以下是Quora读者的评论:
Sam Karthik
Well, this is my third year living/working in China (Suzhou, Jiangsu). My current boss is Chinese. Of course, all the colleagues are native Chinese as well. Before coming to China, I had my PhD in Singapore, and my PhD supervisor was also Chinese. In fact, I have been very closely associated with the Chinese communities, for about a decade now. So, I think I am qualified to answer this question.
Frankly speaking, I have a very good oion about China and Chinese people. Generally they are sweet, sometimes sour, but never bad. As such, I can write a few books about them (see profile). Here is a quick list of my personal observations:
嗯,今年是我在中国(江苏苏州)工作生活的第三个年头了。我现在的老板是中国人。当然了,所有的同事也都是中国人。在来中国之前,我在新加坡获得了博士学位,我的博士导师也是中国人。事实上,我和华人群体的关系非常密切,大约已有十年时间了。所以,我认为我有资格回答这个问题。
坦率地说,我眼中的中国和中国人都很出色。他们基本上都很亲切,也许也有过龃龉,但绝不至于糟糕。以下是我个人的一些感受:
1.Chinese people are great at communicating their problems among each other. They communicate fast and very effectively. They resolve their problems very quickly. Loud arguments are rather rare.
中国人非常善于沟通解决问题。他们沟通迅速,非常高效。他们能很快地解决问题,很少大声争吵。
2.They tend to be very warm and welcoming to the foreigners.
他们对外国人总是非常热情好客。
3.They are generally curious about foreign countries and cultures. So, don't be surprised if they bombard you with questions. Some of these questions could be very personal (age, salary)
他们对外国和外国文化总是感到新鲜好奇。所以,如果他们向你提出这样那样的问题,不要惊讶。其中有些问题可能会试探你的隐私(年龄,薪水)。
4.They don't have bragging habits (like we foreigners do on Facebook, Instagram, etc)
他们天生低调不爱炫耀(我们外国人总在Facebook, Instagram等上显摆)。
5.Too busy with life, job, studies, etc.
他们总是忙着生活、工作、学习等。
6.Not much interested in political issues
他们对政治问题不太感兴趣。
7.Virtually omnivores. That's also a reason why they can live and thrive in different parts of the world.
他们非常杂食。这也是他们能在世界各地扎根兴旺的原因。
8.Not much into religious drama
他们不太喜欢宗教表演。
9.Getting married is very important to them, preferably before hitting 30s.
结婚对他们来说是人生大事,最好在30岁之前完成。
10.Chinese women control their men like anything. On one hand they say men and women are equal, on the other hand, they expect their potential boyfriend/ husband to buy house, car, etc. The movie Tiger Mom is worth checking out.
中国女人对男人的管控不留死角。她们一方面说男女平等,另一方面又期望她们未来的男友/丈夫负责买房、买车。电影《虎妈》值得一看。
11.The men here often buy house with loans, and pay monthly installments for decades to come. This is kind of a well established culture.
中国男人基本都贷款买房,并在未来几十年里按月还款。这已经是一种相沿成习的文化了。
12.Generally family oriented
中国人基本上都很顾家。
13.Hard working and diligent. They often work on weekends.
中国人工作勤奋努力,周末也常常忙着工作。
14.Usually take showers in the night, before going to bed
中国人通常会在晚上睡觉前洗澡。
15.Very practical in terms of making money
中国人在赚钱方面非常实际。
16.They ask you practical questions about work, but often ask old school questions about marriage and family system. It's rare to find a Chinese person questioning marriage and family system (before he/she actually gets married)
中国人对于工作方面提出的问题都很实际,但对于婚姻和家庭制度,他们的问题都很老派守旧。很少有中国人会质疑婚姻和家庭制度(在真正结婚之前)。
17.They are proud of their culture
中国人为自己的文化感到骄傲和自豪。
18.To much of gossip. They consistently try to find new topics to gossip. They often create a huge social pressure on each other.
中国人爱八卦。他们总想找些新的话题来闲谈,经常给彼此造成巨大的社会压力。
19.Chinese people are non violent. I never feel unsafe in China.
中国人很良善,不暴力。我在中国从来没有感觉到不安全。
20.Chinese women are usually beautiful and they know it very well.
多数中国女人都很漂亮,而且她们很清楚这一点。
21.Being fat is not so common in China.
