Lol that lady telling you to not drink the tap water and get a vpn giving the real advice right there

“Physically they look Chinese, but Culturally, they are Americans” - I feel that was spot on for a lot of immigrants that was born or was raised in America.

lol that advice is so practical - Don't assume cars will yield - Don't drink the water - Get Wechat - Come with a VPN

Being Asian American basically feels like you belong everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It's kind of like having an identity crisis your whole life.

When you're Asian American you're neither fully accepted in America or Asia. You're always too different wherever you go.

"Are they American or Chinese?" "I think it depends on the DNA" lol in the case, almost no one would be "American"

when that guy did the chinese american accent 😭😭 lmao he really called us out

The blue shirt guy I rlly liked. He seemed open was very kind. Plus the "accent" FREAKED me out it was so accurate

For me it's always been frustrating. To Americans, I'm Chinese and I'm not American. In China, I'm not Chinese, I'm American. I feel distinctly out of place in America pretty frequently, especially at church where I am basically the only Asian. And in China, people actually mistake me for Korean because everything about my body language just isn't Chinese at all. I always feel out of place, wherever I go. I'm treated by Americans often as some sort of "outsider", even though I was born here, just like them. The only people who truly understand my multicultural background is my mom's family. They embraced my American accent on my Mandarin, which helped me continue to push forward to master the language. That was one of the biggest things they've ever done to help me feel more comfortable about myself. When they came to America for my wedding, they admired many things about America, and were truly trying to learn more about the country I grew up in because they wanted to know me better. That was really sweet of them too.

Maybe u can interview ABCS living in China and ask them about what they think of the Native Chinese

In America: "go back to china!" In China: "go back to America!"

This was a really interesting video but lol when they said abcs have language skills - most Chinese-Americans aren't the best at speaking their native language looool. I had an interview for a job in Shanghai once and she told me to apply again when my Chinese got better. It sounds like there's a bit of a mix up in their answers where sometimes they're referring to Chinese people who studied abroad and other times referring to Chinese people born in the states (abc).

the background is the world's biggest starbucks

I am Chinese ethnically, but born and grew up in Netherlands. I do not feel like a 'Dutch' person, purely because I feel like my appearance and my upbringing at home doesn't make me Dutch enough. I'd love to become friends with my 'own kind'. However, I don't feel a sense of belonging when I hang out with Chinese mainlanders. I used to room with an international Chinese student and even she would rather call me a Dutch person. That realization kind of sucks; you 'fit' nowhere except with other Dutch-Chinese/foreign-born Chinese people.

Fifth generation Chinese American here. My great grandparents were born in California, and my parents have always only spoken English to me. It wasnt until middle school that I realized there’s Asian Americans that know their heritage language, so I started self studying. I did a language immersion program in China last summer and really love learning Mandarin!

This video is hitting extra hard, especially now that Asian Americans are experiencing a surge of hate crimes here in the US due to COVID-related racism. We Asian Americans just don't seem to belong anywhere :(

I think Chinese people and Chinese Americans are very different people. Unfortunately, in America people will treat Chinese Americans as if they are from China as opposed to actually being American.

me: understands every word that they're saying also me: looks at the english subtitles anyways

As an ABC I have never felt more American in my 25 years of living in the US than I did when I came to China. If you're ever in doubt about your identity as an ABC, just visit China and it'll be pretty clear afterwards.

it's interesting how most people viewed ABCs as having parents from China. there are actually a lot of ABCs that have lived in America for many generations.

Very interesting. I enjoyed this video. I’m not Chinese-American, I’m actually Japanese-American. Born in Japan, but adopted and raised in the U.S. I know what it’s like to be treated differently. I was bullied all the time growing up for being Japanese-American, or just Asian in general. I was also bullied for being adopted. Not sure if you’ve already done this topic, Asian Boss, but please ask Japanese people what they think about Japanese-Americans. I would love to know.

I'm an ABC but since my parents can't speak English too well, I basically grew up speaking exclusively Mandarin. and since my parents are from dongbei, I have the dongbei accent as well so often a lot of people that speak with me in Mandarin are somewhat surprised to learn I didn't grow up in China.

I'm an Australian Chinese, and I consider myself Australian and Chinese in equal parts. Instead of worrying about not fitting in either culture, I embrace the fact that I am lucky enough to experience both. Being Chinese means I get to speak the language and learn it from my parents at home as well as be immersed in Chinese traditions and food and culture, and being Australian means I get exposure to western education, culture and upbringing. I don't care about how others view me, because in the end the only thing that matters is that I am accepting of myself, which I am! 😊

It’s impressive to me how thoughtful and literate their answers are! I am so appreciative of their open mindedness to Americans. Sadly, I fear that many Americans would not be so thoughtful or generous.

