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China Elevator Stories
“Your Kids Will Be Very Beautiful … And Tall”
I chat with a woman in Shenzhen who sells congee at a food stall.
16/04/2013
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
On my way to work I come by a small food stall selling all different kinds of congee. I usually go there to buy take-away congee for breakfast. One day I have time to sit down for breakfast. The woman in her 40s selling the congee comes up to me to have a chat.
A while into the conversation, she asks: “Do you have a boyfriend? You can look for a Chinese boyfriend.”
I tell her: “I already have a Chinese boyfriend.”
“That’s great. You’ll have mixed-blood children. They’ll be very beautiful … and tall, since you’re very tall yourself.”
On a different day, my boyfriend, who is 1,89 m tall, is with me and we both buy congee at her food stall.
The next time I buy congee at her food stall, the woman says: “Your boyfriend is really tall.”
“You’re right. He’s from Northeast China.”
“You’ll have really, really tall kids.”
Have you ever been considered tall in a foreign country, when you would be considered average height in your home country?
Explanation: Mixed-blood (混血) is the word Chinese use for biracial kids.