Misconceptions!

You often meet friendly Chinese people who love to make a conversation as soon as they find out you can speak a few words in Mandarin. 
The first thing they ask you is where you are from...and as most of you'll would have encountered they start singing "Abalahoon (Awaara hoon)" when you say you are from "Yindu(India)"


Here are some of the common misconceptions they have about people from India:

• Every Indian can sing and dance. Bollywood style. Not really right? Some of us have two left feet!

• It is 40 degrees all throughout the year all over India. We have to usually explain that it even snows in some parts of India, and are often surprised that we have something called the  monsoon season.

• Curry is a plant. They think we add a plant called curry to our meat and veggies to make curry.

• Also most often we are asked not only asked about the number of children we are allowed to have but also the number of spouses!  I'm quite amused by this question most times and go on to explain that of course unlike the Chinese we can have more than one child but exactly like them we can have only one spouse. 

• They wonder how come we speak English though most of them have issues with the Indian accent and are also quite baffled to know each state (province as they say) have their own language and we have people belonging to different religions and cultural regions living together. Yes we are diverse like that. How cool, right?

We too often hear some misconceptions about the Chinese when we go back home and are often asked some funny questions. 

• Not every Chinese man can do Kung Fu: You can definitely learn martial arts in China but you won't find children or people practicing it in every street corner like in those action movies. 

• One Child policy - This policy was issued in the late 70's and wasn't strict - so most people in our generation have siblings. Also the policy has now been relaxed. If the husband and wife are single children in their family they are allowed to have a second child. The same with minority communities. And no, the policy doesn't apply to the non-Chinese living here. And if we have a child born in China he doesn't get to be of Chinese nationality.

• Chinese people are not friendly - They are the most friendly people in the world. The only thing holding them back is their English speaking skills. They are otherwise most willing to help. We have often had people walk us to our destination when we've been lost asking for a way out.

• Do they serve cat, dog and snakes at restaurants? You will often find unusual or weird things on the menu at a Chinese restaurant , like, rabbit head, bull frog, duck tongue...and it's true you will find some restaurants that serve donkey meat but most regular restaurants just serve basic food- Rice, noodles, vegetables, dumplings. And nope, you don't get a fortune cookie at the end of your meal.

• Facebook/Twitter blocked in China - There are a lot of foreign social media websites blocked in China, but most expats use a VPN to access them. The Chinese aren't affected by this as they have their own social media websites and are free to share their thoughts on them. Some popular sites are Sina Weibo and We Chat.

Have you faced some of these questions? Do you have something more to add? Leave me a comment below and let me know :-)

Cheers!