As a Chinese living in Shanghai I need to say your obversion about our social is totally accurate. And like you said, the population made our culture, include the good side and the bad side, such as the competition and the things you don't like (some I don't like too). "No country is perfect", so embrace what you love and use actions to change what can be changed. :)
For me, as a Chinese international student who is right now studying in America, this video really provided me a whole new perspective. I have complained to my friends about how hard it is if I want a job to settle down and get a US green card but didn’t realize it is also hard for Americans to attain a Chinese one. Any way, I completely understand the difficulties you may face as a foreigner trying to live in a foreign country and hopefully we can both have a better future.
It's not late for you to travel around China. On the contrast, it's the perfect time now. You are still young, but old enough to appreciate the nature wonders or Chinese culture. I almost forget everything that happened when I was a kid.
My nephew, who was born and raised in Canada, recently came to Hong Kong because he wants his kids to learn about their heritage, and to learn the Chinese language. But, he did not put his kids in local school, same as your parents. You see, he would have a problem tutoring his kids. You probably know already that Chinese schools are very competitive, so the parents have to spend time tutoring their kids to help them get good grades. So Alysa, maybe you'd regret not attending a local school but I'm sure your parents don't regret that at all.😅
I lived in China for 8 years teaching English at university. I lived in 3 different small cities. I think it was great because the small cities were easy to get around and not as crowded as the big cities. In each city I had a motorcycle and that made it easy to get around. I didn’t make a big salary but the schools provided an apartment and the cost of living in a small city was not expensive. And I got a lot of free time and vacation time and I was able to travel and go to other places in the country. Now I’m too old to work there (they have a rule about hiring older teachers). But I hope I can go back and travel. By the way I went to Shanghai in May 2023 and it was the first time in China in 7 years. It was great but I got a shock. Almost everyone was paying for everything with their phones. I only had cash. But thank goodness people accepted my cash. Things keep changing! I’ve been in 6 countries in the past year and China is the only one that is like that. Everywhere else cash is commonly used
It shocked me to realize that I haven't use cash for about 2-3years🤣The last time I touched cash is when i discovered my piggy bank from childhood when my family is moving to a bigger apartment,it's filled with coins and one yuan bills🤣I used to wish to save a fortune out of it hahaha
I'm a 100% native Chinese person born and raised in China. I've experienced and realized all the cons you mentioned as I grew up. I used to be kind of sick of those things but I wondered why our country is like that. And after my one-year studying abroad in the US, I came up with the same idea you said.. All the pros and cons can be related to the size of population here. I also really wish that our country can be more open to foreigners staying for longer in the future. And thank you for sharing these about China criticallly and impersonally❤
I don't think you have good understanding of America. You need to live there and set in for more than 10 years with independent view, you will see the true color of America. You have to be American to be American. Because America is immigrants country, it's different in this area than China. But you only can be the lowest class in America society as Chinese ethnicity.
@@frankng4574 I half agree and half disagree. You can be whatever ethnicity you want to be while still having an independent view of the US from your experience in it. But I do agree that it takes more time to truly learn about a country this big.
@@5k3m. I don't think you understand, period. View from outside of the box without being influenced by American disinformation around you 24/7, is not a easy job. I happened to wake up due to an unexpected incident which made me think from different perspective.
Hi Alysa, happy to watching your UA-cam channel, So friendly you’re, My childhood life was in Guangzhou and growing up in HongKong, your Mandarin pronunciation is attractive and impressive, I am proud of you ! I speak Cantonese, Mandarin, English, German and some French, my daughter speaks German, French, English, Italian and some Cantonese. I am living in Switzerland with retirement, I was visiting Guangzhou and HongKong regularly before pandemic. I booked my flight to Hong Kong in January, perhaps see you in Guangzhou, if I am lucky, thank you for sharing this video ❤❤❤
They didn’t run away, they just could not get a new visa because of coronavirus. I went to celebrate New Year with my family at 2019 and after that I could not went back to China. Borders were closed
Hi, your post makes my day. I’m Chinese Canadian from Taishan. My great great grandparents immigrated to California somewhere in 1940’s. Then my mom married to Montréal. Technically, I’m the 5th generation and my son is the 6th generation in North America. My mother tongue is Taishanese and I also speak fluently Cantonese, French and English. In 2009, I visited for the first time Hong-Kong and Guangzhou. When I question people on the menu, people were surprised coz they thought I was a local 😂 I was very proud that I still master Cantonese. My parents were so stricts and now I can tell they did a great job teaching me and my two siblings. Actually, my 12 others American Chinese cousins, even if we are the 5th generation, they all speak Cantonese! The 6th generation are more mixted French-Chinese, American-Chinese, Jew-Chinese, Korean-Chinese: this will be challenge to preserve our language.
Alysa, solidarity to you, I love your channel and insights. I will work on what I can of them to improve my little one 's life. Thank you for all you do.
You obviously love China. Just with your videos, you’ve shown life in China that most people don’t get to see. I really hope they will change the laws for people who have been living there for so long and who contribute to its community. To me, your videos alone is a positive contribution.
it was so nice that you added the chinese subtitle! Really appreciate your love and advice to this country, and hope you'll get the green card in the near future~
Quite spot on! Space! Shortage of space for personal growth, space for relaxation, space for rejuvenation, that is the biggest challenge of living in China. I think the Chinese society begin to realize that is the bottleneck issue for China and things are starting to change as you mentioned.
Totally agree with you about the inconvenience of living in china as a foreigner. I left China many years ago. But China still has a big part in my heart. My parents, siblings, relatives and friends are in China. Chinese is proud of its tech development. It makes the lives for local residents convenient. But foreigners are always in the corner cases for their single-mindedly designed systems. Ironically the more "advanced" Chinese technology develops, the most suffocating it is for foreigners who travel to China. This kind of implicit discrimination makes me feel not welcomed by my motherland any more. That is a little bitter and we have to move on.
Maybe one of the most onpoint English video that offers an ideologically uncontaminated perspective. I was born and raised in Xi'an since 1999. Somehow ended up in Portland OR now. Can't really plan every step of your life... BEST LUCK with your journey!!!
There is so much competition in China. As a college student, I don’t even have time to stop and think about my life and then I have to strive for the next phase of my life. 😢 I really wish someday I can earn enough money to travel around the country or even the world freely. But right now, this is only a dream
The same that your English wouldn not have been this GOOD (sounds exactly native) if you hadn't gone through the education system you had. Do you know most Asian Americans can't even speak a word of their parents' language and a lot of them even hated speaking their parents' language during childhood (cuz they wanted to fit in). You're able to express yourself natively in Mandarin and English so good for you!
Do you know why a lot of Asian Americans don't speak their parents ' language? Discrimination and racism. It is quite blatant and it is reflected in the behavior of the kids.
广州是很不错，不过夏季太热了，人也多，这是一线城市的通病。Alysa 你可以去内蒙古游玩，人少景美的地方很多，很适合一个人静静待着，放松身心。Welcome to Inner Mongolia for your travel experience! Inner Mongolia is a fascinating destination with diverse landscapes and rich cultural heritage.
The various restrictions for foreigners owning a property might change over time depending on situations. But it's definitely not a very crucial issue for the government to prioritise for now.
Thank you for shouting out the importance to learn and protect Cantonese, as it is a truly complex yet beautiful language that holds so much history and culture (or some will correctly say it's a dialect.) I'm thankful that I get to learn it as my mother tongue but it's really sad to see how this language is losing its ground in Hong Kong, due to all the new policies that the Government started to put in place since HK's reunification (ie. mandating all primary schools to teach Chinese in Mandarin instead of Canto). There're now more Cantonese/Hong Kongese diaspora trying to ensure they teach their kids Cantonese despite immigrating away, hopefully they'll get more and more support and manage to help keep Cantonese going in some way or another.
cantonese is not being endangered at all. thats like saying shanghainese dialect is endangered, or hakka is endangered, or fujian is endangered, but chinese dialects are still spoken daily, as is cantonese. cantonese will never die down, it will remain as a dialect forever, even if it is only spoken at home. saying cantonese is getting extinct is just anti mandarin propaganda.
Haha it’s funny how naturally you gestured six hand sign. I find a lot of Chinese descendants born overseas wouldn’t be able to understand the way we sign numbers over five 😂
Yes, many will have no idea with the number six hand sign. She is more into the culture seeing her doing it naturally. Many older generation oversea Chinese speaks Cantonese. Before 80/70s it was majority of Taishan/southern Chinese speakers from what I've gathered. The new generations depends on how they were brought up by their family, some of them are incapable of speaking any Chinese language and some are still pretty good. It is a big topic for any cross culture immigrants (not just the Chinese) on how to keep their children retain their heritage while still being fluent in the country they are currently living in. Cantonese doesn't need to be a dying language, it is up to the people to keep it alive. I don't know if this still happening but in the old days many Chinese family would send their kids to weekend or part time Cantonese school to learn the language beside their regular school. China will miss a big piece of it's history of southern China if this language disappear, by then they might need a historian to translate many of it's artifacts that were left behind to uncover their own southern history. Cultural preservation may be needed.