I am not Chinese but I know how it feels to be the called ‘others’ even in my own country. Also, I like the tips about being careful on the road and also downloading VPN when in China. Very helpful indeed! 😄

I've always felt a little weird around native Chinese people as an ABC. I look pretty exotic in America but in China, I'm basically an undercover foreigner. I never felt quite "Chinese" enough and felt like an imposter even though they may be my own family. People are always impressed I understand Cantonese and even more so when my parents prompt me into greeting the relatives with their appropriate title. They compliment my parents for raising an ABC that could at least comprehend Cantonese. It was flattering but also felt a little demeaning.

This is everyone's internal struggle in Subtle Asian Traits

Would love to hear what Chinese think about Chinese adoptees. I was adopted from China and grew up in the US. So, in addition to not feeling American enough and not feeling Chinese enough, I couldn't even relate to other ABCs!!!! A whole other layer on top of these feelings of not belonging. I feel very fortune and am very proud to call myself Chinese-American though. I have been back to China and loved it. I would love to live there again. I am learning the language and love learning about my culture again. Also, thank you for having this channel and showing us these perspectives. It is truly interesting and broadens other people's perspectives.

Good video. I would have liked to see some interviews with much older folks, like 60+, and college students. And maybe some blue collar migrants. All the interviewees in this video seem to be educated white collar people.

This video is an absolute gem for Chinese learners, the people interviewed speak clearly and actually quite slowly as well, with mostly standard and easy to understand accents. The vocabulary they're using is also pretty common and useful, I was able to pick up a lot of things whilst watching this. Thank you!

Thank you for this informative video! As a Chinese American contemplating living in China for a year or two, I found this super helpful. The people interviewed seem so honest and kind

For me, it's even more complex because I'm from Hong Kong, grew up in the States. I speak Cantonese, yet I often get made fun of for not knowing Mandarin well enough...So in order to be considered culturally "Chinese," I have to both master my native dialect as well as a second language...and that's very difficult and a bit of an unfair expectation for someone raised overseas.

My parents are “TBC” , Thai born Chinese and I am American born, which makes me an ABC or ABT? Doesn’t matter but anyway naturally my English is best and in second comes Chinese. I worked really hard at it, even living in China 8 years, partly because I wanted to rediscover to my roots. If you are sincere about it, Chinese people in China will generally treat you positively and accept you to a degree. Similarly, Some in America would consider me American while some wouldn’t. What really impressed me though is after coming to Thailand where I speak the language horribly and know the culture the worst, is how they all accept me as a Thai unconditionally.

I consider myself both Chinese and American, and I'm proud of it. IMHO, the balance is important to really embracing the bi-cultural identity. 第一次回国的体验我就感觉像是找到了自己内心的另一部分，感觉自己那样才完整。虽然每次都会生病 （水土不服没办法）但还是会对在国内的日子回味无穷。

its surprised how Chinese nowadays are confident and feel comfortable about themselves. Compared six years ago we were still hesitating about ourselves and admiring western culture, it indeed changed a lot and got me thinking if going back to China could be an option.

The man who said that they are physically chinese but culturally american was so well spoken and logical

Im french born chinese and sometimes people ask me if I feel more chinese or french and I can't answer because I got a double culture, when i'm outside, at school i live like a french girl and when i'm at home i live like a chinese girl. Moreover i got a lot of friends from different countries. Our parents want us to learn chinese and it's kinda difficult with writing since we don't use it everyday. The thing is that we can use 3 languages, it's convenient when you travel and we can find a job easily.

I 100% agree with the fact that we are more open-minded, because having grown up with 2 opposite cultures really gives you more perspective. I also find it funny how when I visited school in China, many students just thought of me as 'the American' while here, I am thought of as Chinese. I feel like I am both nationalities in my heart, as I have been brought up by parents that grew up in China, but am experiencing the American culture.

Me, a chinese american watching this: 👁👄👁

I'm a half-Iraqi half-Russian born in America. I can related to ABC's so much. It's hard because we have this identity crisis (not everyone) but I don't let it get to me because there are definitely many upsides to being this way.

Born in the Philippines, but grew up in the states. Growing up I've always felt like I was in an awkward middle zone. I didn't really fit in with other Filipinos (especially when going back to PI) but I wasn't "western" enough to fit in with my white friends. I feel like Asian-Americans in general end up being outsiders on both ends.

