When can you complain about China?
“Moderation is a virtue only in those who are thought to have an alternative.” - Henry Kissinger
Do you think expats in China have a right to complain about China?
If so, when should this ‘right’ start? One year? Ten? When you are gray haired like the guy in the picture?
Rick wrote an article about this over at Lost Laowai, and though this has been written about countless times already by many in China, it’s worth touching upon briefly:
How Long Until You Can Complain About China?
How many years must pass until one crosses the threshold from “visiting China” to “living in China”? Many expats in China get fed the line that they are guests in another country, even when they have lived there for many years.
Why is this? Is it right? Should we be able to complain about China?
If not, won’t we all go stark raving mad?
China Complaints in Moderation
As you can guess from the quote above, I think complaints are okay if they are done in moderation, and to the ‘appropriate’ people, and for your own safety more than anything, don’t touch upon very sensitive subjects. Appropriate people include:
- Fellow China Bloggers / Other Expats in China
- Significant Others
- Family & Friends Back Home
- True & Close Chinese Friends
The nature of the complaint also carries a lot of weight, no doubt.
And this is just how I see things - you may think that anyone in China should have the right to shout their complaints anywhere at the top of their lungs… If so, you probably won’t be in China very long (unless it’s a dark, dank prison cell…) But there are many shades of gray in between this and the above guideline - and it would be great to hear what you think about this.
I was thinking we laowai should get cards printed up, English one side, Chinese on the other, that said something to the effect of:
“When you point, stare, laugh, talk about me thinking I cannot possibly understand, and even shout “Hello” just because I am foreign, I feel like an animal in the zoo. But I’m not an animal at the zoo, I’m a real person, just like you. Let’s all try to treat each other with respect.”
My Chinese isn’t up to translating it, but once we have the text in Chinese, it’s so cheap to get a few hundred cards printed up. Anybody up for it?
I don’t think it actually matters what country you are in. People will always complain. Here its just more abundant and irritating because it’s all the same damn thing. “We the laowai” actually get treated pretty well. We waltz into this country and make more in one day then some people make in a month and we dont even have to prove any kind of legitimate education or skill to do it. A lot of people don’t even bother learning Chinese. Remember back home that kid who works in a fast food joint who doesnt speak English quite perfectly? Yeah. If anything it’s the Chinese who should be complaining, not us.
Now I can fully understand how bad you might feel under such responses around you after I’ve been putting through same situtations came across in Holland and Czech. But I try not to care that much. Of course, it doesn’t happen as quite much as that you may meet with.
Good luck for having life in China. It’s another world…..