Very nice video! I encourage you to explore different regions of China. I grew up in the northern part of China, and different parts of China differ so much in culture, I think, moving to the US for 20 plus years in my mid 20's was not that much of a change.
The real problem of huge population is that each individual doesn't matter that much. This makes human rights and equality ignored almost by most people, from up to down. We as a Chinese citizen has never had any expectation or to say never dare to ask for more rights or welfare in our life. That is a important point on my perspective of what makes the society so competitive with unchanged lack of opportunity.
Whilst I am currently living in the west and people claimed to care about your rights but they actually do not. If I’m beaten up or hurt on the street, or even run over by a car on the street of Sydney, the person who hurt me would not get proper punishment and I would not get proper reimbursement, and that is happening everyday in Australia at least.
@@MM-ds4qv The rights I mentioned here are more about labor, which is discussed in the video. At least your work and effort are protected by the law, right? However, in China, this is not the case. We cannot get the salary that we deserve because the population is too large making the labor so cheap here. All we can do is compete with the workers who are in the exactly same situation as us. This ridiculous and unhealthy cycle makes our efforts even more disrespected and unprotected. Also, to reply to your concerns about personal safety in your country, all I can say is that the security of our society actually comes at a cost. And none of you can even imagine. Hundreds of millions of security cameras are out there on the streets and scanning human faces nationwide. With a simple name, any person can be located, and their digital footprint and all personal data will be shown on the screen. Would you make such a sacrifice in your privacy just to be able to track suspects of car crashes?
@@blakechin6007 you say this not knowing I’m actually Chinese. You say crime suspects and car crashes like it’s child’s play, and yes I am willing to sacrifice that so the society can be a safe place where kids and women can walk on the street with less concern about themselves getting hurt. When you are hurt by people you can actually find the person and get them to pay for what they did. My friends got beaten on the street of Sydney and police said there were no cameras and because those are teenagers they cannot do anything either, cannot even contain them, that is so shit. As for labor and workforce, that is the situation for countries with large population, not something we can do about. It’s not that the companies do not care, it’s all companies do not care! You think the western companies and capitalism would want expensive labor if there are more of them? You think they will respect your time and effort if they are not the one with less power in the industry especially when labor market is employees market? Bullshit. Additionally, large population also creates tons of opportunities than others, tons of people earn money that they could not before because of a huge market out there. Like social media streaming shopping, you don’t need an office or factory, you buy stuff cheap (again cuz of large population and cheap labor) and sell them on social media streaming. These could be stay at home moms or disabled people or people simply cannot step outside and work. Also these help farmers too. These cannot be achieved by medium or small populations. It’s not all bad and it’s not all good.
@@MM-ds4qv You must have left China for a holy long time. No one in China would ever say live streaming creates opportunities for the average person!!! As a matter of fact, online shopping has caused an even worse storm in the market as the REAL shops in the REAL world are no longer competitive since the same goods are sold online directly from the factory to the customer. All the participants in the market in between, including millions of shop owners and their employees, have lost their job and business all because of the BULLSHIT ONLINE ECONOMY!!!!!!!!!! I can say for sure you know nothing about Chinese society and the average person's life in the country in recent years. And about your point about companies not respecting labor. I want you to realize that in the country you are currently living in, there is REAL and PROTECTED by the justice system LAW, that requires companies to pay the workers in a legal way. Lay-offs come at a cost that companies need to take BY LAW. Do you think this is the case for Chinese companies? And about the security, where were you when all of us were locked in our home in the past two years? How would you feel if you were locked in those huge mobile cabins living lives like a pig and separated from your lovely children only because there is one single SUSPECTED covid positive in your neighborhood?
@@MM-ds4qv If you are worrying about the security issues in Australia that much, and are so into being monitored, I STRONGLY recommend you to COME BACK to your deerest home country and let your kids grow up in this SAFE society!!!❤❤❤ /爱来自瓷器。
I agree with one of the commenters here: I think you should convey your thoughts on relaxing requirements for a green card to people in your district or even higher up within the province, if not higher.
I am so enthralled to learn about your perspective on China, as you encounter it in your own day-to-day life, I would like to ask of all Chinese that are watching these videos (a great place for them to improve their linguistic skills as well as develop their own perspective) to encourage all their friends to take a look at these short video essays and SUBSCRIBE to this channel. Alyssa needs more, lots more subscribers....
I was born in China and grew up in America for the past 30 years and I find your assessment and criticisms about China to be very fair. I can draw some parallels to your experience growing up as well, but from the other side of the world. Although I did manage to become a citizen after 10 years in the US, and could have access to all services and rights, I still feel that I am treated a bit differently than someone with Caucasian features. Asians are still a small group in America and will forever have the "foreigner" preconceptions/stereotypes attached to us even if we are born in the West. The recent COVID outbreak highlighted that fact. Politicians like Trump blamed China in every other sentence uttered, and Asian Americans paid the price. Many Asian Americans were physically attacked (some killed) and verbally abused with open racism. It's never fun to be a minority in any country, but I think the last time foreigners were targeted and killed in China was the Boxer Rebellion, a long time ago at least.
Trump is sub-human and a disgrace. Hopefully, he will go to jail soon and that will be the end of him. However, you are wrong in believing that the persecution of foreigners in China ended 100 years ago. You need to learn more history.
Dear my human sister Thanks for sharing your personal journey in China since 1999. The reason I’m here to write the comment is not to judge or comment about your video which it’s very interesting and there’s no any negative comment towards you and your video at all! I born in Shanghai with my Shanghainese parents and 2 sisters and for whatever the reason that I’ve never have the ‘good’ feeling about living in the country and since I was a child my goal was leaving that country as soon as I grown up which I did after my uni graduation and 6months of the work… since then I’ve truly have been experiencing my own desired life especially freedom of expression…and after over 30 years left China ( I did travel to see my birth family members during those years) and I’m still so glad my choices for not living in China because I’m not only love my origin as a Chinese but I’m also love myself as a human been without needing to identify which country I was ‘belong to’ and I’m simply a human being and I’m the world citizen … Most importantly I’m living in the heaven reality that I’ve created which I couldn’t imagine I could have done that if I’ve stayed in China. In gratitude with unconditional love 🙏🙏🙏🤍✨🤍🙏🙏🙏
Oh I have another comment - this one about traveling in China. I recently went to Qinghai. The province is twice the size of France but have less population that Guangzhou. Over there I found wildlife on the sides of expressways (I'd say they are pretty safe because there is not much traffic on those highways). So if you want to avoid crowds like me, keep Qinghai on your list of place-to-visit.
I think china should change its policy about giving out green card. Make it difficult but obtainable. Such as have people who are qualified ( people live in china for at least 10 years)to take a oral and written exam. People must be able to speak like a native at least about 90% and pass a written exam about chinese history and have knowledge of the chinese government policies. Have people do that in 2 seperate occasions in a setting like GalKao, where people cant cheat or bride the officials. I am sure people who truly like china and wanna stay will do everything to get through that, and people such as the vlogger will be 100% all for it!
I have a friend was also an expat kid just like you. She came with her dad for his assignment and lived in Shanghai for many years as a kid. She loved living there so much, she came back to Shanghai to attend university. She learned Shanghaiese, worked in Shanghai, married a Shanghai local, have a lovely girl, got divorced. Married again with another Chinese man. Move to Shenzhen, have another girl. But she finally moved back to the US with her new Chinese husband and children couple years ago. Before the pandemic. The biggest reason, she's getting worried about the safety of her children and herself every time she listens to taxi radio about China sentiment to the US. She specifically told us not to mention she's American (she's typical blonde foreigner.), but Canadian (now I don't think that will even calm her down) You look young, once you start having your own family, there are lot to think about staying in China. Especially with today's geopolitical situation.
I understand your concerns. There are many ultra-nationalists (also in the United States), but China does not yet have such horrific discrimination. It may be inconvenient for foreigners to live in China, but they will not be discriminated against.😂
I can feel you girl, I live in shenzhen and I recently got married to my Chinese partner I don’t even think about the green card haha😅 I just keep my own visa at the moment. I love how convenient and efficient can China be but yeah on the other hand I hate the 人山人海 thing every single holiday， and also me being a Latina girl I always get called xingjiang or simply get a lot of weird stares which I should get used to after being here for eight years but yeah it is still a bit uncomfortable at times. Apart from that China is a great place and quite misunderstood by people abroad, I just love the general safety here, but what you mentioned is also true the society gives a lot of pressure to its citizens not only on their working environment but also love wise, people’s interactions, the focus on beauty,skin color and money, etc.
I guess the good thing about mixed raced Latinas is they always pass for someone from Xinjiang so they don't stand out like a white person, even if they do draw attention to themselves. They're kinda close to celebrities such as Dilraba or Zhang Yuxi as far as having more "western" features.
