Related stories

Tongchunyuan Restaurant: Fine Dining Jiangsu Style Beijing Olympics Calls On More Attention Follow your Dream Check Out Qufu Shiqian Treasure in a Small Town

Culture Connection: Less Rage, More Engage

While I was sitting in a bank other morning, watching a man deposit his life savings in one-fen notes while simultaneously applying for a bridging loan, I had a couple of hours to ruminate on what I really miss about life in England. Having lived in China for nearly four years, it’s certainly tempting to remember home as some kind of dreamy paradise, with Internet banking, pints of decent beer and good TV programmes.

In reality, of course, most people only think about home when they’re having a “China moment,” but when they’re on the dance floor with a gaggle of Chinese beauties, or surveying some gorgeous Chinese scenery, all comparison with the motherland seems to fly out the window. Earlier this year, as I was capturing some awesome sunrise landscapes in Yangshuo, it suddenly occurred to me how lucky I was to be in China, and how instead I might be stuck on the subway in London on my way to a dreary, dead-end office job.

Anyone who has a Chinese partner will also appreciate that being overly critical of China is the quickest way to a heated argument. Over the last three and a half years I've learnt that whatever the bureaucratic nightmare, whatever the extreme social provocation, it’s prudent to put up and shut up rather than indulge in a full-scale rant. As my longsuffering partner has explained on numerous occasions, nothing is more tedious than listening to a sentence starting, “but in England we do things this way….”

It’s very common to hear laowai sitting around complaining about problems in China. Sometimes these are justified, and sometimes they’re not, although often the way arguments are presented makes the comments seem less constructive and more xenophobic. It’s very easy to go from “these Chinese are this and that” to “these people are this and that because they are Chinese.”

Foreigners who come to England and complain about the "disgusting" food or the education system are not typically welcomed with open arms. On the contrary, they are usually called a variety of less-than-complimentary names and told to catch the next plane home. However, those who become contributing members of society and offer opinions about policies in a practical way tend to receive a more sympathetic ear.

Next time you feel like indulging in a spot of China-bashing, however justified, remember three things. Firstly, your own country isn’t a utopian land of milk and honey (unless you’re Swiss). Secondly, Chinese people are generally aware of their country’s shortcomings, although understandably they don’t like to hear about them from a pampered laowai. Thirdly, if you want to avoid a queue at the bank, turn up at 8.45 a.m.