肥胖现象在中国并不常见。
22.Although Chinese would like to make new friends, they don't seem to be good at it. They generally hang out with same set of people, for years. That's also a reason why most of my colleagues are married to their former classmates.
虽然中国人想交新朋友,但他们似乎并不擅于此道。他们通常在数年时间内只和同一群朋友交往。这也是为什么我的大多数同事都嫁给了以前的同学。
Pete Truman
Ever since I landed in China, I have spent most of my time with the Chinese people obviously). In fact, I was interested to learn Chinese language and culture, and naturally preferred to spend more and more time with my Chinese friends/colleagues. As such, it's fair to say that I still don't have any close foreign friends in China (in my office, I am the only foreigner)
With this background, let me share some of my oions about the Chinese people.
自从我来到中国,我大多数时间都和中国人在一起。事实上,我对学习中国语言和中国文化很感兴趣,自然更愿意多花时间和我的中国朋友/同事相处了。因此,我在中国可以说并没有什么亲密的外国朋友(在我公司,我是唯一的老外)
在这样的背景下,让我谈谈我对中国人民的一些看法。
#1 Chinese are generally “cool” in a sense that you won't have conflicts with them in terms of religious beliefs, political ideology, food preferences. There may be differences in oions, but you won't hear noisy arguments.
中国人通常都比较“冷静”,你很难和他们在宗教信仰、政治意识形态、食物偏好等方面发生矛盾。大家彼此也许会有不同的意见,但不会吵吵闹闹。
#2 Although they might be traditional in nature, they are quite open minded. They are interested to understand foreign cultures and willing to appreciate your ways of thinking, if you put things into perspectives.
虽然他们可能骨子里很传统,但思想还是挺开放的。他们对了解外国文化很感兴趣,如果你能从不同角度考虑问题,他们也愿意认可你的思维方式。
#3 Family values are deeply rooted in their mindset.
家庭价值观深深根植于他们的思维模式中。
#4 They may be living away from parents, but they care a lot about their parents. At least once a year trip to home (on Chinese New Year) is non negotiable.
他们可能远离父母,但很关心父母。每年至少要回家一次(过年期间),这是没得商量的。
#5 Saying “NO” is somehow not so common in Chinese culture. Just have a brief conversation, and ask for WeChat contact, and you have a new friend (They won't say No)
不知为什么,中国文化不太鼓励说“不”。只要简短交谈几句,索要微信,就能结交一个新朋友(他们不会拒绝)。
#6 Getting married is virtually compulsory. Although the age of getting married in the cities has gone high, marriage itself is here to stay.
结婚是必须完成的人生程序。虽然城市中人们的结婚年龄高了不少,但婚姻仍是绕不开的话题。
#7 Buying a house before getting married has gradually become an important part of the culture. I have personally known cases where the relationship will break down if the guy can't afford to buy a house. One of my male colleague (from Wenzhou, Zhenjiang) was dumped because he only had a 2 bedroom apartment (near Shanghai), his girlfriend's family wanted a guy with at least 3 bedrooms. ;)
婚前买房已经逐渐成为中国文化的重要组成部分。我身边就发生过这样的事情,因为男方无力承担购房费用,两人就分手了。我的一位男同事(来自浙江温州)就这样被甩了,他有一套两居室(离上海不远),但他女朋友的家人想要三居室。
#8 They go out in groups. There is hardly anything private in such groups. Lots of grapevine. You shouldn't mess up with any group members, otherwise you are going to be very famous, sooner than later. ;)
他们总是结伴出行。在这样的群体里几乎没有什么隐私。小道消息四处扩散。你最好不要跟这些人发生矛盾,否则很快就会出名了。
#9 It's very easy to get along with Chinese.
中国人很好相处。
#10. It seems they love meetings. I can't generalise, but in my office, we have too many group meetings. One meeting happens on the Weekends, lasting 5 to 6 hours.
他们似乎很喜欢开会。虽然不能一概而论,但在我们公司,小组会议真的太多了。有个会议还会在周末进行,持续5到6个小时。
#11. Collectivism is preferred over individualism. Although this often leads to slow decision making, solid and stable results are preferred.
集体主义高于个人主义。虽然这通常会导致决策进程缓慢,但可靠稳定的结果更为重要。
#12. Women in China enjoy a much better social status. Safety is not an issue. They can dress the way they want. They can travel alone.