Guide for ABCs in China. If you Cant speak Chinese - you are considered totally foreigner or bananas Can speak Chinese, but not fluent -- considered part of bananas Fluent in Chinese = Chinese Speak Chinese without accent- Congrats, you are considered true Chinese, Descendants of Dragon

As an ABC, it really wasn’t difficult for me to speak fluent Mandarin, probably because I grew up with it from my parents who speak it at home. I think the main reason many ABCs don’t want to learn is simply because they don’t have the motivation. This is at least in the earlier age groups. Then once we reach high school, we feel like we’re now in an identity crisis, and at this point it’s very hard to start learning and assimilating into Chinese culture. For me, it was with reading and writing. I didn’t appreciate the daily Chinese school work I got at a chinese school I went to directly after school ended each day, but now it becomes apparent that I regret quitting. Now I can only read around 500-600 characters, and it’s a lot harder to go past this point at this age 🤷🏻‍♂️.

Some interviewees totally messed up the concepts of ABC and Chinese international student in the West.

The first girl with that first answer. "Depends on what they look like.." Straight out the gate with the shallow honest answers. 00:23

Never clicked so fast

Being Chinese American born and raised in NYC and my parents are from China, I find this video interviews very interesting. I do speak Chinese but not fluently enough as I would like and have friends both ABC and from China and other parts of Southeast Asia. I have been to the Far East and I learned a lot of things about them and many stereotypes we have of them that are not true. I would welcome more of video interviews like this to learn more about the more about my Chinese roots and their views. I found them on this video to be very honest and fair.

I'm Brazilian but I lived in the US for a year. I made many friends that were Americans but their parents were Chinese, therefore I learned they were Chinese-Americans. 10 min ago I didn't even know about this expression, "ABCs". As a foreigner, all I can say is: the ABCs I met in the US were just AMAZING. Really loving people that totally embraced me and helped me getting ajusted in US. It was hard for me because I felt alone and was experiencing a huge cultural shock. I will be forever grateful for them. It has been 9 years that I was a foreign exchange student there, and they are still in my heart. I also made friends from mainland China, and they were just as wonderful. All of them really influenced me to get to know more about their culture and country, that's why I am about to apply for a Ph.D degree in China. I fell in love with the country because of the amazing people I met. (: Thank you guys!

OMG when that guy did the "American" accent, it sounded EXACTLY like how I speak Mandarin!!!

Interesting question. Thanks for the upload!!!!

Wow, the first woman’s advice is actually so practical! Totally applies.

Some really good questions and range of answers there. I’m Chinese-Australian, born in Shanghai and living in Sydney, and I come across these kinds of perspectives all the time.

That sad realisation you don't quite fit anywhere :/ This is pretty much the same with all kids born/raised for a large part of their life elsewhere to their migrant parents or grandparents.

8:13 That girls advice is absolutely spot on. All of those things are absolutely critical to visiting China lol. She must be a 5000 iq genius or something.

I find this pretty spot on! As mentioned, I find one of the biggest differences is Asian-Americans think more individualistically but are also more accepting and understanding of people of other backgrounds. Even though I live in an Asian majority American city and am fluent in Chinese, my values are still Western.

When that guy imitated the ABC accent, I felt that as an ABC lmao

Such a complex topic. I totally relate, although I am not an ABC but a French Born Chinese. I used to feel so sad because I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere but you just gotta embrace the fact that you have two cultures and that’s okay not being considered 100% Chinese or 100% French (American etc.) thanks for the content!

It takes years for ABCs to fully fit in either group. The young ABCs are usually in their own bubble.

A very interesting perspective, thank you for this segment. I'm Cambodian American but when I visit Cambodia, many treat me as American.

I really enjoyed watching this video. Thanks for sharing! I felt everything the guy in the white cap was spot on. I grew up in Europe born from an Indonesian immigrant family so I can definitely relate to ABCs

If ABCs speak Chinese know about Chinese culture, native Chinese will still think you are one of us ( Psychologically and culturally).

My mom is german , my dad is chinese, i was born in shanghai, but moved to germany when i was like 2 yrs old, so my "mind" is basically german, the way i think, the way i behave is all prob at least 80% german, bcs thats the environment that i grew up in... no matter where u come from, u usually learn from your current surroundings, so i do think that the environment in which u live in has more influence on ur character than ur "home"/where u came from. But as a mixed child, i have like zero problems here in germany (could be bcs i dont even rly look that chinese lol) and it is prob easier & more comfortable to live here than in china ,i also sometimes prefer living in china but yeah, atleast need to finish school lol.....but i srsly want to improve my chinese since i only speak like a lil bit & cant read & write that much, ..... its prob at the same level as my english hhh Anyways, sry for ma bad english & have a good night🌜 Nice video~

You are where you born. I was born in Oakland CA, growing up in the neighborhood where the majority of my friends were Latino, Black, Asian, and White. Never had a problem...God Bless America!!

