Does she look Chinese to you?
One of the most frustrating things about introducing new Chinese artists are the “they don’t look Chinese” comments. Considering China has 56 official ethnicities with their ancestral homes in China, and who knows how many unofficial ones, and 1.3 billion people, it’s unfair to homogenize any part of China (or of the world ). And according to wikipedia, minority populations are rising at 7 times the rate of the Han Chinese because the One Child Policy only applies to Han Chinese (no, China is not trying to eliminate its minorities via One Child).
Photographer Chen Haiwen recently paid a tribute to the diversity of China by producing a series of photos that captured this diversity. Along with a team of photographers, he traveled across China for a year to take photos of a family from each ethnic group. Those, along with thousands of other photos captured on the trip, were put on display in Beijing’s WangFuJing Street last month. zhouzhzh on youtube has a slideshow of all the photos.
Here’s a spot light on some, definitely not all, minority Chinese artists in pop culture.
Super Girl He Jie
our Yi-group
manager: Super Boy Ji Jie and brand manager for Bacardi
members: two powerful and tomboyish songstresses SM’s lost cause Zhang Liyin
and really lost cause Super Girl He Jie
and boyband Blue Bird Flying Fish‘s 70.
HuHu’s not Yi, but he’s there by association. Maybe Zhang Yunjing can join, too, by marriage.
Manchu Actor Tong Dawei
Manchu (10 million)
Na Ying
Kiki, the lead singer of of Milk@Coffee
Wang Zhonglei and Wang Zhongjun! -president and CEO of H.Y. Brothers
Pianist Lang Lang
Actor Tong Dawei - lead of Struggle
Actor Hu Jun – (Semi-Gods and Demi-Devils, Bodyguards and Assassins, etc)
Wu Jing – fairly tall for a martial artist (5′ 7)
Zhuang (16 million)
Gymnastics prince and company founder Li Ning
Wei Wei
Hui (9 million)
the Hui are an Muslim offbranch of the Han majority
Man Wenjun
Miao artist Song Zuying is one of the most prominent folk song singer in China
Miao (Hmong) (8 million)
Song Zuying
Song Jialing (Song Zuying’s sister who was in Ugly Wudi 3)
Yunan province's Shan Ren Yue Dui has three ethnicities
Va
Folk group Shan Ren Yue Dui‘s Ai Yong (center back in picture)
Buyi
Folk group Shan Ren Yue Dui ‘s Xiao Bu Dian. (left)
Strong recommendation to watch their episode on Happy Camp here. They have a most fascinating instruments show in the second half, and their music is great.
Dragon Angels 4th place Baha Guli
Uyghurs (7 million)
Bear Biscuit
2009 Dragon Angel Baha Guli
Kid performer Arafat
A-duo
Tujia
A-duo
Zhaxi Dunzhu
Tibetan
Han Hong
Alan Dawazhuoma
2006 My Hero champion Pu Bajia
2007 My Hero Zhaxi Dunzhu
2008 Jiayou! Dragon Angels champion Quni Ciren
2008 Jiayou! Dragon Angels Jinzhu Zhuoma
Singer Jin Haixin
Korean (2 million)
Jin Haixin
“Father of Chinese Rock” Cui Jian
band Arirang
Two of the thirty-seven children of the Hulunbei'er Choir
Ewenki, Oroquen and Daur
Multicolor Hunlunbei’er Choir (a mix of Ewenki, Oroquen, Daur and Mongolian children)
Mongolian
Shu Ke
Half of band Phoenix Legend.
Super Boy 2007 Amulong
Teng Ge’er
Buren Bayaer
Siqin Gaoli
Actor Bao Jianfeng (Dreams Link)
Actress Siqin Gaowa (Kangxi Dynasty)
Zhuang
World Champion Gymnast/TV anchor Mo Huilan
Han Geng
Hezhe
(ex-?)boyband member Han Geng
A-mei
There are also the aboriginal Taiwanese, of which the ROC recognizes 13 different tribes that the PRC groups into “gaoshan.” A-mei is the most famous pure aborigine I know of. Vivian Hsu is half. I’m not going to list them all because there are way too many with every fractions possible.
