Übercomplicated

I have a friend who was born and raised in China, and move to Europe when they were 16 yo. They’re first language was basically Chinese, despite having an American and German parent respectively.

I was always super curious about what their time in China was like, and asked extensively about it. Of course they were quite biased in favor of China, so things like the crazy surveillance that goes on there never really seemed dubios to them, but one thing they mentioned very frequently: discrimination.

I should say, this individual did not look Chinese (and couldn’t get a Chinese passport, despite being born there). This — according to them, and I am inclined to believe this, due to the aforementioned bias — caused them to be intensely discriminated against, as a lot of Chinese people apparently don’t like Westerners (well, a lot of Westerners also discriminate against Chinese).

Your mileage may vary, but that did always surprise me. If you look non-asian, China might not be the best place to move to 🤷.