a more difficult and conflicted concept, many Han ppl are not Han at all during the endless civil war ). but magically, during longtime mixed and some climate reason we all look same, except uighur and some Russian border areas. But yeah, skin color is still important, my korean and Japanese friends who speak fluent mandarin with local peking accent, are counted as insider, or non foreigner. btw, if the mixed child tells others she/he is uighur, ppl will accept it quickly and take her/him as Chinese cuz ppl just so get used to it. haha
@@xxabigail7939 Its kind of funny because I speak fluent Chinese with no "foreign accent" and I also have a very common Chinese name, so when I speak to people on the phone and tell them my name, they think I am Chinese and then when we meet in person they dont believe that I am the same person as the one they spoke on phone with. One guy actually thought I was trying to scam him or something.
Spot on. 'Another funny things is when Chinese go abroad they actually call the people in the country they are visiting "foreigners" although obviously its they that are the foreigners :D'.
For an ABC, the most relatable type of people would be expats living abroad. Most of them also don't feel like they identify with friends from home, but at the same time they are not fully accepted as a local in where they've moved to working in. At least that's my personal experience. Instead of trying to FIT IN everywhere you go, the best thing is to embrace yourself and find other similar people. The most unique thing about yourself is your set of life experiences.
Proud Chinese 🇨🇳 Canadian here. Got a know our roots. Learn Chinese and got to visit the old country. That's where we are from and where we belong at the end of the day.
as an Asian who lived in the states for 7 years, I feel sorry for Asian Americans. they all seem kind of lost
As a Korean American i am not lost i can speak Korean , write and read and know all the culture about Korean + i went back and forth from Korea to usa.
Honestly there’s also a different between ABCs (American born Chinese) and those who immigrated there at a later age. Our personalities definitely differ for sure
Wow, the first woman’s advice is actually so practical! Totally applies.
我父亲来自希腊，但我是在美国出生的，从小发现我跟周围美国人有些差异，但去了希腊跟他们还不是完全一样的文化和观点 😂 后来留学中国的这件事呢，就弄得更糟糕啦，似乎世上没有一个地方适合我这种了解东亚的希腊美国人吧
希腊美国人？我想到yanni。。
Chris Godas 人总有实现自己的价值的方法，你比一般普通人有优势
跟随自己的爱好，和内心
没有关系，其实你接触的文化越多，你的包容性就越多，你不属于任何地方，你属于你自己。欢迎来中国~
我感觉了解更多的文化是一件好事啊
Damn these interviewees are really eloquent.
I'd love a video of what Chinese or non western Asians feel about mixed/hapa people.
As a mixed half asian myself ive always been fascinated with how differently the different asian cultures and generations view people within that category.
I've been reading in the comments that people get treated differently because of their Asian ethnicity in the US, which is weird to me. As an Asian American, I grew up in a white neighborhood and was never treated differently, I was always considered American. People would sometime make fun of me through stereotypes for being Asian, but I would just make fun of them back for being Irish, German, Mexican etc. I work retail so I meet a lot of people everyday, not speaking English usually doesn't generate any discrimination unless someone gets too frustrated and starts yelling. When I or anyone of my co-workers see an immigrant we usually consider them Americans, assuming they came here legally.
Royalmerc yeah I’ve never heard of this either?? My only guess is they grew up in some strange backwoods enclave where the town hasn’t connected with the rest of the country in half a century... or maybe they are associating the lack of Asian American representation in the past media as this sense of foreigness they are feeling?
@@wholesome122 Who knows? I mean I've literally never been told to "Go back to your own country" or been rejected socially because of my ethnicity. Maybe it's because they are identified as Asian? I know I am at work, for example my co-workers might say "Sorry sir but I'm with another customer right now but that Asian gentalman over there might be able to help you." But I wouldn't consider this discrimination in any sense.
I also work retail in a predominantly Italian- and Irish-American area. They’re still used to the idea that most Asian Americans are first-generation immigrants with fewer roots laid down in the country. The teasing and bullying from school kids can maybe be tough, but will fade as everyone matures and grows older. I barely got any of that either. The patronizing artificial acceptance of some individuals in the older generations hits closer to home. I don’t let it bother me because they’re not being malicious...but when you get multiple comments that you “speak English better than [some white person] does,” that’s when you know they don’t fully consider you American yet.