Mmmmm What does the Common Everyday Chinese Person (eg. Non government) think of the United States.
UV’s Doombot, our photoshop extraordinaire posted this question earlier on the UV board.
The answer:
Rich. Their views of the good ole USA hasn’t changed since last 100 years. And due to the state sanctioned education, there have been quite a few grumbles about American imperialism, moral ambiguity and interference. But America is still considered to be the land of opportunities, especially since China discovered pirated VCD/VHS/DVDs movies from Hollywood. Most people who has been to the US has came back as a success story. Of course, as people gets more affluent at home, the bar has been raised. There are quite a few Chinese Americans who can’t cut it in North America and came back to China to try to make it. (They are called seaweeds, while the successful ones are called sea turtles.)
And if you grew up in poor farming villages from Guanxi or Fujiang(making US 200.00 a year), and you watch a few Hollywood movies (say Chicago), there is nothing I can say or do to change your mind about what America is or isn’t. In that sense, those wishing for farther political reform in China should line up outside Hollywood studios to urge them to turn a blind eye to China. A lot people don’t quite understand the more regulation there is, the more control the government gets.
My mini rant aside, the green buck has a lot of sway for the average people. Even with the current downturn for the US economy and the US dollar, a lot of people open USD accounts to get better interest rates and to safeguard their social security in a country where there isn’t any.
The general opinions : Americans are tall, brash, loud and quite a few are loaded. American girls have bigger breasts and taller than most Asian guys. Don’t be offended, because I am just telling it like it is.
A lot of younger and middle to upper class Chinese follows American trends and TV shows. Friends, Sex and the City, CSI, and Prison Break all have a huge following in China. I can’t blame them, Chinese TV is dull, boring and first month baby proof. A lot of western ultra religious conservatives would love Chinese TV. Everything is over regulated and censored to hell. Last time they had an argument over the ethics of one Chinese minister depicted in a Chinese drama and whether or not it violates the CCP’s view of the modern, progressive China. The catch? This guy has been dead for 800 years.
The truth is, the more I travel the more I realize people need to pay attention to their cultural exports. American TV, movies, and music has a huge influence on other people’s view of USA. American Idol is a huge thing for the young Chinese girls here, they watch it just as religiously as the Super Girl(Chinese girl Idol). There are a LOT of Chinese spin offs. There are already some Chinese criticisms about how the show is anti-Confucianism.
There is already an amusing cultural phenomenon that I dubbed thee “Chiggers” . Chinese who wants to be black or more PC, African Americans. The jersey, the jeans to the knee, the bling and the hair, all straight out of the rap/R&B videos. I had a great time showing 2 black friends from England around Beijing. “Yo, Yo, Yo, what’s up!” was heard from every wanna be from sun down to the day after tomorrow. So, if you ever hear the word Chiggers used it anywhere else and it appeared in Websters, you heard it here first, folks.
I shall refrain from getting into the problematic stereotyping involving short black males and white females with smaller than C.
The average Chinese view of US will probably change quite a lot should any of the Democrat candidate win. Racism and Sexism is alive and well in China, but those issues aren’t as black and white as people imagine just like everything else around here. That’s another story.
