| Last year when I was hit hard by a taxi while walking in a crosswalk with the pedestrian greenlight my reaction was anger and I shattered the guy's window with my fist. I was immediately surrounded by people shouting at me in Shanghainese. The hatred in their eyes was surprising. After all, I was the only one bleeding and I felt I had a right to be angry. A Canadian-Chinese lady explained to me that the crowd was shouting anti-foreigner curses and that she would call the police before it got worse. This was right downtown in Shanghai - by Xintiandi - an upscale area of professionals. I was shocked by the treatment I received and the hatred in people's eyes. I later thought about what would happen if a Chinese person had this situation in my country (USA) and asked myself if American's would have unanimously ganged up on the Chinese guy that had been hit by a driver. Honestly, I don't think so. They would be more likely to criticize the driver - no matter what his/her race was. I think years of nationalistic education has created a very dangerous mentality in China that could easily lead to wars. |
Fight Between Foreigners and Local