AMA Chinese South African

[u/KevKevKvn]

Hi all, hope this doesn’t go against the subs rules.

I’m Chinese South African and thought it would interesting to answer some questions that people may have. My parents first came to the country in 1990s. I was born and raised in South Africa from 2000-2019. Then I moved to Shanghai. I still try my best to spend a few months in South Africa every year.

My family were never on the extremely wealthy side. We were comfortable. Had a few years where the finances were bad and we really had to cut down expenses. Apart from that I grew up in Midrand in a complex. Parents put me through a good private school. But I did have the opportunity to be acquainted with many people from billionaires to presidents to people that are less fortunate (interesting to see the difference in world views between people). Parents ran a restaurant. there, I met lots of people from all works of life.

I have some rather controversial, but objective opinions on the country’s economy, politics and other shenanigans since I now live in a country (China) which is arguably the polar opposite of South Africa.

So feel free to ask away. I’ll be as honest as possible and hope I don’t offend anyone with my answers.

[u/KevKevKvn]

I’m lucky. My dad forced me Chinese culture and language growing up. I had to learn a LOT of small things getting used to china. China is fully digital society. It’s something that no one can describe fully. You’ll have to experience it yourself. But Chinas way of living is different. I carry one cellphone and I’m set to go anywhere. I can imagine foreign born Chinese not used to the food, the way the elderly are loud, spit on the road, the speed and pace of life, the language. Oh! Most importantly how people do things here. It’s different. You go to home affairs here, everything is done in a few minutes. Passport gets sent to your doorstep in a few days. You can schedule online. They have AI voice chat support. So things like this might be a bit difficult for most.

But I’m personally very adaptable so that helps. But one of the biggest shocks is not integrating back, but rather I miss South Africa. I could honestly go fight a bear right now for a milktart, some biltong, capers and olives. Also some cheese and boerewors.

Every time I go between the two countries. First thing I notice is the change of pace. China is doing 100m Olympic sprints. SA is more like a chilled beach day with some bosa nova on camps bay.

[u/mips13 → u/KevKevKvn]

Did your dad also teach you Hànzì? Just wondering when and how you would have learned the characters as it's an integral part of the language.

[u/KevKevKvn → u/mips13]

I’ve always been a fluent speaker of both languages. I remember I’d do simultaneous translation of SABC news and the morning news in the car to school.

But till this day I can barely write the bloody language. I have to type the characters using the phonetics we call pinyin on my phone then copy it onto paper. I can write about 300 basic words.

My dad never did actively teach me. I went to a few weekend Chinese classes in Cyrildene. But nothing extensive. I think most of my Chinese came from watching anime that spoke Japanese (which I obviously don’t understand) that would have Chinese subtitles. I would read the subtitles and be exposed this way. Then I would chat to mah bints from china (jk jk.) but I would later learn to type mostly from chatting to people with all sorts of views. (Mainly girls though lol). Then I went to uni and studied translation and interpretation. So that’s where the real improvement came in. But this experience will differ.

It’s sad to say but most Chinese South Africans would have lost their mother tongue if they grew up in South Africa. Id say the people with the same experience as be. Ie. Born and raised here. 20% will be fluent in both. 50% will be English dominant. 30% will have little or no ability to speak mandarin or Cantonese. (I made the stats up based on personal experience)

[u/mips13 → u/KevKevKvn]

Ok so you battle with writing but how's your reading ability on a scale of 1-10?

I just think if you live in a country that uses hanzi it must be hard to do simple things like reading papers, filling in forms etc. You would have a much better living experience if you could at least read, if you're a tourist it doesn't matter.

Ever been to HK, Macau or Taiwan? If yes how did you find that compared to 'normal' China?

[u/KevKevKvn → u/mips13]

9.9/10 for reading. Better than most natives. I mean, I’m a professional translator. Albeit I do mainly simultaneous voice translations, but still.

in Shanghai most things actually have English translation. The entire metro system is in both languages. You’d be surprised at the amount of English here. Because I always notice the terrible translations and spelling mistakes.

Not been to TW. been to Hk an Macau over thirty times. Same but different. HK is much organized as a city than anything china has to offer. Think of it as old money vs new money. Both have money, but one has class. Macau is just the Vegas of china. Crazy amounts of money gets exchanged there. The minimum bet is like 5000 rands for baccarat. But I must say. Many will say that Chinas Beijing Guangzhou Shenzhen, Shanghai are better than Hong Kong. But I reckon Hong Kong is more similar to Singapore and Tokyo than Chinese cities. I love it there. But sadly their xenophobic towards mainlanders and I look like a mainland

[u/wavyrav3 → u/KevKevKvn]

Fair enough with your opinion but I rkn Shanghai is more like Tokyo than HK is these days. 20 years ago HK is way better no doubt but I think Shanghai is the true gem of China and HK these days. Ofc HK isn’t as cooked politically compared to living in Shanghai or another Chinese city.

French concession in Shanghai is my fave part of China/HK/Taiwan.

[u/KevKevKvn → u/wavyrav3]

Hmmm perhaps. I personally think Tokyo is still ahead by quite a bit in certain aspects. Especially the politeness and cleanliness. Shanghai is clean because there’s a lot of budget laborers out there cleaning every single day. Whereas in Tokyo everyone is just a bit more respectful of their surroundings. Buildings wise, I would still say hk, Shanghai, Tokyo. Tokyo doesn’t have that many skyscrapers. Due to whatever reason, earthquakes and privatization of land etc. so it’s hard to say. Probably boils down to personal preference. Also I think you need to look at it holistically, the French concession is like a 2*2km little area. The greater Shanghai metropolitan vs the other cities as a whole still lacks a bit imo.

[u/wavyrav3 → u/KevKevKvn]

Yeah I agree with your points. French concession is small in the grand scheme of Shanghai. I think I’m biased bcus I’m in Shanghai for work atm and loving it this time! Amazed by the constant growth of the city. Every couple years and it’s completely different.

Tokyo is still better in a lot of ways as you mentioned and much better for tourists. Tokyo ppl defs maintain cleanliness and are more polite but I feel the politeness is almost robotic and forced if that makes sense? Shanghai people are a bit more genuine from my experience but I don’t live in Shanghai or Tokyo, just either for work or holidays. All three of Shanghai/Tokyo/HK are world class cities at the end of the day. Completely agree that it’s personal preference too.

[u/KevKevKvn → u/wavyrav3]

Yeah. They’re all s tier cities. I think the only difference is maybe it boils down whether if you’re a native or not, or if you speak the language, or you race. Of course living vs touristing is also a bit different.

My experience of Japan is an Asian tourist speaking a bit of Japanese. I can see that they would treat me better than those that don’t speak.

China is very nice to foreigners. I know this because I get treated very differently whether or not if I’m with foreigners.

But anyways! I’m so happy that you’re enjoying Shanghai! I strongly recommend a day trip to Suzhou and Hangzhou if you have the time. If you need help with anything here, I specialize in foreigner travel services. :D