I don't think Cantonese is a dying language. True, mandarin is becoming more dominant, but hundreds if not thousands of local dialects are speaking at homes in many parts of the country (my wife calls her mom speaking in a dialect that only ppl from a small county speak). Over 100 million ppl speak Cantonese. Not to mention, in Guangdong they even have the news reported in Cantonese.
I apologize for the inconvenience you experienced. I didn't even notice the hassles you have to deal with (simple online shopping which requires a national ID for customs) in your everyday life. To be honest, I spent 5 years in the U.S. and my experience was way better as a foreigner.
I never been to China..will love to visit China one day..I’m a British Hong Kong born Chinese..I speak Cantonese will love to learn speak mandarins ..maybe one day I will move to China
You'll certainly find China more spacious at least lol. I visited both HK and China and felt claustrophobic as hell in HK. But then again, there is the crowd during holiday seasons that are just as crowded as HK.
Happy to see a nice and pretty girl like you can love China so much and I appreciate your grasp on the pro and cons of what the county is currently facing.Hope you can stay as long as you want on this land!
Alysa: After watched and listened to your story i strongly advise you to write a letter to the Primary Minister Li Qiang on the Green Card issue, it will be worked according to my sixth sense. I am a Chinese i know there are some differences the way Chinese doing and thinking than foreigners, but generally speaking Chinese are more agreeable to sound reasons. You let them know your situation maybe it can make them to modify some policies which will benefit all foreigners not just you. For China governments the immigration issue is a virgin area that they do not know how to do it.
Prime Minister Li has big responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of 1.4 billion Chinese people first. He has to listen and solve their problems first. Not a foreigner no matter how long he/she has lived or loved China. Unless this foreigner has made a major contribution to China, then it's reasonable to give the green card.
Canton is the NO.1 province in China by GDP and GZ is within the top 4 megacities in mainland. Their fast-pace competetitve stressful lifestyle is only factual for a portion of Chinese people. Most people in the tier-3/4/5 cities, counties, and rural villages are much more laid-back . I'm from a small county of southern Anhui. Most of my friends and relatives in the hometown never need to work overtime or work in the weekend. They have a lot of hobbies like square dance, hiking, watching local operas, KTV, etc. You definitely need to travel more so that you can see more cross sections of China cuz it's a huge huge country and much more diverse culturally than you thought. I remember you said in a interview that you were not impressed by Li Ziqi cuz her videos are very distant from the city life you have. But putting the artistic presentation aside, her pastoral lifestyle indeed resonates a lot with the young audience because (unlike your homies in GZ) many city workers nowadays were born and raised in rural villages. Thirty years ago over 80% of Chinese population live in the rural area. Even as of today, we still have over 30% rural population. China was an agrarian society for thousands of years. If you don't dive deep into rural China with various geological conditions, you may never gain an insight of our cultures, languages, ethnicities, and mentalities.
China definitely wants to change and improve but not BY THE WEST OR AMERICANS especially!!. They are changing at their own pace, according to their own priorities , according to the needs of their people.
Hi Alyssa, it is good to learn Mandarin in school. People in South East Asian countries learn Mandarin in school. Cantonese is only taught in Hongkong schools, not in other countries. The Chinese government is not trying to suppress Cantonese like what the west claims. Most dialects like Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Teochew, Hainanese are dying and less spoken, not because of the government, but because of the parents, relatives or the individual himself who doesn't encourage the use of such language/dialects at home. I am a Hainanese and my husband is Cantonese but my children can't speak Hainanese and can only spesk a splattering of Cantonese. It is all about priorities
Oh, the central government does have soft control over the use of Cantonese. I remember the day when I overheard a radio chat in Guangzhou complaining about the ban by government broadcasting Asian Games events over radio. I still can vividly remember that talk. The host said Cantonese probably should not be labeled as a dialect but a language due the sheer user size. Cantonese speakers within China as well as the diaspora in other countries reached 100 million. My children can speak both Cantonese and Mandarin, in addition to other languages. Yes, I put my priority in Cantonese at home. They can learn other languages in school and other social settings.
@@MalcolmFMQ There is nothing wrong in making Mandarin the national language for ease of communication among various ethnicities. If you say Cantonese is being suppressed, then the other languages/dialects are worse. If you live in China, follow the laws and rules of China. I live in Malaysia and our national language is Malay. As a Malaysian, I have to follow the laws and rules of Malaysia. I have no complaints.
@@MalcolmFMQ Cantonese can only be deemed a language in Hongkong as it is the only place in the world that teaches Cantonese in school. All other countries teach Mandarin. My son's could not speak Cantonese well as we speak English at home and they go to Chinese schools which teach Mandarin.
@@MegaSuehanwhat falsehoods are trying to spread? Almost sounds like you're the CCP spreading BS propaganda. The Chinese government is for sure trying to suppress the Cantonese language. Last checked Guangdong, China was known as CANTON. Where else in China would people of the region speak CANTONESE? And why else would the would they call CANTONESE "guangdong wah". Because that is the dialect of the CANTONESE people and the dialect/language that we speak. But now mandarin is forced upon everyone in Guangdong. I find it ironic that people from CANTON/guangdong won't be speaking the language that is named after their region in a few decades.
My family is from Hong Kong, with ancestral roots in guangdong. Majority of my family then immigrated to the US in the 70s and that's where I was born. One of my uncles opened up a dim sum restaurant in the States. Growing up, I would help out at restaurant. One time a younger Chinese lady who was speaking to me in English, asking about her order (dim sum)... Out or no where asked if I spoke "Chinese". I replied, yes I do. She then started speaking to me in mandarin. I replied, sorry I don't understand mandarin. She got upset and gave me a facial expression, like "ohhh you're one of those" look. I apologized to her and said that I only speak Cantonese. She rudely responded back in English, "I thought you said you spoke CHINESE". I said, yes... Cantonese. If you have a problem, you can pay for your order and leave. After all, you're dining at CANTONESE restaurant. Also, you're in America. Shouldn't you be speaking to me in ENGLISH? I quickly shut her up, she paid and never came back. So yes, Cantonese is being suppressed. Even from mandarin only speakers. Not just the chinese government
If your job is flexible and can be relocated easily, think about the possibility in Hong Kong. After living in HK for 7 years, you are eligible for permanent residency. You can certainly get your way around with Mandarin and English, you can learn Cantonese at the same time.
It's about the same thing here in Malaysia. I'm foreign born, not registered here, I had the same issues getting citizenship and all the perks you mentioned. But I found my partner here after retirement, and viola! I got my citizenship after about 5 years of arguing for it. Gone through a lot, but it's worth it as I did intend to remain and live out the rest of my life here. It's a struggle, a struggle most any foreigner finds away from home in another country unless you have a lot of money to invest. I wish every country in this world could adjust a bit regarding their foreign immigrants policies so it isn't that reggressive. Afterall aren't we just the same humans living in the same planet?
I would say that's an Asian experience. Forever a foreigner unless born there. As long as you contribute economically, or have family ties in a western country, you can eventually get citizenship. But good that you got what you wanted. I gotta say Malaysia has my favorite mix of foods in Asia.
Yes, but in the US the system is designed in a way that the immigrants can access most things even without a green card. In mainland china I am reminded ten times a day that I do not have a green card and I do not belong here. I believe this has an emotional toll on the immigrants, and that is by design. If people feel welcome, they would consider settling down. If they are shown their place ten times a day, they would make money for some time and move out.
Thanks for this video, it was a breath of fresh air to see my own country like this from your eyes. I echo a lot of your sentiments, especially the part about work-life balance and mental health, but I do feel things are getting better after COVID now that people are making better use of remote working and there's a growing awareness of life over work. I find it really funny to hear you say your English is getting worse since I spend a lot of time consuming Western media and entertainment and I've barely written any Chinese since graduating from high school I fear my Chinese is getting worse XD I used to read a lot of Chinese literature but for some reason Western entertainment just appeals to me more so I'm just surrounded by English these days. I honestly did not know anything about immigration into China, and I personally feel your Chinese ability alone should qualify you for citizenship (not to mention your time spent here) XD I guess we're just not used to hearing about people moving in? I hear about people moving from China to Canada, Australia and the US all the time but I rarely hear about foreigners settling in. I'm just kind of used to the world spurning and criticizing China I haven't even considered the possibility that people might want to move in. Also, not sure how keen you are about this, but I've seen plenty of friends study in Hong Kong and pick up Cantonese very quickly. A lot of people in Hong Kong who speak Cantonese daily also pick up Mandarin very fast. I personally speak both. There are a lot of parallels in the pronunciation of words, and the grammar is basically the same, just some occasional nuances in lexicon. I know it might seem daunting at first, but I do hope this doesn't stop you from learning it if you're keen about it. In any case, 謝謝你的分享 :)
It is really a sad thing that in this age of globalization, China is still not a migrant friendly country. Hope for better policies in future. Good luck.