中国妇女的社会地位现在已大大提高,她们无需担心安全问题,想怎么穿就怎么穿。她们还可以独自旅行。
#13. Some of my 30+ single female friends have given up hope of marrying Chinese men. They are looking for foreign boyfriend/husband.
我身边有一些30多岁的单身女性朋友已经放弃了嫁给中国男人的希望。她们正在寻找外国男友/丈夫。
#14. Some reports suggest that over 90% of Chinese young adults use WeChat. You can't really imagine life in China without WeChat.
一些报告显示,超过90%的中国年轻人使用微信。你无法想象,在中国生活如果没有微信会是什么境况。
#15. Teachers are respected.
中国教师很受尊重。
#16. I often go out to grab snacks, and end up interacting with the street vendors. Most of them work 12 to 16 hours a day, including those on the weekends. A common man puts lots of efforts to make money.
我经常出门觅食,和街头小贩打交道。他们中大多数人每天工作12到16个小时,周末也是如此。你瞧,普通人为了赚钱会付出这么多的努力。
#17. Chinese people can communicate very clearly among themselves as one language works in most parts of China.
中国人之间可以无障碍交流,因为在中国大部分地区通用同一种语言。
#18. Working overtime, and on weekends is quite common.
加班和周末工作是司空见惯的事。
#19 students are under tremendous pressure to learn English. They want to make foreign friends.
学生们背负着巨大的压力学习英语。他们希望结交外国朋友。
#20. Some think that most foreigners are fluent in English.
有些人认为大多数外国人英语都很流利。
#21. Don't worry if they ask you personal questions. They are just curious about you. If you don't like, be polite and let them know in the beginning.
如果他们问你隐私问题,别担心。他们只是好奇而已。如果你觉得反感,可以一开始就有礼貌地告诉他们。
#22. China is diverse. So many languages and ethnic groups. You need to travel more in China to understand Chinese people.
中国是丰富多样的,拥有许多不同的语言和种族。你必须亲身去中国走走看看才能了解中国人。
#23 They are fine with all types of vegetarian and non vegetarian diet.
中国人对各种类型的素食者和非素食者的饮食习惯都很包容。
Derek Hayter
I have varying oions of Chinese people, unfortunately. For the sake of this question, I will tell you this, I am an Asian with various different cultures embedded within me. Meeting mainlanders in the South of the United States was something that was quite…unusual for me, you can even consider it a sort of a culture shock because I grew up mostly in Asia.
The Chinese people I met in college generally had a philosophy of doing things based on “I help you, so you help me.” At first I thought this was quite interesting because I suppose we could benefit from hel one another. Seeing as how I also came from a country far away from the United States. However, after hanging out with various different groups of Chinese people, I feel like most of them think the same way.
很遗憾,我对中国人的看法不尽相同。针对这个问题,我想说的是,我是亚洲人,从小接受过多种文化。在美国南部遇到中国大陆人对我来说是非同寻常的事,甚至可以算文化冲击了,因为我还算是在亚洲长大的。
我在大学里遇到的中国人,他们的处事哲学基本是“我帮你,你也帮我”。“一开始我觉得这还挺有趣的,我觉得彼此可以互相帮助互相得益。我自己也来自遥远的国家。不过在我和形形色色的中国人打交道之后,我发现他们大多数人都是这么认为的。
Ram Kumar
All of them are fit physically. Very less fat people. Tend to speak loud. Very fond of white skin and fair color. Chinese are very fond of western people. Many Chinese want to be westerner so bad that they actually have adopted a westerner name like John, Paul, David etc. Many companies hire a westerner for one day so that they could take him in a business meeting with another client. In general Chinese girls want a white boyfriend. Brown and black boyfriends are not easily accepted in the society. Women work as hard as men. Current form of Chinese language has so many characters that some of them are even forgotten by Chinese people how to write them. aolongbao (Shanghai Soup Dumpling) is my favorite Chinese food.(careful, soup is very hot inside so just do not put the whole in your mouth. The correct way is to bite the dumpling from the bottom and let the soup flow in the spoon, then put the dumpling in the mouth and drink the soup from the spoon.)