When I'm in China I feel like people are testing me to see how Chinese vs how American I really am... kinda scary.

You guys either find very reasonable people by chance for your interviews, or Chinese people seem just wise and aware of the world around them. It's very respectable. Also it's cool to see them be proud of their country. I'd like to see more of that here in the west. Starting to seem like Bizzaro World here.

Jeremy lin is a pretty good example for this topic. He even can't fluently speak a complete Chinese sentence before enter the NBA. Now he can easily playing jokes in Chinese on camera. And he always speaks for Asians in US and his hard working ethics also gain lots of respects from China. When he give advises to some Chinese young basketball players in humble way,I know that's why so many mainland Chinese basketball fans admire him. He respects Chinese people in China,then the mainland Chinese people will respect him as well. But some ABCs seems to avoid touch with mainland Chinese,that's different. I completely understand that ,I think they want a different identity,but please don't bring hatred against mainland Chinese .

Very insightful! Thanks!

I love how they assume that our knowledge of multiple languages will be our big advantage, but many of us can hardly speak a complete sentence in Chinese :(

I was born and raised in Nigeria..and left to study in the us at the age of 17..now I am 20..though not still accustomed to many things in the us perhaps bcz I have few friends and ve been focusing on school alone..friends from Nigeria no longer see me as one of them..they see me as an american now..which makes me wonder what it will be like when I travel to visit

I think you also should cover the topic interviews with Cantonese ABCs on how well connected they are to either their own Cantonese or Chinese culture as a whole. Too often, many of the Cantonese ABCs especially if they do not have the Mandarin linguistic skills, they often are very disconnected from the overall Chinese culture much more so than the other ABCs and sometimes, they don't not even want to be Cantonese. Also, especially the Cantonese ABCs that were born in the 1980s or earlier, they were already growing up in a metropolitan area already used to and familiarly comfortable feeling at home with the Chinese communities being long time Cantonese dominated until the 1990s and were used to being able to use basic conversational Cantonese to get around in their cities' established Chinatowns, despite the fact a growing influx of Mandarin speakers already began arriving in the 1980s and 1990s in these cities including some of their Chinatowns, but all of a sudden in the late 1990s, but more in the 2000s, the influx of Mandarin speakers grew even more drastically and highly changed the Chinese demographics including in some of the Chinatowns that had been long time Cantonese dominated of these big Metropolitan areas, especially in New York City and now many of these Cantonese ABCs born in the 1980s or earlier that had been so familiarly comfortable and feeling at home with their Chinatowns being mostly Cantonese began to develop resentments against the influx of Mandarin speaking immigrants due to not knowing Mandarin and started feeling this pressure to have to know Mandarin to be part of the Chinese culture, which they did not have an important need to know Mandarin before and they began to feel like the Chinatowns they were once comfortably familiar with feeling at home began to deteriorate and started to feel completely out of place and many of these Cantonese ABCs increasingly felt they are a total separate culture from the Chinese culture as a whole an exact equivalent to the differences between the Russians and English and either decided to just be American Cantonese enjoying only Hong Kong and American/English speaking entertainment or just plainly American only enjoying American/English speaking entertainment, but very highly often just decided to be plainly American. Unfortunately, only a handful of the Cantonese ABCs born from the 1980s or earlier were or are willing to learn Mandarin including Chinese literacy to feel more a part of the Chinese culture as a whole including also wanting to know more about their own Cantonese culture, but those handful of Cantonese ABCs still often do not fully feel part of the Chinese culture as a whole all the time and often their Cantonese American culture and language will still come in first place because that is what they have grown up accustomed to and Mandarin is something they often learn or become fluent in much later in their life during their adulthood resulting in the Chinese culture as a whole and Mandarin to come in second an exact equivalent to an Italian person born in and grew up in Italy and then moving to France as a young adult for only a number of years picking up French as a secondary language/culture and then returning back to Italy and only traveling to France once in a while.

Great video! Thnx.

These are great interviewees.

Damn these interviewees are really eloquent.

I would love Chinese subtitles for this. Looks like a great way to learn Chinese.

No matter where I'm born, if I'm Chinese then I should be proud of being Chinese, and I should learn to understand my own culture, heritage, and language.

Thx for this! Sometimes, I feel like I don’t know how other people would react if I went back to China so it’s nice to see and realize that even tho we look the same, there still are differences and that’s something that we have to accept.