I am a high school student from Chengdu, in my eyes,the biggest problem of china is the exam-oriented education .I have to study more than 11 hours a day and even can't sleep until the next morning, but the fact is what we learn is nothing to do with our life and future, examination is just a pattern to select the personnel.
I definitely don't like the crowds after living in the states for so long. I do love the diversity in the states but I didn't feel that much growing up in China most likely because I'm ethinic Han Chinese and never even thought about diversity until I came to the states...
I saw you at hezhimeng months ago, didn't know you have a channel. I am like is that Alysa the american girl I saw at that show, so glad to see you, hope you have a good day!
It is so balanced video, just love it! sometimes I feel awkward when watching people just telling how good China life is, the safety and city buildings, surely it is mostly true but I would use a BBC term like at what cost😅 young people in the cities do carry a lot of burdens and deserve a better life style, hope the government people realize this so the population won’t crash in a few years
I'm American born. I have relatives in GZ. I can't imagine living Ch1na. Well because ALhambra and monterey park california is just almost the same thing. Except we have american laws and homeless.
Nice video! Even with a green card, you still won't be able to purchase products from platforms like the international Tmall, as it is still not designed to accommodate the small proportion of people without a Chinese ID. There are other options though if you really want that card. For example, if you get your PhD, you are now qualified for a green card or if you are under 18 and your parents earn the salary standard set for your city (which is different for every city), then you can also acquire it that way through them (or if your foreign spouse acquires one, you can also get it through him/her). Some people have also received it by being given awards like the Friendship Award (友谊奖). Continue to follow your heart and don't give up on your dreams. 加油加油!🐧[waddle]
Thanks for sharing. I am a dad of 3 young boys living in SZ, China. I should really take them out and travel more before they get all bogged down with studies and work. And the advice on Cantonese is great! I have a Cantonese background, but my youngest boy doesn't speak Cantonese. I think we need to speak more Cantonese at home instead of mandarin and English.
As a Chinese living in Shanghai I need to say your obversion about our social is totally accurate. And like you said, the population made our culture, include the good side and the bad side, such as the competition and the things you don't like (some I don't like too). "No country is perfect", so embrace what you love and use actions to change what can be changed. :)
For me, as a Chinese international student who is right now studying in America, this video really provided me a whole new perspective. I have complained to my friends about how hard it is if I want a job to settle down and get a US green card but didn’t realize it is also hard for Americans to attain a Chinese one. Any way, I completely understand the difficulties you may face as a foreigner trying to live in a foreign country and hopefully we can both have a better future.
You don't need to be obsessed with the bullshit country. Russia would be better.
It's not late for you to travel around China. On the contrast, it's the perfect time now. You are still young, but old enough to appreciate the nature wonders or Chinese culture. I almost forget everything that happened when I was a kid.
My nephew, who was born and raised in Canada, recently came to Hong Kong because he wants his kids to learn about their heritage, and to learn the Chinese language. But, he did not put his kids in local school, same as your parents. You see, he would have a problem tutoring his kids. You probably know already that Chinese schools are very competitive, so the parents have to spend time tutoring their kids to help them get good grades. So Alysa, maybe you'd regret not attending a local school but I'm sure your parents don't regret that at all.😅
yes, China students are very hard to study, it sounds good things, but actually I think it lets students overwhelmed
Glad to hear from a foreigner perspective of living in China. I’m sure you’ll do good in China. Keep it up.
I lived in China for 8 years teaching English at university. I lived in 3 different small cities. I think it was great because the small cities were easy to get around and not as crowded as the big cities. In each city I had a motorcycle and that made it easy to get around. I didn’t make a big salary but the schools provided an apartment and the cost of living in a small city was not expensive. And I got a lot of free time and vacation time and I was able to travel and go to other places in the country. Now I’m too old to work there (they have a rule about hiring older teachers). But I hope I can go back and travel. By the way I went to Shanghai in May 2023 and it was the first time in China in 7 years. It was great but I got a shock. Almost everyone was paying for everything with their phones. I only had cash. But thank goodness people accepted my cash. Things keep changing! I’ve been in 6 countries in the past year and China is the only one that is like that. Everywhere else cash is commonly used
It is illegal to refuse cash in China，You can pay in cash or electronically
谢谢你的评价，虽然看得懂你说的，但是让我用英文，有点为难我。welcome to Chengdu in Sichuan province
Sorry for your regression,.We are trying to take care of every elderly people, hoping we will cope with that~welcome to China again
thank you a lovely people, I hope you can enjoy the time in China
It shocked me to realize that I haven't use cash for about 2-3years🤣The last time I touched cash is when i discovered my piggy bank from childhood when my family is moving to a bigger apartment,it's filled with coins and one yuan bills🤣I used to wish to save a fortune out of it hahaha
说得真好，中国不是一个移民国家，确实没有很多移民配套政策，外国人可能会比较辛苦，不过希望你的生活越来越好
已经很好了，至少不用为治安担惊受怕。
有趣的地方是，中國對華人異常友善，似乎是比較歡迎你移民出去，然後有空回來看看 😂
因為大陸政府不會想去討好外國人。你想留下就留下，就離開就離開，一切以你自己為主
@@Nangong-Tianzhi 中国有14亿人，每个人都有自己选择的权利，人家想移民就移民呗，但是国内还有家人的话，人家也可以回来看看啊，毕竟工作学习生活如果在国外是有发展的，那么就看自己选择呗，毕竟中国那么多人，国内竞争压力也大。国内找不到自己想要的工作或生活方式，那么有资源，有能力的话，去国外生活也未尝不是一件坏事啊。
人太多了，出去是好事，可以拓展华人的生存空间@@Nangong-Tianzhi
有这么多压力和不便，还能继续留在这里生活，真的挺不容易的。祝未来的政策会更友好一些，也祝你的生活更幸福一些。
她说的很客观了，要接受这种友好的不同意见。
她父亲其实对中国有很大的贡献的，但是在差不多给绿卡的时候去世了。结果一大家子就抓马了。跟那些一门心思扎根中国的家庭不太一样，她家错过了最好的投资中国和自己未来的时期。她有个很爱她的中国男友。其他的事情只能希望未来中国的政策更能宽松了。
政策放松一大堆黑鬼蜂拥而至，这是我们很不愿意看到的，前两年有出台放宽的政策让做讨论结果被骂死，都在拿法国举例说一旦放松黑鬼立马攻占广州
她能住这么久当然是好处大于坏处，如果不能忍受早就离开了，压力和不便哪里都有，正如她说的世界上没有完美的国家。总有些极端的人爱把中国说的一无是处，这个频主真的很理性客观
到那里都会有遇到不同的问题和快乐。
I'm a 100% native Chinese person born and raised in China. I've experienced and realized all the cons you mentioned as I grew up. I used to be kind of sick of those things but I wondered why our country is like that. And after my one-year studying abroad in the US, I came up with the same idea you said.. All the pros and cons can be related to the size of population here. I also really wish that our country can be more open to foreigners staying for longer in the future. And thank you for sharing these about China criticallly and impersonally❤
I don't think you have good understanding of America. You need to live there and set in for more than 10 years with independent view, you will see the true color of America. You have to be American to be American. Because America is immigrants country, it's different in this area than China. But you only can be the lowest class in America society as Chinese ethnicity.
@@frankng4574 I half agree and half disagree. You can be whatever ethnicity you want to be while still having an independent view of the US from your experience in it. But I do agree that it takes more time to truly learn about a country this big.
@@5k3m. I don't think you understand, period. View from outside of the box without being influenced by American disinformation around you 24/7, is not a easy job. I happened to wake up due to an unexpected incident which made me think from different perspective.
