China Culture and Society: Stereotypes
Being both oversimplified and an opinion by definition, a stereotype about a group of people may have much or very little truth to it. While painting any group with a single brush can be risky, knowing that certain stereotypes exist can be an important step in understanding a culture. If you're a traveler, this knowledge can help you avoid offending the people of your host country.
The following stereotypes are presented in two sections: first, those often held by foreigners visiting this country; and second, those often held by the country's own inhabitants. The description below each entry attempts to explain why some people may believe the given stereotype.
Please note that these stereotypes do not necessarily represent the views of World Trade Press or its employees, but are presented here in an effort to make you a more informed researcher or traveler. Through your own experiences you may find some or all untrue, only partially true, unfair, or fairly accurate.
Stereotypes of Chinese as Accepted by Some Foreigners
Fake Capitalists
The Chinese are still communists at heart and their free-market ideology is only political double talk.
The Chinese love to tell people how they have “a market economy with a Chinese face,” however, capitalism is never mentioned because it would offend the communist party leadership. The government still has tight (and often corrupt) control of where foreign and local investment is allowed to flow. Foreign business people must be “invited” to China and provide the government with a list of the companies they intend to visit. China, considered a socialist-market economy, loosens up every year, but it is a long way from being a capitalist economy.
Façade of Wealth
The large cities and coastal provinces are relatively well off, but the majority of Chinese still live in poverty.
If you visit cities like Shanghai or Guangzhou, you will find glittering office towers and world-class restaurants. However, as you move inland, the wealth and infrastructure begin to fade and fade fast. China claims to have an unemployment rate of about five percent and nearly 15 percent of the population living below the poverty line. Since the government never permits outside verification of their statistics, most analysts see these as very conservative estimates of the true problem.
Imitators Not Innovators
The Chinese do not invent anything. They just steal ideas and make copies—usually not very good ones.
Although they lay claim to the invention of gunpowder and paper, the days of Chinese innovation are far in the past. The current specialty is mass production at low prices with minimum regard for intellectual property—and humanitarian—rights. However, now that the Chinese “diaspora” has begun to return to the homeland, the burgeoning pharmaceuticals and software sectors are starting to innovate rather than imitate. The manufacturing and technology sectors are among the most important to the economy, along with agriculture and services. Once the Chinese have sufficient intellectual property of their own, they will start playing by the rules—or at least some of them.
Too Hierarchical
Everyone in China defers to some elder or boss regardless of competence or merit.
Chinese culture is based in Confucian thought that promulgates the value of hierarchies based on age and experience. Those at the top decide for everyone else while supposedly keeping the interests of the greatest number in mind. What frustrates visitors so much is that the bosses are often not the most competent members of the group—just the oldest. The concepts of meritocracy and “thinking outside of the box” have not yet pierced Chinese culture and probably won’t for many decades.
Not So Inscrutable
It is hard to figure out what the Chinese are thinking because their facial expression is always the same.
The stereotype of the “inscrutable” Chinese has been around for centuries and does indeed come from the fact that when conversing with strangers, the Chinese try to retain an emotionless expression. For them, this is a sign that they are taking things seriously and adhering to the Confucian dictate of balance in all things. Also, by keeping their body language neutral when they speak, it forces the other person to only deal with the spoken word, and without other inferences. This can be very disconcerting for people who come from “high context” cultures, where reading between the lines is essential to communication.
Stereotypes of Chinese as Accepted by Some Chinese
Hurt Pride
China is a great nation and it is insulting when we are treated as a second- or third-rate culture.
China has never gotten over its colonization by Western powers and the further decline it suffered during the communist era. It is very eager to show that it is the economic, scientific, military, cultural, and political equal of any nation. Anything that causes China to “lose face” is renounced in the shrillest terms, and any accomplishments are shouted from the rooftops. Neighboring nations have expressed a fear of Chinese ambitions, something the rest of the world has taken note of. China has gained power in economic, technological, and military sectors in the modern era, and the United States, for one, sees counterintelligence and economic espionage from China as threats to both the economy and overall democracy of the States.
A Better Way
Eventually the world will see that the Chinese way of doing things is the best way for everyone.
From acupuncture to herbal holistic remedies to tai chi practice, the Chinese see the West doing things the Chinese way. Rather than seeing these trends as passing exotic fads for foreigners, the Chinese believe that their lifestyle will see widespread adoption. All the while, their own young people are adopting more of the West’s culture and social behavior. Confucius and kung fu are strong, but McDonald’s and soccer may be stronger.
Come and See
Our critics should visit China before they criticize. We have much to show them to change their minds,
Any visitor to China will return home with statements about how great China was (and is) still ringing in their ears. The Chinese tour guides (government approved, of course) spew out an extremely idealized version of Chinese history that glosses over anything that even slightly downgrades Chinese culture. Controversial questions are either ignored or answered with “party line” glibness. The Chinese choose to use very selective facts to combat criticism.
Facing the Truth
We Chinese have a high regard for our personal honor and demand that others respect it as well.
The Chinese share the idea of “saving face” with many of their neighbors, and it is really just another way of looking at pride. Even when large mistakes are uncovered, the perpetrator is often allowed to “keep face” in public, with humiliation being reserved for a private audience. Underlings will often accept blame so as to protect a superior’s pride. Westerners who are used to “calling people on the carpet” will find this particular Chinese custom to be limiting when it comes to moving a project along.
Food for Thought
We Chinese have the greatest cuisine in the world, and we feel sorry for those who have to eat anything else.
The Chinese use dining as a communal experience and have spent thousands of years developing a complex cuisine that is their leading cultural export. There seems to be no animal or vegetable that the Chinese will not try to make wok-friendly. Visitors are meant to be impressed with the variety of exotic tastes placed before them, and the Chinese can get very insulted if a dish goes untried. When it comes to pride in cuisine, the Chinese make the French look like hamburger flippers.
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