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It’s not a Chinese or Western thing to stay with like minded groups. It’s human nature. 1st generation immigrants almost always group together and since China has no immigration, it makes sense that there are not many dispersed expats (immigrants) in China. I don’t understand what is so controversial. Africans group together in immigrant communities, Chinese group together in immigrant communities, westerners group together in immigrant communities. Take any nationality, cultural, or ethnic group and they will group together. In Hong Kong at least, English is common enough that people could live off knowing only English. Of course I would never recommend that as one will miss out on a lot in life. I was just reading a report from the HK government that approximately 55% of Hong Kongers can speak English.
dude, honestly, you should put this after your online handle here "I HATE everything about mainland China".
HKers hate mandarin speaking people, let me tell the real story here: they hold this resentment because HK is not the HK the CHinese look up to any more. Few mainland Chinese give a flying a$$ about HK nowadays. HK has fallen from the envied place of wealth and prosperity to nothing but a shopping destination in the past 20 years, and even that status is being lost. HKers are losing their long time sense of superiority, and so many HKers (as well as Taiwanese, the businessmen, the celebrities) NOW HAVE to make money in China, something unimaginable 20 years ago.
China will be totally fine without HK or Taiwan, the other way doesn't exactly work. HK would be absolutely nothing without China, despite its freedom of press, law or order and all the nice stuff, which will all be utterly useless, and HKers know it. HK may feel like incredibly international, but it is all because it has China supporting it. This is why they HATE China. They know the Chinese don't care for them any longer.
And to the OP, of course you can just learn Cantonese, if you only associate with HKers. But just so you know, a HKer, even a shop assistant nowadays has to understand Mandarin, while hardly any mainland Chinese find the need to learn Cantonese.
It is like if you live in Sweden, you COULD just learn Swedish, but in the end, its usefulness is extremely limited.
He's always angry. He's actually a very intelligent Mainland Chinese man who's lives overseas, but if you read many of his posts, he just isn't happy with the world. Not sure why.
@MattKS, Your 100% correct. It is human nature to migrate towards your own kind. I also don't see it as a big deal. People in general are more comfortable with people similar to themselves.
He's always angry. He's actually a very intelligent Mainland Chinese man who's lives overseas, but if you read many of his posts, he just isn't happy with the world. Not sure why.
Intelligent? More like insufferable.
And I’m guessing it’s because he’s bipolar, and the cancer certainly doesn’t help.
This statement is far from the truth. By many polls, it shows that HK people harbor positive feeling towards Taiwanese. And most people from Taiwan speak Mandarin.
In fact, HK has a long history of accommodating Mandarin language. From 1950s-70s, most of the films produced in HK were in Mandarin.
Correctly speaking, many HKers dislike (or hate for some personal or family reason) the government in Beijing rather than the people it directly governs.
He's always angry. He's actually a very intelligent Mainland Chinese man who's lives overseas, but if you read many of his posts, he just isn't happy with the world. Not sure why.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greysholic
Intelligent? More like insufferable.
And I’m guessing it’s because he’s bipolar, and the cancer certainly doesn’t help.
Correctly speaking, many HKers dislike (or hate for some personal or family reason) the government in Beijing rather than the people it directly governs.
Action and reaction. You can't really expect people to disregard government's doing, and the fact that many PRCers always show disdain towards Hong Kong's customs and identity certainly isn't helping. Remember that **** who teared down posters in HK and then tried to justify it by illogical bs? Or have you seen the way botticelli lashes out on Hong Kong? It's hard not to dislike such people.
It’s not a Chinese or Western thing to stay with like minded groups. It’s human nature. 1st generation immigrants almost always group together and since China has no immigration, it makes sense that there are not many dispersed expats (immigrants) in China. I don’t understand what is so controversial. Africans group together in immigrant communities, Chinese group together in immigrant communities, westerners group together in immigrant communities. Take any nationality, cultural, or ethnic group and they will group together.
In Hong Kong at least, English is common enough that people could live off knowing only English. Of course I would never recommend that as one will miss out on a lot in life. I was just reading a report from the HK government that approximately 55% of Hong Kongers can speak English.
I agree. It is ok for people to hang out with their own people and the culture they are familiar with.
However, the difference in western countries, Asians (or others) are often criticized for doing so - sticking together, not speaking English, not actively "integrate" blah blah, while Asians rarely think it is a problem when Westerners do so in their countries, and that was my point.
As to 55% HKers speaking English, well, if you can understand the English they speak.
This statement is far from the truth. By many polls, it shows that HK people harbor positive feeling towards Taiwanese. And most people from Taiwan speak Mandarin.
In fact, HK has a long history of accommodating Mandarin language. From 1950s-70s, most of the films produced in HK were in Mandarin.
Correctly speaking, many HKers dislike (or hate for some personal or family reason) the government in Beijing rather than the people it directly governs.
Only the HKers are the lowest social status would "hate" mandarin speaking people, because they are rapidly losing the privilege they used to have compared with mainland China, so they desperately hold on to Cantonese as if it were a symbol of status. That happens in Shanghai as well. The lower your social status is, the more hostility you show to outsiders.
Of course HK movies need to accommodate mandarin. There is a humongous market right there and it will be stupid to miss it. Without the China market, the HK movie industry can hardly survive. It is like a Canadian actor always need to make it in the US.
Disliking Beijing is fine. Most mainlanders do too. In what countries people generally like their governments anyway.
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