Samia Jabbar
Lin 355 Professor Tanenbaum
Are the Chinese Rude?
Over the past few decades we have seen an increase in the number of Chinese tourists visiting the United States and other countries all over the world. The interaction and mingling of our cultures and way of life with the Chinese culture, has provoked the question “Are the Chinese Rude?” to arise. Not only are the tourists being put under the spotlight but the entire Chinese nation as well. Although many people would jump to the conclusions and claim that “Yes, the Chinese are a rude people”, this response would be incorrect due to multiple findings and theories that have been discovered, we know that there’s more to this than meets the eye, which shall be discussed in this paper.
Due to economical changes millions of Chinese people have recently become wealthy enough to travel all over the world just as we do, whether it be for vacation, work, or other personal purposes. With more and more interactions between other groups of people and the Chinese, numerous exchanges have turned hostile or caused disputes on the basis of cultural differences. Many people believe that the Chinese people hold a sense of entitlement when encountered in public settings. Therefore, they’re convinced that the chinese are indeed, Rude. For example we have seen many incidents where, If there is a line of people waiting to be checked into a park, a Chinese group of people may cut in front of the people waiting in line because they think that their time is simply more valuable than others. This however is not the full story, if we were to visit China, we would notice that not a lot of people wait in lines in public settings at all, this is a point that we needs to be considered as a difference in their culture and ours, and not of ignorance and rudity.
China had it’s cultural revolution only about 40 years ago around the late 1960s. The Pre-revolution era is still fresh in the minds of Chinese citizens 40 years and older. In 1966 China was led by a communist leader Mao Zedong towards their Cultural Revolution in order to regain his power over the Chinese government. During this time there was a lot of violence and tension in China all over and according to China’s history, around 1.5 million people died in Mao’s so called “Cultural Revolution.” Others who opposed the new order faced imprisoned, torture or seizure of property, along with other harsh punishments. When we think of a cultural revolution we may presume that many great leaders brought people together to speak out for fairness and Justice, However, anyone who tried to speak out would be eliminated. During this time period, China was in great turmoil, the Chinese people were starved and went through difficult measures just to survive. This way of life where only the survival of the fittest would help you succeed in life still shapes some of the cultural values in China. The perception that doing the right thing and being fair will only get you so far, has continued in some traditions of the Chinese way of life.
We can see that the people involved in these specific incidents are chinese citizens from the older generations, we don’t see a lot of the younger age group behaving in the same way. This phenomena where history and the environment has affected the older generations is a lot similar to our Baby Boomers. During the Great Depression, the Baby Boomers also faced a lot of hardships, this made them a very aggressive generation due to the environmental factors they faced when they were younger. Now when we compare generations in the U.S. we know that the Baby Boomers are considered one of the ruder groups of people, they are known to be impatient and they seem to give off a sense of entitlement, which is a lot similar to the characteristics of the older Chinese generations.
An article on BBC news reported that seperate train services have launched in Switzerland for Chinese tourists due to “Noisy throngs of Chinese tourists [who] disturb those who visit Mount Rigi in the Alps in search of peace and relaxation.” Some claims have been made that the tourists would spit on the ground and crowd the corridors while taking pictures on the train. This caused the management to separate the transport systems of the tourists from others visiting Mount Rigi. These examples could lead some of us to believe that the Chinese citizenry are indeed ill-mannered. However, there are many things that need to be considered before making a remark about a group of people. Another issue that needs pondering upon is if this a matter of the Chinese race or is it the Chinese culture?
It's easy to assume that a group of people different from your own, who doesn’t seem to adhere to your social norms, should be considered an uneducated or Ill-mannered group. We can look back at our own history when the Colonists arrived on Native American lands, they thought the Native American tribes were uncivil and uneducated people, since the culture and customs of the tribes wasn’t the same as their own, the colonists thought to take over and make them a more “civil” group of people. We now know that the colonists were indeed, wrong. Their way of life is simply different from ours, we only prefer our mannerisms and behaviors over theirs since we as human beings do not like change.