Hi Alysa, happy to watching your UA-cam channel, So friendly you’re, My childhood life was in Guangzhou and growing up in HongKong, your Mandarin pronunciation is attractive and impressive, I am proud of you ! I speak Cantonese, Mandarin, English, German and some French, my daughter speaks German, French, English, Italian and some Cantonese. I am living in Switzerland with retirement, I was visiting Guangzhou and HongKong regularly before pandemic. I booked my flight to Hong Kong in January, perhaps see you in Guangzhou, if I am lucky, thank you for sharing this video ❤❤❤
疫情三年让很多外国人都跑了，还能留下来的算真爱了😂😂
因为她从小在这生活，更认定这里是家，没有去别的国家意向，无论是否因为疫情原因
别说外国人跑了，像我们这些外国国籍的中国人都走了，主要因为疫情期间拘留无法更新
They didn’t run away, they just could not get a new visa because of coronavirus. I went to celebrate New Year with my family at 2019 and after that I could not went back to China. Borders were closed
诗闻，你在中国呆这么久，对中国文化和习俗这么了解的人，值得一个绿卡，希望中国为你们这类人开放通道，喜欢你的视频
她就是中国人了其实，只要不违法和不自己离开，没人会赶她的。中国国内还是很讲情面的，我相信她住这么久应该了解。虽然换不了身份证但其它情况有困难的耐心多打几个电话就好了，有人会给她解决的
@@zackk4969 外国人不恨中国人吗？恨是相互的。🙃
@@feisfwliu6556 这里不讨论政治，外国人恨中国人是政治原因。
@@zackk4969 中国人恨外国人那是政治原因。
绿卡（居留证）≠身份证，绿卡是允许外国人居住定居但不享有国民待遇的证件，难道二十多年就是靠签证一直待在中国？
Hi, your post makes my day. I’m Chinese Canadian from Taishan. My great great grandparents immigrated to California somewhere in 1940’s. Then my mom married to Montréal. Technically, I’m the 5th generation and my son is the 6th generation in North America. My mother tongue is Taishanese and I also speak fluently Cantonese, French and English. In 2009, I visited for the first time Hong-Kong and Guangzhou. When I question people on the menu, people were surprised coz they thought I was a local 😂 I was very proud that I still master Cantonese. My parents were so stricts and now I can tell they did a great job teaching me and my two siblings. Actually, my 12 others American Chinese cousins, even if we are the 5th generation, they all speak Cantonese! The 6th generation are more mixted French-Chinese, American-Chinese, Jew-Chinese, Korean-Chinese: this will be challenge to preserve our language.
Alysa, solidarity to you, I love your channel and insights. I will work on what I can of them to improve my little one 's life. Thank you for all you do.
You obviously love China. Just with your videos, you’ve shown life in China that most people don’t get to see. I really hope they will change the laws for people who have been living there for so long and who contribute to its community. To me, your videos alone is a positive contribution.
你说的中国的缺点确实不错，我也是这样，我也是打算再工作个几年就去云南买个小房子躺平哈哈。然后我也希望国家能修改政策，让你们这样在中国生活这么多年的人可以得到绿卡，祝你生活愉快。
Loved hearing from you. Please post videos more frequently.❤
it was so nice that you added the chinese subtitle! Really appreciate your love and advice to this country, and hope you'll get the green card in the near future~
Quite spot on! Space! Shortage of space for personal growth, space for relaxation, space for rejuvenation, that is the biggest challenge of living in China. I think the Chinese society begin to realize that is the bottleneck issue for China and things are starting to change as you mentioned.
yes, things are changing, especially with all the new outdoor spaces that I could see in Shenzhen
Can total relate ‘sometimes you want to be alone and feel sad, but couldn’t, with all these people around’😂😂
Totally agree with you about the inconvenience of living in china as a foreigner. I left China many years ago. But China still has a big part in my heart. My parents, siblings, relatives and friends are in China. Chinese is proud of its tech development. It makes the lives for local residents convenient. But foreigners are always in the corner cases for their single-mindedly designed systems. Ironically the more "advanced" Chinese technology develops, the most suffocating it is for foreigners who travel to China. This kind of implicit discrimination makes me feel not welcomed by my motherland any more. That is a little bitter and we have to move on.
希望政策面能更好地关照到热爱此地的国际友人。祝愿你幸福好运！
Maybe one of the most onpoint English video that offers an ideologically uncontaminated perspective. I was born and raised in Xi'an since 1999. Somehow ended up in Portland OR now. Can't really plan every step of your life... BEST LUCK with your journey!!!
“No country is perfect. Everywhere has its pros and cons” perfectly said. All the best
There is so much competition in China. As a college student, I don’t even have time to stop and think about my life and then I have to strive for the next phase of my life. 😢 I really wish someday I can earn enough money to travel around the country or even the world freely. But right now, this is only a dream
The same that your English wouldn not have been this GOOD (sounds exactly native) if you hadn't gone through the education system you had. Do you know most Asian Americans can't even speak a word of their parents' language and a lot of them even hated speaking their parents' language during childhood (cuz they wanted to fit in). You're able to express yourself natively in Mandarin and English so good for you!
Do you know why a lot of Asian Americans don't speak their parents ' language? Discrimination and racism. It is quite blatant and it is reflected in the behavior of the kids.
广州是很不错，不过夏季太热了，人也多，这是一线城市的通病。Alysa 你可以去内蒙古游玩，人少景美的地方很多，很适合一个人静静待着，放松身心。Welcome to Inner Mongolia for your travel experience! Inner Mongolia is a fascinating destination with diverse landscapes and rich cultural heritage.
威海啊烟台啊，淡季的时候也超棒
The various restrictions for foreigners owning a property might change over time depending on situations. But it's definitely not a very crucial issue for the government to prioritise for now.
Great Content Alysa..your English is Perfect..thanks for telling the truth in your videos..hope you have a great life in China...very Jealous..😀
There are all ways somethings good somethings bad, Adapt current situation and enjoy the life you have is most important
事情總是有好有坏，适应狀況并享受你所拥有的生活是最重要的
Thank you for shouting out the importance to learn and protect Cantonese, as it is a truly complex yet beautiful language that holds so much history and culture (or some will correctly say it's a dialect.) I'm thankful that I get to learn it as my mother tongue but it's really sad to see how this language is losing its ground in Hong Kong, due to all the new policies that the Government started to put in place since HK's reunification (ie. mandating all primary schools to teach Chinese in Mandarin instead of Canto).
There're now more Cantonese/Hong Kongese diaspora trying to ensure they teach their kids Cantonese despite immigrating away, hopefully they'll get more and more support and manage to help keep Cantonese going in some way or another.
cantonese is not being endangered at all. thats like saying shanghainese dialect is endangered, or hakka is endangered, or fujian is endangered, but chinese dialects are still spoken daily, as is cantonese. cantonese will never die down, it will remain as a dialect forever, even if it is only spoken at home. saying cantonese is getting extinct is just anti mandarin propaganda.
Haha it’s funny how naturally you gestured six hand sign. I find a lot of Chinese descendants born overseas wouldn’t be able to understand the way we sign numbers over five 😂
Yes, many will have no idea with the number six hand sign. She is more into the culture seeing her doing it naturally.
Many older generation oversea Chinese speaks Cantonese. Before 80/70s it was majority of Taishan/southern Chinese speakers from what I've gathered. The new generations depends on how they were brought up by their family, some of them are incapable of speaking any Chinese language and some are still pretty good. It is a big topic for any cross culture immigrants (not just the Chinese) on how to keep their children retain their heritage while still being fluent in the country they are currently living in.
Cantonese doesn't need to be a dying language, it is up to the people to keep it alive. I don't know if this still happening but in the old days many Chinese family would send their kids to weekend or part time Cantonese school to learn the language beside their regular school.
China will miss a big piece of it's history of southern China if this language disappear, by then they might need a historian to translate many of it's artifacts that were left behind to uncover their own southern history. Cultural preservation may be needed.
Alyssa, I totally agree with you.
Good video!
任何经济体都要在高速发展和生活质量之间寻找平衡，两者无法兼得，每个发展阶段各有侧重；当然还有另一种方式可以同时获得以上两者，那就是对外输出战争并掠夺资源。
绿卡和身份证是两种不同证件，不要混淆哦!身份证=中国国籍，得放弃外国国籍才能拥有，绿卡是给外国人在中国合法居住和工作的证件。
但是綠卡可以幫他實現那些不方便的東西
1999年9月4日,金沙洲第1个楼盘城西花园开盘。 当年城西花园价格开盘价格为2500元/㎡，现在广州房的均价是33000，那时候投资房产，现在应该都财务自由了吧
所以说，硬币总有正反面，就看我们选择哪一面。得到了好处，就要付出相应代价。加油~
Thanks for sharing all aspects of our country to the world ❤❤❤
amazing video I love china and I hope to go there one day
No matter where you go, purchasing a property as soon as you have decided to work and live there for years to come is usually beneficial.
Very nice video! I encourage you to explore different regions of China. I grew up in the northern part of China, and different parts of China differ so much in culture, I think, moving to the US for 20 plus years in my mid 20's was not that much of a change.
The real problem of huge population is that each individual doesn't matter that much. This makes human rights and equality ignored almost by most people, from up to down. We as a Chinese citizen has never had any expectation or to say never dare to ask for more rights or welfare in our life. That is a important point on my perspective of what makes the society so competitive with unchanged lack of opportunity.
Whilst I am currently living in the west and people claimed to care about your rights but they actually do not. If I’m beaten up or hurt on the street, or even run over by a car on the street of Sydney, the person who hurt me would not get proper punishment and I would not get proper reimbursement, and that is happening everyday in Australia at least.
@@MM-ds4qv The rights I mentioned here are more about labor, which is discussed in the video. At least your work and effort are protected by the law, right? However, in China, this is not the case. We cannot get the salary that we deserve because the population is too large making the labor so cheap here. All we can do is compete with the workers who are in the exactly same situation as us. This ridiculous and unhealthy cycle makes our efforts even more disrespected and unprotected.