他们的身材都还不错,胖子不多。 喜欢大声说话。 追求白皙的皮肤和白皙的肤色。 中国人很喜欢西方人。很多中国人渴望变成西方人,甚至会取西方人的名字,比如约翰、保罗、大卫等。许多公司会雇个西方人,只上一天班,这样他们就可以带着他去见客户。 多数中国女孩想找个白人男友。棕色和黑色皮肤的男友不容易被中国人接受。 女性和男性一样努力工作。 目前的汉语形式有很多汉字,有些汉字甚至被中国人忘记了如何书写。 小笼包(上海汤包)是我最喜欢的中国食物。(要小心,汤包里面的汤汁很烫,所以不要把整个汤包放进嘴里。正确的吃法是在汤包底部咬个口子,让汤流到勺子里,然后再把汤包放进嘴里,喝勺子里的汤。)
Chinese are doing pretty fine without de acy . Gold is considered very auspicious in China. Expat Chinese look down upon mainland Chinese. Mistresses are treated very badly in China if caught by their men’ wives Not all Chinese people are marshal arts experts. Mandarin is a tonal language and I have never understood how two Chinese are able to understand each other at a crowded place. Somehow their ears are trained to catch the slightest variations in the tone no matter how much noise is around them. Outer beauty is given a very high importance among Chinese people. North China Chinese are more traditional. Chinese society is extremely interconnected. Sometimes I feel every Chinese in China knows every Chinese in China. My feeling, Chinese are not proud of their history, at least the younger generation. Village Chinese people are way nicer than City Chinese people. 中国人的表现真的很不错。 在中国,黄金是非常吉利的物品。 海外华人看不起中国大陆人。 在中国,小三如果被男人的妻子抓住,下场是会很惨的。 并非所有中国人都是武林高手。 普通话是一种带有声调的语言,我一直搞不明白两个中国人在拥挤场合如何互相交流。不管周围有多吵,他们的耳朵都那么训练有素,可以捕捉到声音中最细微的变化。 中国人看重外在美。 中国的北方人更为传统。 中国社会讲究人际关系。有时我觉得每个中国人都认识在中国的所有中国人。 我感觉,中国人并没有为他们的历史感到骄傲,至少年轻一代是这样的。 中国的农村人比城里人友好得多。Ryan Fernandez
China is a rather large country. It's about 2.2% larger than the USA. Cultures inside China can vary drastically, and the further one gets from Beig the less control you see from the capital. Many areas have almost autonomous control. Languages very as well. Mandarin is the Lingua Franca but you'll also hear Wu, Cantonese, Hokkien, and others despite the overwhelming population of ethnic Han people.
That being said, you can't really judge all people as one unit. Thai Chinese are different from Singapore Chinese who are different from American Chinese who are different from British Chinese, who are different from mainland Chinese, who are different from Brazilian Chinese.
However, I think highly of the Chinese overall. In my travels I've found them to be overall friendly and polite, and mostly curious. I can't count the number of times I've been asked to take pictures with Chinese people in remote places where I'm the only foreigner. It makes it more interesting when they hear me speaking Chinese with them. I recall once, with my wife (who's Chinese) a guy asked “can you ask your husband if he can take a picture with me” I responded in Chinese “I'm happy to, but you can ask me if you want” and that got smiles all around.
中国是一个地域广袤的国家。它比美国还要大上2.2%。中国内部的文化差异很大,距离北京越远,首都对其的控制就越弱。许多地区都可以算是自治的。语言方面也是如此。普通话是中国的通用语言,尽管中国的汉族人口占绝大多数,但你也会听到吴语、广东话、闽南语和其他方言。
因此,你不能把所有的中国人都当作一个整体来看待。泰国华人不同于新加坡华人,新加坡华人不同于美国华人,美国华人不同于英国华人,英国华人不同于大陆华人,大陆华人不同于巴西华人。
不过,我对中国人总体评价依然很高。在我的中国之旅中,我发现他们基本上都是很友好、有礼貌的人,大多数都很好奇。我已经数不清在偏远地区有多少中国人要拉我拍照合影了,因为我是唯一出现在那里的外国人。当他们听到我和他们说中文的时候,场面就更有趣了。我记得有一次和我妻子(她是中国人)在一起时,一个男人问我妻子“你能不能问问你丈夫,看他愿不愿意和我拍张照片?”,我用中文回答“我很乐意,不过你可以直接问我”,周围的人全都笑了。