There are lots of things about China that are great. The food is amazing, the people are friendly and there’s thousands of years of history wherever you go.
That being said, there are things about China that make me glad I grew up in America. Pollution is horrendous – in many cities you barely see the sun, and you can’t drink the tap water. There also is the kind of racism that shocks you and makes your jaw drop to see it. To foreigners, Chinese are extremely friendly, but to some of the minority groups in China, it’s another story.
China has a population of more than 1.3 billion, and more than 91 percent is ethnically Han Chinese. That means the rest of the 55 different ethnic groups that make up China account for less than 10 percent of the population.
I live in far western China in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which is the homeland for the ethnic group called Uyghurs. Uyghurs do not look anything like the Han. They more closely resemble Turkic people and central Asians. They speak Uyghur, have their own alphabet and a vast majority practice Islam.
In the rest of China, people can easily tell that I am a foreigner. Many people come up to talk to me or to invite me to dinner. Some just want their picture taken with me. However, in Xinjiang most people assume that because I have brown hair, brown eyes and a beard I am Uyghur. This has its advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage is that I can blend in more than in other parts of China. In other parts of China, it’s common for people to stare at me. People stop and stare and say “laowai” (foreigner), try to practice their English with me or ask if I have American money they can see. With so many people on the streets, it can make walking to work or class a bit annoying. The disadvantage, though, is that because I can blend in I get to see the racial divide between the Han and Uyghurs.
The fist time I experienced this was at a Sichuan-style restaurant. I walked in and asked for the menu. The waitress ignored me, never even looking up, so I asked again. Nothing. I stood there not really sure what to do until she looked up and told me in Chinese to get out.
She started shooing me away with her hands, yelling, “Get out, get out.” However, as she got closer and looked at me, her eyes grew wide and she turned red. She realized I was a foreigner. Immediately, she apologized and ran for the menu.
Needless to say, this wasn’t my only experience. Once, I got in an elevator with a mother and her child. The mother, who had a terrified look, pulled her child close against her until she realized I was a Westerner. After this realization, she pushed her child toward me and told him to practice English. This has happened time and time again in restaurants, with cab drivers and just on the streets.
Every country has its problems. I wonder how this racial divide will affect China’s future. I do have hope things will improve. I teach both Uyghur and Han students and have watched them slowly become friends. I believe if they can do it, then maybe the rest of China will follow.
David Scott, a 2008 Durango High School graduate, is teaching English in China’s far western province of Xinjiang (New Frontier) in the city of Korla. He can be reached at darysc24@gmail.com.