Also, to reply to your concerns about personal safety in your country, all I can say is that the security of our society actually comes at a cost. And none of you can even imagine. Hundreds of millions of security cameras are out there on the streets and scanning human faces nationwide. With a simple name, any person can be located, and their digital footprint and all personal data will be shown on the screen.
Would you make such a sacrifice in your privacy just to be able to track suspects of car crashes?
@@blakechin6007 you say this not knowing I’m actually Chinese. You say crime suspects and car crashes like it’s child’s play, and yes I am willing to sacrifice that so the society can be a safe place where kids and women can walk on the street with less concern about themselves getting hurt. When you are hurt by people you can actually find the person and get them to pay for what they did. My friends got beaten on the street of Sydney and police said there were no cameras and because those are teenagers they cannot do anything either, cannot even contain them, that is so shit. As for labor and workforce, that is the situation for countries with large population, not something we can do about. It’s not that the companies do not care, it’s all companies do not care! You think the western companies and capitalism would want expensive labor if there are more of them? You think they will respect your time and effort if they are not the one with less power in the industry especially when labor market is employees market? Bullshit. Additionally, large population also creates tons of opportunities than others, tons of people earn money that they could not before because of a huge market out there. Like social media streaming shopping, you don’t need an office or factory, you buy stuff cheap (again cuz of large population and cheap labor) and sell them on social media streaming. These could be stay at home moms or disabled people or people simply cannot step outside and work. Also these help farmers too. These cannot be achieved by medium or small populations. It’s not all bad and it’s not all good.
@@MM-ds4qv You must have left China for a holy long time. No one in China would ever say live streaming creates opportunities for the average person!!! As a matter of fact, online shopping has caused an even worse storm in the market as the REAL shops in the REAL world are no longer competitive since the same goods are sold online directly from the factory to the customer. All the participants in the market in between, including millions of shop owners and their employees, have lost their job and business all because of the BULLSHIT ONLINE ECONOMY!!!!!!!!!! I can say for sure you know nothing about Chinese society and the average person's life in the country in recent years.
And about your point about companies not respecting labor. I want you to realize that in the country you are currently living in, there is REAL and PROTECTED by the justice system LAW, that requires companies to pay the workers in a legal way. Lay-offs come at a cost that companies need to take BY LAW. Do you think this is the case for Chinese companies?
And about the security, where were you when all of us were locked in our home in the past two years? How would you feel if you were locked in those huge mobile cabins living lives like a pig and separated from your lovely children only because there is one single SUSPECTED covid positive in your neighborhood?
@@MM-ds4qv If you are worrying about the security issues in Australia that much, and are so into being monitored, I STRONGLY recommend you to COME BACK to your deerest home country and let your kids grow up in this SAFE society!!!❤❤❤ /爱来自瓷器。
I agree with one of the commenters here: I think you should convey your thoughts on relaxing requirements for a green card to people in your district or even higher up within the province, if not higher.
I love how you made the six sign with your hand even talking in English.
我是首次看你的片，外國很多人越來越多想來中國，門檻的放寬或收緊要看國家發展政策，確實不能一下只放寬太多，個人感覺如你已24年住中國，如無任何犯罪，個人覺得應該給與綠卡當然這是個人觀感！隨著人口下降國家政策或有所改變，期望你能拿到綠卡的一天
假如是非洲的黑人或者其他地方的msl，相信会有很多国人不同意发绿卡。广州越秀区很多非洲人，有些和中国人生了混血，混血小孩子一口流利的广东话或者普通话，从讲话来看很明显就是中国人了。但很多国人却嘲讽广州人。
Well said! As a Chinese living in Shanghai, I agree with you 100%.
很客观的评价，中国由于人口众多肯定是不会随便开放移民政策的，如果随便开放国内的社会资源负荷不了那么多人🤣😂
Such a authentic feeling. All of those comments of China are very true. Glad to listen to your narrative.
我是中国人，我觉得我们的移民政策非常的死板！希望在不久的将来会有所改变，让你们这些从小在中国长大的人有真正的归属感
中国不是移民国家，没有这个政策，不喜欢可以不来的！
@deconlee 它是1450反串的！
@deconlee 这样的开口闭口说中国移民政策死板的都是煞笔
它自己就没意识到它为了个外国人就可以松动中国的国本政策
意味着现实里会主动给外来的垃圾洋人（这家人就是垃圾洋人类似于高级流浪者而已）各种优待
这家人没任何特殊能力技术对中国的贡献却可以持续在华20多年，本身就不合理了
移民国家终会陷入混乱
@deconlee这种就是典型的没脑子，视频中如果是个黑人，长得还不是很好看，他甚至都不会点进来，中国本来也不是移民国家，如果从小在中国长大，就可以有中国籍，那么其他人种要不要给。 我虽不喜欢黑人，但不至于歧视。 我曾经的大学 不少黑人留学生， 他们甚至拖家带口。呵，虽然我看到的可能是极端个例，但是听其他大学人讲这种现象也不少。 还有中国人各省份想要发达城市户口都不方便， 那如果外国人生在哪个城市就有哪的户口，本国各省份如何调节？ 而且中国才吃饱几年？ 中国的今天是无数先烈们惨痛的付出换来的， 对我们有贡献的，真心为共和国付出的，都已经有中国籍了。 今天还有很多人讨论国内贫富差距问题，这些都还没有解决，就因为你看着这个博主长得不错，三言两语就如何如何了，国家政策不是儿戏， 与其在这怪国家， 不如你给她一个月开个八万工资，什么都解决了。
As a Chinese American living in China, I fully resonate with you in terms of those things you don't like in China.
正如你说的，中国不是移民国家，中国人口居多😂😂所以外国人很难得到绿卡。但是我非常希望像你这样的外国人可以得到绿卡，希望日后可以有些关于外国人落户中国的友好政策吧。
I am so enthralled to learn about your perspective on China, as you encounter it in your own day-to-day life, I would like to ask of all Chinese that are watching these videos (a great place for them to improve their linguistic skills as well as develop their own perspective) to encourage all their friends to take a look at these short video essays and SUBSCRIBE to this channel. Alyssa needs more, lots more subscribers....
I was born in China and grew up in America for the past 30 years and I find your assessment and criticisms about China to be very fair. I can draw some parallels to your experience growing up as well, but from the other side of the world. Although I did manage to become a citizen after 10 years in the US, and could have access to all services and rights, I still feel that I am treated a bit differently than someone with Caucasian features. Asians are still a small group in America and will forever have the "foreigner" preconceptions/stereotypes attached to us even if we are born in the West. The recent COVID outbreak highlighted that fact. Politicians like Trump blamed China in every other sentence uttered, and Asian Americans paid the price. Many Asian Americans were physically attacked (some killed) and verbally abused with open racism. It's never fun to be a minority in any country, but I think the last time foreigners were targeted and killed in China was the Boxer Rebellion, a long time ago at least.
Trump is sub-human and a disgrace. Hopefully, he will go to jail soon and that will be the end of him. However, you are wrong in believing that the persecution of foreigners in China ended 100 years ago. You need to learn more history.
It's China's fault. China, China, China haha
Dear my human sister
Thanks for sharing your personal journey in China since 1999.
The reason I’m here to write the comment is not to judge or comment about your video which it’s very interesting and there’s no any negative comment towards you and your video at all!
I born in Shanghai with my Shanghainese parents and 2 sisters and for whatever the reason that I’ve never have the ‘good’ feeling about living in the country and since I was a child my goal was leaving that country as soon as I grown up which I did after my uni graduation and 6months of the work… since then I’ve truly have been experiencing my own desired life especially freedom of expression…and after over 30 years left China ( I did travel to see my birth family members during those years) and I’m still so glad my choices for not living in China because I’m not only love my origin as a Chinese but I’m also love myself as a human been without needing to identify which country I was ‘belong to’ and I’m simply a human being and I’m the world citizen …
Most importantly I’m living in the heaven reality that I’ve created which I couldn’t imagine I could have done that if I’ve stayed in China.
In gratitude with unconditional love
🙏🙏🙏🤍✨🤍🙏🙏🙏
Oh I have another comment - this one about traveling in China. I recently went to Qinghai. The province is twice the size of France but have less population that Guangzhou. Over there I found wildlife on the sides of expressways (I'd say they are pretty safe because there is not much traffic on those highways). So if you want to avoid crowds like me, keep Qinghai on your list of place-to-visit.
其实不是在旅游旺季，旅游景点都不会很挤。中国的人口分部不均衡，东南部沿海城市人口密度大，青岛属于北方城市，人比较少。
Regarding 7:54, a monthly salary of 60,000 to 70,000 Renminbi is equivalent to $8,200 to $9,567 United States Dollars.
I think china should change its policy about giving out green card. Make it difficult but obtainable. Such as have people who are qualified ( people live in china for at least 10 years)to take a oral and written exam. People must be able to speak like a native at least about 90% and pass a written exam about chinese history and have knowledge of the chinese government policies. Have people do that in 2 seperate occasions in a setting like GalKao, where people cant cheat or bride the officials. I am sure people who truly like china and wanna stay will do everything to get through that, and people such as the vlogger will be 100% all for it!
