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I take a cab in Siping. The driver asks me, “Where are you from?”
Me: “I’m from Austria.”
Driver: “How long have you been staying in China? Your Chinese sounds very fluent!”
Me: “I came back only recently. I lived in Austria for the past six years. Before that, I lived in China for a total of eight years.”
Driver: “I see. I recently drove a Black man somewhere. He’s also been living in China for eight years. He spoke Chinese too. He said he liked it here so much that he doesn’t want to go back to his home country in Africa.”
Me: “What country is he from?”
Driver: “I can’t remember.”
Me: “That’s surprising. I’ve heard that Black people often encounter racism in China.”
Driver: “No, there is no racism in China! Foreigners don’t experience racism because Chinese people are really kind to foreigners and don’t discriminate against them.”
Me: “I see. In Austria, some people discriminate against foreigners. But they often don’t discriminate against Chinese people, since most Chinese behave well when they live in Austria.”
Driver: “Yes, I’ve heard that’s the case in other countries. But in China, we don’t have a problem with racism—there is no racism here. We treat foreigners just like Chinese.”