Although we may think that spitting on the floor, cutting in lines, and being noisy is socially impolite behaviors, and we may have ideal mannerisms compared to the other groups of people however, we are wrong. To others we Americans also seem to behave unmannerly and rudely when in their countries. According to Business Insider, Americans are at the top of the list when it comes to the world’s Worst- Behaved tourists. In many countries, farting and belching in public settings is considered extremely frowned upon, however in Western culture it’s acceptable to release gas in public when followed up with an “Excuse me”. Some American tourists are arrested for urinating in public, writing on public buildings, and for smuggling goods in and out of the country. Along with Americans, the British, French, Russians, and Australians, all are considered wealthy countries made up of educated people nevertheless, the civilians of these countries are considered as much if not worse than the Chinese when it comes to behavior in Public settings. Which brings to questions whether if people form all ethnic backgrounds and countries misbehave when travelling to other countries. A survey done by Tiposo, a social travel site, shows that travellers, especially first time travellers from all over the world are the worst in any new country since they’re not accustomed to the new traditions. They don’t have enough information about the country’s laws, traditions, and customs. Therefore, it’s very likely that they will make a mistake and break one of the country’s rules.
It’s not only the Chinese who face cultural differences when interacting with groups of people from other backgrounds. Cultures that are different from your own may seem “rude” or “uncivil” to you but there’s a fine line between ignorant and prejudice when it comes to having that mentality. When i think of cultural differences i am reminded of my trips to Pakistan. Whenever I visit Pakistan to see my relatives, I recognize many unique differences in our culture and theirs. For example, something small like eating a meal with your hands, even if the dish is made up of rice, Pakistani people prefer to use their hands to eat their food. The belief behind this practice is that when the person’s fingers touch their tongue with food, it triggers digestion to take place more quickly. If Pakistani tourists were to visit our restaurants and start eating from their hands, we would also think of them as ill-mannered, without knowing the background, beliefs, and traditions of the Pakistani people.
Another major difference between the Pakistani and American culture is, if you’re speaking to someone older than you even by a few years, you are supposed to call them by a respected term or name like “Brother” “Sister” “Aunty” or “Uncle.” You are not recommended to use their real name unless they are actually one of your siblings or cousins. It is considered disrespectful in the Pakistani culture for someone to call an older person by their name even if they’re a stranger on the street. Out of respect, you will always call them by a nickname or a respected term. If we compared this tradition to the American tradition where Kids sometimes could even call their parents by their names, the Pakistanis would also think of Americans as a rude group of people as well.
Nowadays many people from China come to the U.S. for different reasons, most young chinese population come to the States for education purposes. Some are here for business and some for travel, along with many other varying objectives. Many of them are aware of the stereotype that the “Chinese Tourist” holds and they don’t want to be associated with those particular individuals either. Even the Chinese government has taken action against citizens who have caused disruptions in other countries. According to Time magazine, a list of rules is made to keep the citizens aware of the laws before entering other countries. The rules consist of different things to avoid like “Interfering with aircraft or public transport, Damaging public facilities,Offending local traditions, cultures or living habits., Destroying cultural and historical relics,” etc. The individuals who are caught for misbehaving are banned from travelling abroad for anywhere from two to 10 years.
This context can be applied to every race and country out there. Not every individual in a country is the same as the other, there’s always a few bad apples in a group of people, however those bad apples do not define the entire group in itself. The same way we would not want to be associated with the American lawbreakers in other countries. In my experience most groups of people when informed, correct themselves if they are engaging in error. If you guide foreigners from any background, they will gladly accept your advice and try to follow the rules and etiquettes of their surrounding environment. The Chinese may not have the same traditions as us but it certainly does not imply that they’re a “Rude” group of people. They come from a different background from ours and the more we open doors to initiate conversations between us and the Chinese over these crucial issues, the better we will get at understanding and managing them.