多谢你的分享。我觉得中国在不久的将来会让像你这样的外国人能拿到绿卡。移民是个大事情，在没有把本国人的民生弄好，让过多外国人去跟本国人竞争会容易出问题的。
她已经结婚了吗 @user-ho9zw7zc9q
I really appreciate your fair comments. I wish you have fun in China.
Living in an amazing and culture-abundant country, I hope your life will be better every day.
I have a friend was also an expat kid just like you. She came with her dad for his assignment and lived in Shanghai for many years as a kid. She loved living there so much, she came back to Shanghai to attend university.
She learned Shanghaiese, worked in Shanghai, married a Shanghai local, have a lovely girl, got divorced. Married again with another Chinese man. Move to Shenzhen, have another girl.
But she finally moved back to the US with her new Chinese husband and children couple years ago. Before the pandemic.
The biggest reason, she's getting worried about the safety of her children and herself every time she listens to taxi radio about China sentiment to the US. She specifically told us not to mention she's American (she's typical blonde foreigner.), but Canadian (now I don't think that will even calm her down)
You look young, once you start having your own family, there are lot to think about staying in China. Especially with today's geopolitical situation.
I understand your concerns. There are many ultra-nationalists (also in the United States), but China does not yet have such horrific discrimination. It may be inconvenient for foreigners to live in China, but they will not be discriminated against.😂
I can feel you girl, I live in shenzhen and I recently got married to my Chinese partner I don’t even think about the green card haha😅 I just keep my own visa at the moment. I love how convenient and efficient can China be but yeah on the other hand I hate the 人山人海 thing every single holiday， and also me being a Latina girl I always get called xingjiang or simply get a lot of weird stares which I should get used to after being here for eight years but yeah it is still a bit uncomfortable at times. Apart from that China is a great place and quite misunderstood by people abroad, I just love the general safety here, but what you mentioned is also true the society gives a lot of pressure to its citizens not only on their working environment but also love wise, people’s interactions, the focus on beauty,skin color and money, etc.
I guess the good thing about mixed raced Latinas is they always pass for someone from Xinjiang so they don't stand out like a white person, even if they do draw attention to themselves. They're kinda close to celebrities such as Dilraba or Zhang Yuxi as far as having more "western" features.
My daughter was born in China to two foreign parents. She is now 6 years old and I often wonder how she will look back on her life when she is older.
I don't think Cantonese is a dying language. True, mandarin is becoming more dominant, but hundreds if not thousands of local dialects are speaking at homes in many parts of the country (my wife calls her mom speaking in a dialect that only ppl from a small county speak). Over 100 million ppl speak Cantonese. Not to mention, in Guangdong they even have the news reported in Cantonese.
It’s when schooling no longer taught in Cantonese. It gradually relegates to secondary, not primary language. Then, it dies one day.
The younger generation they don't speak Cantonese anymore. She's right.
I apologize for the inconvenience you experienced. I didn't even notice the hassles you have to deal with (simple online shopping which requires a national ID for customs) in your everyday life. To be honest, I spent 5 years in the U.S. and my experience was way better as a foreigner.
I never been to China..will love to visit China one day..I’m a British Hong Kong born Chinese..I speak Cantonese will love to learn speak mandarins ..maybe one day I will move to China
You'll certainly find China more spacious at least lol. I visited both HK and China and felt claustrophobic as hell in HK. But then again, there is the crowd during holiday seasons that are just as crowded as HK.
Happy to see a nice and pretty girl like you can love China so much and I appreciate your grasp on the pro and cons of what the county is currently facing.Hope you can stay as long as you want on this land!
Alysa: After watched and listened to your story i strongly advise you to write a letter to the Primary Minister Li Qiang on the Green Card issue, it will be worked according to my sixth sense. I am a Chinese i know there are some differences the way Chinese doing and thinking than foreigners, but generally speaking Chinese are more agreeable to sound reasons. You let them know your situation maybe it can make them to modify some policies which will benefit all foreigners not just you. For China governments the immigration issue is a virgin area that they do not know how to do it.
非常支持！
給總理寫信有用嗎？法規擺在那裡，這又不是總理講了算
@@玉山黃婕 流程上是合理的，因为包括总理在内的公务员和人大代表都可以向全国人大提议新议题，如果通过就可以由人大推动法条法规调整
@@zackk4969moronic troll spotted. shoo..
Prime Minister Li has big responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of 1.4 billion Chinese people first. He has to listen and solve their problems first. Not a foreigner no matter how long he/she has lived or loved China. Unless this foreigner has made a major contribution to China, then it's reasonable to give the green card.
Can’t believe I’m 10 days late!!! Okay knowledge, ooookay skin!!! 👏
Ahaha all filmed on my iPhone 😂 camera was not cooperating
Canton is the NO.1 province in China by GDP and GZ is within the top 4 megacities in mainland. Their fast-pace competetitve stressful lifestyle is only factual for a portion of Chinese people. Most people in the tier-3/4/5 cities, counties, and rural villages are much more laid-back . I'm from a small county of southern Anhui. Most of my friends and relatives in the hometown never need to work overtime or work in the weekend. They have a lot of hobbies like square dance, hiking, watching local operas, KTV, etc. You definitely need to travel more so that you can see more cross sections of China cuz it's a huge huge country and much more diverse culturally than you thought. I remember you said in a interview that you were not impressed by Li Ziqi cuz her videos are very distant from the city life you have. But putting the artistic presentation aside, her pastoral lifestyle indeed resonates a lot with the young audience because (unlike your homies in GZ) many city workers nowadays were born and raised in rural villages. Thirty years ago over 80% of Chinese population live in the rural area. Even as of today, we still have over 30% rural population. China was an agrarian society for thousands of years. If you don't dive deep into rural China with various geological conditions, you may never gain an insight of our cultures, languages, ethnicities, and mentalities.
China's current GDP ranks 1 in Beijing, 2 in Shanghai, 3 in Shenzhen, 4 in Chongqing and 5 in Guangzhou
I am in Dali now, living a dream life of what I have been expecting for such a long time. I do regret that I came here so late.
China definitely wants to change and improve but not BY THE WEST OR AMERICANS especially!!. They are changing at their own pace, according to their own priorities , according to the needs of their people.
freedom of speech,safe food, good education,good hospital etc are all the needs of the Chinese people
Why some Chiinese buy and seell their wiiffe-s?
Is it changed? I don't think so
@@zackk4969 you still believe Chinese are still living in feudal society? What western hillbilly news media have you been watching? Haha
@@kko-punch7059 Yes I believe it
Why some Chiinese buy and seell their wiiffe-s?
@@kko-punch7059 Why Chiina baanned Youutube ? I though Chiina is safe and open!
Love your video. Keep this up. Take care.
Hi Alyssa, it is good to learn Mandarin in school. People in South East Asian countries learn Mandarin in school. Cantonese is only taught in Hongkong schools, not in other countries. The Chinese government is not trying to suppress Cantonese like what the west claims. Most dialects like Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Teochew, Hainanese are dying and less spoken, not because of the government, but because of the parents, relatives or the individual himself who doesn't encourage the use of such language/dialects at home. I am a Hainanese and my husband is Cantonese but my children can't speak Hainanese and can only spesk a splattering of Cantonese. It is all about priorities
Oh, the central government does have soft control over the use of Cantonese. I remember the day when I overheard a radio chat in Guangzhou complaining about the ban by government broadcasting Asian Games events over radio. I still can vividly remember that talk. The host said Cantonese probably should not be labeled as a dialect but a language due the sheer user size. Cantonese speakers within China as well as the diaspora in other countries reached 100 million. My children can speak both Cantonese and Mandarin, in addition to other languages. Yes, I put my priority in Cantonese at home. They can learn other languages in school and other social settings.
@@MalcolmFMQ There is nothing wrong in making Mandarin the national language for ease of communication among various ethnicities. If you say Cantonese is being suppressed, then the other languages/dialects are worse. If you live in China, follow the laws and rules of China. I live in Malaysia and our national language is Malay. As a Malaysian, I have to follow the laws and rules of Malaysia. I have no complaints.
@@MalcolmFMQ Cantonese can only be deemed a language in Hongkong as it is the only place in the world that teaches Cantonese in school. All other countries teach Mandarin. My son's could not speak Cantonese well as we speak English at home and they go to Chinese schools which teach Mandarin.
@@MegaSuehanwhat falsehoods are trying to spread? Almost sounds like you're the CCP spreading BS propaganda.
The Chinese government is for sure trying to suppress the Cantonese language. Last checked Guangdong, China was known as CANTON. Where else in China would people of the region speak CANTONESE? And why else would the would they call CANTONESE "guangdong wah". Because that is the dialect of the CANTONESE people and the dialect/language that we speak.