Interesting topic, keep it up Asian Boss!

german born chinese here, i view myself as chinese in germany and german in china. i appreciate both cultures, both countries have values i put in high regard and few i don’t, it’s the good mixture of both i can luckily choose from and live out. imo it depends on the individual, you can look very chinese and have zero interests in your roots and history and been pretty whitewashed - which is alright; each to its own. i don’t really get along with strict conservative chinese people but that’s also the case with them germans, i guess it’s all about adapting yourself and having the willingness to learn and people will at least accept you to a certain degree. in the end it doesn’t really matter where you’re from but how you act as human being, cos in the end you are just you and you are the one who is constantly living with yourself so 🤷🏻‍♀️

Very interesting! Love Asian Boss channel. Saludos desde Mexico

As an ABC that is traditional and loves China, it makes me cry to see them so understanding. I always am afraid I would never fit in if I ever was to move to China due to the unique upbringing I have here. But its so good to see otherwise. As long as we treat each other with respect i think we can all get along. There is nothing more I would love to do but to learn about the culture more than I could over here, and if they ever came to the States, to welcome them and show them the best we got here. Much love across the ocean!

我父亲来自希腊，但我是在美国出生的，从小发现我跟周围美国人有些差异，但去了希腊跟他们还不是完全一样的文化和观点 😂 后来留学中国的这件事呢，就弄得更糟糕啦，似乎世上没有一个地方适合我这种了解东亚的希腊美国人吧

I live abroad in the us have lived here since I was twelve but I still love my home country Panama 🇵🇦

I'd love a video of what Chinese or non western Asians feel about mixed/hapa people. As a mixed half asian myself ive always been fascinated with how differently the different asian cultures and generations view people within that category.

this channel is by far the least biased found on KZfaq. Translation is precise. Opinions from different classes are properly represented at least in this one. Keep up the good work! From a Shanghaiese.

Want to commend this channel for the noticeable improvement in the quality of translations and subtitles. The kinds of glaring inaccuracies that pervaded some older videos have largely been eliminated, and not repeated here.

1:40 That was actually accurate, I’m from Canada and my grandmother told me that it’s an American accent.

i grew up as an abc in a mainly caucasian community, so this is a really personal topic for me. in the us, people don’t view me as american enough because my skin color is different from theirs, but when i go back to china, i look like everyone else but my cultural differences make me different, and people there don’t think of me as chinese enough. either way, it’s frustrating, but watching this video made me think a lot about myself and my identity - but i really like the way this was done.

really fun to watch thanks for sharing @asainboss

It's really interesting to see how different countries reject their "American Born" counterparts. I am Italian both my parents were born there and I speak it fluently at home. But whenever I go back to Italy I am an American.

For me, most of what they said is completely wrong from what I think. Being an ABC myself, I sometimes feel out of place. But “Americans” have accepted me and I rarely feel uncomfortable. I am currently in 9th grade and my dream is to move to China when I grow up. My Mardarin is considered really good, because at home, I am only allowed to speak Chinese and I have been going to Chinese school on Sundays ever since I was six years old. I admire Chinese culture and I believe that I will have no problem adapting to the lifestyle and culture in the future. Although I am considered an American citizen and grew up in America, I fully believe that I am a full Chinese at heart. I am proud of China and proud of being Chinese. To be honest, when I was younger, I thought I was “better” than mainland Chinese people because I was born in America. I used to see myself as American and was often embarrassed by my Asian looks, family, and lifestyle. But I’ve grown to admire my roots and my love for China grows everyday. I hope mainland Chinese people can see and understand that we ABCs are Chinese at heart.

That is useful video!

Intelligent and thoughtful people. I'm impressed by them.

I love the Chinese people who are more open minded. Different is always good!!! 💕✨

I'm an ABC, and where I live, there are a ton of Asian-Americans. I tend to stick with that group, just because Asian values in general share a lot of similarities and it's a lot easier to connect with people that i have this in common with. However, a lot of American families these days are starting to value education a lot more, and so I also hang out with non-Asians who also tend to be academically oriented and kind of edgy.

that 4-point advice was golden

A very meaniful and interesting video. Thank you for uploading

damn wtf i live literally a minute away from where those ppl were interviewed no joke. that's the starbucks roastery in shanghai lol

I love China. I love Chinese. Actually, I love Asians, just as much as I love Americans and any other group of people. The world is vast and diverse. There is something unique about every country and its people. I'm an American/Pacific islander. I am proud of my heritage. No matter where I go, I will always be my heritage, first!

2:03 only person that didnt say something very stereotypical, but neutral, so thank you person🙏🏻

This video was a pretty good sampling of the viewpoint of young upperwardly mobile urban Chinese people. It would also be interesting to see the viewpoints of older Chinese citizens and also people from more rural areas.