There are also many subgroups like the Hakka, a subgroup of the Han with their distinct dialect and lifestyle. Ella of S.H.E. and Super Girl Liu Xijun are both Hakka.
Tan Lina
Many people are also mixed. Angela Zhang is 1/4 Uyghur, Qi Wei of Boy& Girl is 1/4 Korean and actor-singer Li Xiaolu is 1/4 Russian, etc. And increasingly, people from China are having kids with foreigners. Super Girl Tan Lina and Dragon Angel Luo Jing are two examples.
Even amongst the Han, with a population of over 1.2 billion, there is huge diversity among looks. There are stereotypes that say Northerners are taller and more slender than Southerners. But even amongst regions, there are differences between individual looks. Just think of how different Jiang Yingrong, Huang Ying and Li Yuanxi look like, and they’re all from around the same city.
Does she look Han to you?
Tags: A-duo, A-mei, Alan Dawa Dolma, Angela Zhang, Baha Guli, Bearbiscuit, Blue Bird Flying Fish, Chinese ethnic minorities, Cui Jian, Han Geng, Han Hong, He Jie, Ji Jie, Jiang Yingrong, Jin Haixin, Jinzhu Zhuoma, Lang Lang, Luo Jing, Man Weunjun, Multicolor Hulunbei'er Choir, Na Ying, Phoenix Legend, Pu Bajia, Quni Ciren, Shan Ren Yue Dui, Shu Ke, Song Zuying, Tan Lina, Tong Dawei, Wang Zhonglei, Wei Wei, Zha Xi Dun Zhu, Zhang Liyin
December 24, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Unless something big happens, this is probably going to be my last post before I leave for China on Sat.
Thanks Julie for telling me how to sneak on cfensi in China. XD
Also, if anyone’s going to be in China on Jan 1st, they’re looking for fans (especially overseas) to be audiences for the Mango & Fans festival. Info here: http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=683043189
And the photgraphs of the family portrait is a must see:
December 24, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Wow, fascinating. I did not know about a lot of these people being ethnic minorities. Didn’t follow Dragon Angels, but wow, that’s a lot of ethnic minorities in that one show.
December 24, 2009 at 5:47 pm
@A.
Yeah. Cfensi pointed out that every My Hero/My Dragon has had a none-full Han champion (Jing Boran is 1/8 Russian).
December 24, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Great post!
I also roll my eyes whenever I hear people say they don’t look “Han” Chinese.
In fact, it seems like only non-Chinese will use the “Han” label.
Because I don’t think I’ve ever heard a Chinese person call themselves or use the word “Han” to describe another Chinese person.
December 24, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I find it really silly when people outside China think Han Chinese must look a certain way, when China’s so big. People still mistakenly believe Chen Kun is an ethnic minority. Or that he’s mixed. It’s like people need a way to explain someone’s looks.
/rant as someone whose family gets those “You’re Chinese?” comments.
Thanks! Great post! *Hugs* I have no idea what I’m going to do with this site when you’re gone.
December 24, 2009 at 7:24 pm
For some reason, I always thought Wei Wei was Mongolian…
Sa Dingding is part Mongolian.
There are a lot of Taiwanese aboriginals in the music scene, although some are mixed. Tank, Show Luo, Vic Chou, Landy Wen, Jam Hsiao…a whole bunch of 超級星光大道 contestants.
Jia Jia wouldn’t look out of place in Samoa, but she’s Taiwanese.
I don’t think I would classify Hakka people as minorities, since it still falls under the “Han” category. Plus, that would add so many more people to the list! A lot of Malaysian singers are Hakka (Michael Wong, Fish Leong, Gary Cao, Penny Tai). Even Jimmy Choo, the shoe guy. And not that he’s in the Chinese entertainment business, but Nichkhun’s mother is also Hakka.
