Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness...

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, 

and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. (Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad, 1869)

Twain was right when he said this 150 years' ago, and it applies now as well.

It seems to me we are all guilty to one degree or another of holding stereotypes about others.

So...what stereotypes do you hold for Chinese people?  Come on -- you know you have them.  Before reading further, pause a moment and think what those stereotypes might be.  Then -- read on.

This past month across all seven of my classes, I taught a wonderful, insightful, thoughtful and engaging lesson.  The wonder, insights, thoughtfulness and engagement were not my doing -- it was from 290 students: about 80 freshmen (17 and 18 year olds), 182 sophomores (ages 18 -- 20) and 28 graduate students (23-26).

After introducing Stereotype as our new Word of the Day, I asked them the following question:

              1.  What stereotypes do Chinese people have of Americans?

The students worked in teams of four to come up with a list of ten to fifteen items for each team. Then, a representative of the team went to the chalkboard and posted their entries:

Some of their answers were predictable, while others were surprising, funny, spot-on and frankly, humbling.

Here are some of the more predictable answers they provided for Chinese stereotypes of Americans:

All Americans:

-- are tall                                 -- live in large houses
-- are strong                           -- have guns
-- are overweight (sigh...)   -- have a high crime rate
-- like fast food                      -- like fast food
-- are rich

In addition to those stereotypes, their comments were surprisingly generous and complimentary of the quality and character of Americans:

-- enthusiastic                        -- humorous
-- independent                       -- outgoing
-- adventurous                       -- heroism
-- open minded                      -- healthy
-- direct communication      -- genuine
-- optimistic                            -- smart
-- generous                              -- innovative
-- police force for the world -- creative
-- open                                      -- open
-- free                                        -- pay attention to human rights
-- democratic                           -- blunt

Some were funny:

-- all the men are handsome  -- bad at math
-- high nose*                              -- don't like Friday the 13th
-- love to get a tan                     -- Super heroes
-- creasy**                                  -- drink cold water (blows their minds!)
-- like hamburgers and cola (I think they were disappointed when I told them the last cola I had was when I was 17 or 18...)
-- gold hair and white skin     -- rich in body language (Chinese are generally not -- although that's a stereotype, isn't it?!)
-- sparkling skin                       -- abundant facial expressions ("     "    "      "    "    "    "     "     "     "     "     "     "     "     "    "      ")
-- curly blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes
-- have big eyes                         -- many pets
-- broad shoulders                   -- pets are like family members

Editor's notes:
     -- * - they are referring to the high nose bridges many Americans have (particularly compared to Asian nose bridges)
     -- ** - they are referring to the creases many Americans have on their faces...(aka wrinkles!)

And there were a few negatives (but very few):

-- arrogant
-- conceited
-- high divorce rate
-- live from paycheck to paycheck
-- family indifference to parents and grandparents
-- kick you out when you turn 18
-- racist (they are convinced that all Americans are racist...)

Of the above negative viewpoints, all appeared only once during the lessons, except racism. It was a frequent negative that was posted -- maybe fifteen or twenty times across 70 teams. (Actually, the comment about not taking care of our elderly was made three or four times, not just once.)

It is obvious many of their stereotypes come from watching American movies, TV shows and CNN.

After they were finished with the Chinese views of Americans (we discussed and I provided some insights on a number of their stereotypes), I asked the following question:

              1.  What stereotypes do Americans have of Chinese?

Once again, they went to their teams to come up with lists, then posted their entries on the blackboards.

Here are some of the more predictable answers they had:


All Chinese:

-- know Kung Fu
-- have black hair and eyes
-- are short
-- are good students, particularly in math
-- take care of their families, particularly the elderly

(FYI -- out of seven classes and 290 students, only about four said they knew Kung Fu.  And many Chinese are tall -- nearly every class I teach has young men and young women as tall as me -- or taller!)

Other stereotypes they thought Americans held about Chinese included:

-- shy                           -- they speak Chinglish
-- polite                       -- conservative
-- aggressive               -- yellow skin
-- traditional               -- long history
-- united                       -- live in flats (apartments)
-- collectivism             -- cheap labor
-- one-child policy      -- copy technology from America
-- large population     -- dictatorship

As I mentioned at the outset, it was a wonderful, insightful few days with my students, and a lesson I will long remember!  I don't know about you, but this series of lessons across seven classes of students caused me to want to be more...thoughtful...and cautious about the stereotypes I have of groups of people.
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Here are a few other photos for your enjoyment:

Five freshmen roommates / classmates [Xu Xin Hang (Elena), Wang Run Xiao (Carol), Liu Chun (Echo), Wang Han (Wintry) and  Sun Yun Fan (Virginia)] and Professor Quillen.  Aren't they beautiful and beyond adorable!? (Note: from this picture, please don't assume that all Chinese young women dress alike -- they do not.  However, this freshmen class had never had a native English speaker for a teacher -- and most had probably never actually met a "foreigner" -- and they were delighted when I walked into class the first day -- they all applauded spontaneously and cheered!  The next week, these young women all wore their matching "roommate sweaters" so they could have their picture taken with me.  Cute, cute, cute!)

Chinese university students often attend college / universities as cohorts -- they all take the same classes and have the same classmates for their entire university career.  They room together the entire time as well.  One of my sophomore classes told me the other day that all 42 of the students in the class were from the same small high school in eastern China...

The mythical dragon is revered in China and considered a symbol of power, strength and good luck to those worthy of it.  This picture is part of a large mural inside the entrance to a lovely park called Five Dragon Springs in Jinan.

We mis-timed our return home from a sightseeing trip and ended up being on the bus at the height of rush hour. This picture is taken right after twelve or fifteen folks got off the bus.  Before they got off, we were packed in so tight I couldn't get my phone out of my pocket to take a picture without having to get very...familiar...with the men and women I was shoved up against.  While the buses are often

fairly full (standing room only), this was much more wall-to-wall bodies crammed into a small, moving space than we normally experience.