You may have heard the term ABC: American born Chinese. That is what I am, and that is also what a lot of my friends are. It means that we are ethnically Chinese, but we were born in the States. We are more immersed in the American culture but still stick to our Asian roots. I would say some characteristics of ABCs are having an insatiable thirst for boba (I like the milk tea but I don’t like the bubbles. I guess I’m not a true ABC oops!), going to Chinese school at some point in their lives, celebrating the major Chinese holidays like Chinese New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival, and speaking a mixture of English and Chinese with their parents (called Chinglish; an example would be “今天 I 想吃 lunch with my 朋友。” [Today I want to eat lunch with my friends.])

I experienced some serious culture shock during my time in China. Since this was only my second visit to China, I have not been exposed much to “actual” Chinese culture. Throughout the two weeks, I was constantly comparing and contrasting Chinese and American culture. I learned a lot of new things about my home country during my volunteer trip that I never would have otherwise learned if I was just there on vacation. Read on for the details!

1. Chinese people treat roads like a NASCAR race. On my first car ride in Ya’an, the driver used his horn every five seconds and kept weaving in and out of the lanes of the highway. I wish I could say I am exaggerating but I really am not. Also, in China there were as many motorbikes as cars. Sometimes I saw a parent and two kids riding on one motorbike with no seat belts.

2. The Asian squat prevails. I always thought the Asian squat was just a joke, but everywhere I looked there was always someone just chilling doing the Asian squat. People were doing it while eating, talking, and smoking. Also, smoking is allowed almost in any public space, including in hotel rooms and restaurants.

3. Everything is much cheaper compared to the US. This is mainly due to the fact that workers in China are paid very unfairly, and $1 is roughly equal to ¥6.88. A boba drink cost ¥6 ($0.87), and an popsicle cost only ¥1 ($0.15).

**Side note: when we showed the kids at Fengming and the youth center American money, they all started screaming in amazement😂**

4. School lunches are much more healthy and sustainable than lunches in the US. At Fengming, lunch consisted of rice, vegetables, and some sort of protein like fish, chicken, pork, or eggs. And it was always really tasty! Food was served in metal bowls and we used metal spoons. After we finished eating, we took our food and utensils to an area behind the kitchen, scrape the excess food into a bucket, and put our bowls and spoons in a basin of water and soap. The excess food was used to feed pigs. In the US, though, lunch largely consists of pizza, burgers, and salty deli meat sandwiches served in plastic wraps and cardboard or styrofoam trays, and excess food just becomes garbage.

5. Chinese snacks are very interesting. There’s corn flavored candy and hamburger gummies. One snack I highly recommend is Xiao Mantou (小馒头). They are kind of like oyster crackers, except sweeter, better, and VERY ADDICTING. Also, ice cream flavors range from green pea to sticky rice. Asian food markets in America probably have these snacks, too.

6. Chinese people like their boujee clothing, no matter how fake it looks. One popular article of clothing was a bright red T-shirt dress with Louis Vuitton written all over it. A lot of clothes had English printed on them, and usually the text was spelled wrong, made no sense, or had cuss words on them.

7. Everyone that I met from China was surprised that I spoke fluent English. The students were super intrigued that I lived in America and spoke English. When I asked them why, they just said, “Because you look Chinese!” Adults also asked me why I spoke English to my fellow volunteers (who are also from America) instead of Chinese. I guess since these people have lived in China all their lives, they simply assume that if you look Chinese, you speak some Chinese dialect.

8. All hotel room numbers start with 8 because 8 is a lucky number in Chinese. There are also eight fun facts in this list. Haha!

-Katie