Comments on: You Scratch My Han Back

By: will

will — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:05:54 +0000

@ Lu

figure out what you are talking about before you start correcting people. Ethnic Chinese means exactly Han Chinese. The Chinese nationality also includes other ethnicities such as the ones you mention. You could say: “Chinese citizens are made up of 56 ethnicities, the majority are Han Ethnicity, or ethnic Chinese.”

By: Pappi

Pappi — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:44:00 +0000

Maybe you’re better off with a Chinese person because shopkeepers think foreigners are dummies.

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:05:55 +0000

I can thnk of numerous occasions where i’ve brought a chinese friend shopping to help me haggle the price. Firstly locals generally get a better price by virtue of being Chinese, secondly many times in this instance a shop keeper would berate my friend for helping an outsider and not their Chinese comrade.

By: Josh

Josh — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 12:29:28 +0000

@Hopi,

It was not an unknown reader. It was a good friend of mine who also reads my blog.

By: Lu

Lu — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 10:39:27 +0000

Note that “ethnic Chinese” is not the same as “Han Chinese”: apart from Han it seems to include Manchu, Mongols and Tibetans. Or even more minorities. The Chinese is (if I’m translating it back correctly) 中華民族, and the term is an absolute minefield. I doubt even many Chinese know who exactly is included.
But I doubt that’s what the writer means, he (or she) seems to use “ethnic Chinese” where he means “Chinese” or “overseas Chinese”. More of a language mistake than an appeal on ethnicity. (Although the writer does seem to try to create that “us Chinese are all one jia” feeling, but that’s not so strange.)

By: hopi

hopi — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 09:25:26 +0000

This strikes me as odd to have been written by a Chinese person. Most Chinese people tend to identify with other Chinese who are from the same ancestral province or the same ancestral city rather than oh, I am also Han Chinese, could you help me out. Usually it’s, I am also from Fuzhou or I am also from Shaanxi, could you help me out. I have never encountered a single Chinese person using the Han Chinese ethnicity as a means to gain favor from another Han Chinese.

On a second note, it’s disappointing that you chose to write a blog entry over third hand information: an email by an unknown person to a reader. As we all know, people can easily create false identities using email, and it may very well have been a prank written by a Chinese or a non-Chinese person.

By: revi

revi — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:47:17 +0000

This is funny, but as usual there will always be people who’ ll use any means to “try it on”. The guy will probably just resell the tickets at a profit either online or somewhere else anyway.

By: Josh

Josh — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:01:50 +0000

@Cap-

Wait, you’re going to be in Hell?

By: cap

cap — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:11:54 +0000

This is typical culture clash and prejudice.

Just think about yourself buying car in States and negociating with sales agents.

Claiming `poor’ is to pressure for low offering price.

Well, your westerners contempt and racist bias never go away. See all of you in hell.

By: Jia

Jia — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:33:38 +0000

This is just hilarious. I can now tell the difference of “ethic” Chinese and Chinese .