But now mandarin is forced upon everyone in Guangdong. I find it ironic that people from CANTON/guangdong won't be speaking the language that is named after their region in a few decades.
My family is from Hong Kong, with ancestral roots in guangdong. Majority of my family then immigrated to the US in the 70s and that's where I was born.
One of my uncles opened up a dim sum restaurant in the States. Growing up, I would help out at restaurant. One time a younger Chinese lady who was speaking to me in English, asking about her order (dim sum)... Out or no where asked if I spoke "Chinese". I replied, yes I do. She then started speaking to me in mandarin. I replied, sorry I don't understand mandarin. She got upset and gave me a facial expression, like "ohhh you're one of those" look.
I apologized to her and said that I only speak Cantonese. She rudely responded back in English, "I thought you said you spoke CHINESE".
I said, yes... Cantonese. If you have a problem, you can pay for your order and leave. After all, you're dining at CANTONESE restaurant. Also, you're in America. Shouldn't you be speaking to me in ENGLISH?
I quickly shut her up, she paid and never came back.
So yes, Cantonese is being suppressed. Even from mandarin only speakers. Not just the chinese government
If your job is flexible and can be relocated easily, think about the possibility in Hong Kong. After living in HK for 7 years, you are eligible for permanent residency. You can certainly get your way around with Mandarin and English, you can learn Cantonese at the same time.
It's about the same thing here in Malaysia. I'm foreign born, not registered here, I had the same issues getting citizenship and all the perks you mentioned. But I found my partner here after retirement, and viola! I got my citizenship after about 5 years of arguing for it.
Gone through a lot, but it's worth it as I did intend to remain and live out the rest of my life here.
It's a struggle, a struggle most any foreigner finds away from home in another country unless you have a lot of money to invest.
I wish every country in this world could adjust a bit regarding their foreign immigrants policies so it isn't that reggressive.
Afterall aren't we just the same humans living in the same planet?
I would say that's an Asian experience.
Forever a foreigner unless born there.
As long as you contribute economically, or have family ties in a western country, you can eventually get citizenship.
But good that you got what you wanted.
I gotta say Malaysia has my favorite mix of foods in Asia.
I love how you use the chinese hand gesture for number 6 - you're truly a local
中国14亿大国有限的资源政府还希望往外移民呢, 如果让外国人容易得到绿卡那不就是移民国家吗, 但人口大国不会让外国人那么轻松得绿卡的, 美国是移民国家但在美国想取得绿卡也是很艰辛的
总算有人有基本智商了
就是移民国家都那么难拿到绿卡
凭什么中国放松签证
这家人的恶就在于处处想着捞好处
想通过舆论绑架中国签证政策
所以我要是移民局就不会给他家延期
早该走人了
Yes, but in the US the system is designed in a way that the immigrants can access most things even without a green card. In mainland china I am reminded ten times a day that I do not have a green card and I do not belong here. I believe this has an emotional toll on the immigrants, and that is by design. If people feel welcome, they would consider settling down. If they are shown their place ten times a day, they would make money for some time and move out.
So true. Especially the population and competition part (even when Guangzhou is considered the chillest tier-1 city in China).
Thanks for this video, it was a breath of fresh air to see my own country like this from your eyes. I echo a lot of your sentiments, especially the part about work-life balance and mental health, but I do feel things are getting better after COVID now that people are making better use of remote working and there's a growing awareness of life over work.
I find it really funny to hear you say your English is getting worse since I spend a lot of time consuming Western media and entertainment and I've barely written any Chinese since graduating from high school I fear my Chinese is getting worse XD I used to read a lot of Chinese literature but for some reason Western entertainment just appeals to me more so I'm just surrounded by English these days.
I honestly did not know anything about immigration into China, and I personally feel your Chinese ability alone should qualify you for citizenship (not to mention your time spent here) XD I guess we're just not used to hearing about people moving in? I hear about people moving from China to Canada, Australia and the US all the time but I rarely hear about foreigners settling in. I'm just kind of used to the world spurning and criticizing China I haven't even considered the possibility that people might want to move in.
Also, not sure how keen you are about this, but I've seen plenty of friends study in Hong Kong and pick up Cantonese very quickly. A lot of people in Hong Kong who speak Cantonese daily also pick up Mandarin very fast. I personally speak both. There are a lot of parallels in the pronunciation of words, and the grammar is basically the same, just some occasional nuances in lexicon. I know it might seem daunting at first, but I do hope this doesn't stop you from learning it if you're keen about it.
In any case, 謝謝你的分享 :)
It is really a sad thing that in this age of globalization, China is still not a migrant friendly country. Hope for better policies in future. Good luck.
I am a high school student from Chengdu, in my eyes,the biggest problem of china is the exam-oriented education .I have to study more than 11 hours a day and even can't sleep until the next morning, but the fact is what we learn is nothing to do with our life and future, examination is just a pattern to select the personnel.
Besides, Chinese seem to have "degree idolatry".If some people have a better degree than you, then he will be overestimated by other people.
如果你连最简单的考试都通不过，你还抱怨什么？别人比你愿意花时间比你学习更认真他们成绩怎么能不好，国家人才不是应试教育出来的？不愿意努力在那里找借口觉得是应试教育毁了你，实际上你不论在哪不管接受怎么样的教育你还是会抱怨，你只是为你的不努力找借口罢了
如果你认为你学习的东西跟你生活和未来无关，你大可以不学习，只是你要做好承担未来的后果。
Randomly stumbled upon this video , I instantly became a fan !!!!!! Love you !!! I also live in Guangzhou ❤️
I definitely don't like the crowds after living in the states for so long. I do love the diversity in the states but I didn't feel that much growing up in China most likely because I'm ethinic Han Chinese and never even thought about diversity until I came to the states...
Every place has good and bad points as you said. Where I live is so quiet and boring. 我愛上，也思念，台灣的人山人海生活，哈哈😄❤
I really hope China will open up PR options for guys like you. I mean, damn you're more local than I am (born in GZ lol)
Your comment is exactlly what i have been thinking recent years! China now need some balance. Great Vlog.
谢谢您的分享，中国的移民政策真的应该改善，能让有意愿在中国的外国人至少获得绿卡方便一些。
中国需要的是高级外国人才。所以才有了6万月薪的标准。请记住，中国不是移民国家，记住这一点非常重要。这是中国的基本国情。
中国不是移民国家，估计以后人口下降的厉害了会考虑开放一些。
I saw you at hezhimeng months ago, didn't know you have a channel. I am like is that Alysa the american girl I saw at that show, so glad to see you, hope you have a good day!
其诗闻一家真的是很喜欢中国，这么多年没有拿到绿卡真的是蛮遗憾的，不过幸好现在结婚了，再过几年就可以拿到了
I love you using the hand gesture when saying the number six
It is so balanced video, just love it! sometimes I feel awkward when watching people just telling how good China life is, the safety and city buildings, surely it is mostly true but I would use a BBC term like at what cost😅 young people in the cities do carry a lot of burdens and deserve a better life style, hope the government people realize this so the population won’t crash in a few years
别人讲述中国的生活有多美好，你就必须为此感到尴尬？ 每个硬币都有正面和反面。 即便别人展示给你优点，你也总是想着缺点。 所有经济高速发展的地区都是压力巨大的，你不想要快节奏和高负担的生活也很简单，回到小城市和农村就够了
I'm American born. I have relatives in GZ. I can't imagine living Ch1na. Well because ALhambra and monterey park california is just almost the same thing. Except we have american laws and homeless.
Nice video! Even with a green card, you still won't be able to purchase products from platforms like the international Tmall, as it is still not designed to accommodate the small proportion of people without a Chinese ID. There are other options though if you really want that card. For example, if you get your PhD, you are now qualified for a green card or if you are under 18 and your parents earn the salary standard set for your city (which is different for every city), then you can also acquire it that way through them (or if your foreign spouse acquires one, you can also get it through him/her). Some people have also received it by being given awards like the Friendship Award (友谊奖). Continue to follow your heart and don't give up on your dreams. 加油加油!🐧[waddle]
希望那些有企業或者em yeah婚姻的也幫助這些外國人留下來
Thanks for sharing. I am a dad of 3 young boys living in SZ, China. I should really take them out and travel more before they get all bogged down with studies and work.
And the advice on Cantonese is great! I have a Cantonese background, but my youngest boy doesn't speak Cantonese. I think we need to speak more Cantonese at home instead of mandarin and English.
Thank You , introducing Cantonese！American Chinatown basic language was Cantonese（toi san &neighbour ）
天啊，作为一个中国大陆人，我居然觉得她说得都好有道理，戳中了我的内心
还不是因为人家长得好看
@@Zieft2011 负责任地说真不是，这个up在我的审美里并不算好看的
Now that I have also stumbled upon your site, I will be following you too. Take care and all the best.
你的评价很中肯。祝你在中国的生活越来越好❤……