BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Chinese Culture What is your favorite thing about Chinese culture?

What do you enjoy most about the Chinese culture? Is it the clothing, the movies, the books, the history, the cuisine? Tell me what makes Chinese culture your favorite.

I love the design. I have a beautiful table with dragon legs, I have vases and plates. I even have some embroidery hanging on the wall.

When I order Chinese take out the girls always come in and point out the things that are Chinese and tell me what the caligraphy on them says.

I'd love to see a picture of your table with the Dragon legs, Lisa. I imagine it's beautiful!

Your story about the Chinese girls pointing out the things you have that are Chinese reminds me of my trips to the local Chinese restaurant. I wear a lot of jewelry and the waitresses like to look at it and tell me what the characters mean. They seem amazed that Americans would be interested in Chinese culture.

Hmmm, is this forum actually for people of Chinese heritage??? I have mixed feelings about the above posts. I'm glad that people of all origins take an interest in the Chinese culture. However, I have to admit that I do feel a bit offended, as a 4th generation American born Chinese, that my culture was awed in design and jewelry. Also, the word "Americans" seems to have been used exclusively for Caucasians rather than for people of America, which includes Chinese Americans, African Americans, etc.

It's hard to properly convey feelings online and truly don't want to start a dispute here....but just thought I'd express my feelings. That's what forums are for, right?

No, this is not a forum exclusively for people of Chinese heritage. As a matter of fact, I am the editor of the site and moderator of this forum and I am not Chinese nor am I Asian.

This is a forum to discuss Chinese culture, languages, music, films, clothing, living, medicine, etc. This is a forum for people with an interest in Chinese culture, no matter their race. My apologizes if there has been a misunderstanding concerning the objective of this forum. Not trying to cause an inconvenience.

I apologize if this content offends you. Every aspect of Chinese culture is fascinating and this thread was created for the express reason of allowing people to point out why they love China and her culture.

Pardon me if I'm stepping out of boundries here but when I used the term "Americans", it had nothing to do with strictly caucasians. I used the term "Americans" to describe people from America of all races and colors. I suppose I was wrong in assuming that most people understood this.

The truth is that a large number of Americans of all races don't have knowledge of other cultures and that fact is apparent in the stereo typing displayed daily.

My Chinese friends from overseas and here in the US are amazed by the fact that I seem to know more about Chinese culture and history than they do. They think it is fantastic. If they think that any American knows even a little bit about Chinese culture, they seem quite excited. I feel truly honored that I can share your wonderful culture with the world.

Heather...thanks for explaining. Again, I have no problem with others sharing a love for culture, and in this particular case the Chinese culture. One of my majors in college was Asian American Studies so I do tend to read in between the lines and am quite sensitive to things that seem out of place to me.

I guess my issue was your post last month that stated "my trips to the local Chinese restaurant. I wear a lot of jewelry and the waitresses like to look at it and tell me what the characters mean. They seem amazed that Americans would be interested in Chinese culture."

The way I'm reading it is the waitresses at your local Chinese restaurants are separated from you as an American.

Again, I apologize for the misunderstanding.

Best of luck to you,
Heather

I didn't mean for this to turn into a debate...so last post in regards to this topic. Your bio lists your goals of completing your undergrad in Asian Studies and Journalism and your graduate studies in East Asian Studies. All 3 areas are extremely sensitive and do require people to be PC.

By the way, my favorite thing about Chinese culture is the food! I now live in Hawai'i where Chinese food has been strongly influenced by the rich cultures of Hawai'i and is significantly different from San Francisco where I was born and raised. Regardless, the tastes always brings be back to my childhood, hometown, and traditional holidays.

Ah, Hawai'i! Now I'm extremely jealous! hehe How long have you lived there? What part do you live in?

North Shore of Oahu....2 years. It's pretty funny because my husband's family just stopped by and were complaining about how cold it has been lately. It's low 70s during the day!!!