Though, I guess Hakka being Han is a recent thing. A couple hundred years ago, they weren’t considered Han.
But I thought the stereotype was that Southerners were more slender than Northerners, or at least of a slighter build…
@JJ
I thought it was the other way around, actually. You always see articles about “Chinese vs. Tibetans” and things like that. Though…come to think of it…in Western media at least, it’s often reported as a Chinese/Tibetan issue regarding Tibet, but Han/Uyghur when it comes to Xinjiang. How odd… . _ .
@cfensi
Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ve read comments about Zhang Ziyi saying that her mother is probably Korean because she doesn’t look Chinese. = _ =
I guess it’s mostly because the vast majority of Chinese living in the West are Southern Chinese. And even then, the majority of them (us?) are Cantonese. So rather than seeing the diversity of “Han”, most Americans, Canadians, Australians, get a very select and narrow view of “Chinese” people.
But at the same time, there seem to be many overseas Chinese who also don’t recognise the breadth of the Han ethnicity. I’ve had Singaporean and Malaysian friends who say I look mixed with some other Asian because my nose bridge is too high or my eyebrows aren’t bushy enough (never knew those were even stereotypes ).
Though, if you want to delve into the anthropological side of things, going back far enough, a lot of Han people in the deep south of China have non-Han ancestors (meaning that they technically are mixed). Over thousands of years, Han soldiers and settlers from the north migrated south and married local women. But as their fathers were Han, the children would also be considered Han. This also applies to a lesser extent in Northeast China, where other minority groups would assimilate into Han culture through marriage.
And then you could get into the whole “Han is a cultural concept” thing…which is just really complicated…
Ah, but thanks for this post! I was really looking forward to it, and I’m not disappointed. And with bonus youtube links to boot! c( :
December 24, 2009 at 8:53 pm
This was really informative especially..
“Angela Zhang is 1/4 Uyghur, Qi Wei of Boy&Girl is 1/4 Korean and actor-singer Li Xiaolu is 1/4 Russian.”
I really wish this was on every english site LMAO =x
Have fun in China! I haven’t been back since 2005 *O*
So I guess this will be last post since both cfensi and idarklight are going on vacation.
December 24, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Ur welcome idarklight! Make sure you don’t get caught haha jkjk
Great post!
I really should start watching dragon angels now.
Idarklight, are YOU going to be in the mango fans thingy?
December 24, 2009 at 9:17 pm
BOBO’s upcoming movie
December 24, 2009 at 9:39 pm
I hadn’t realized that Kiki was Manchu, though I knew Lang Lang was.
Here are some other ethnic minority artists:
Miao: A You Duo – Folk singer, much more famous among the Hmong
Taiwanese aborigines: Jam Hsiao (part Amis, part Han), A-Yue Chang, Totem Band, Landy Wen, Vic Chou from F4, Tank, Show Luo, MC Hotdog
December 24, 2009 at 9:46 pm
I also forgot Difang and Igay Duana. Their names aren’t well-known, but their voices are. They are both Amis and they got ripped off by Europeans who included their voices as part of a popular song:
December 24, 2009 at 10:11 pm
What a cool thread.
Did you know that Kathy Chow hoi Mei (周海媚) and Miriam Yeung are also Manchus?
I’m surprised that Li XioLu is mixed with Russian and that Angela Zhang is mixed with Uigher.
December 24, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Seriously awesome post. Never was one to assume anything about ethnicities, but it’s sad to hear that people would make any kind of judgment or opinion on an entertainer based on whether or not they “look” Chinese (as if that had much of a meaning aside from black hair and brown eyes of ranging hues).
So Bearbiscuit is actually Uyghur? I knew they were from the area, but didn’t know that for sure…
December 24, 2009 at 11:09 pm
@everyone
I’m actually glazing over TW/HK artists because then the list could go on. TW/HK are both places where people from all over China (and the World) went to escape various events, so they tend to have a great mixing people, to the point where almost everyone is mixed (think the US). There are many, many mixed Taiwanese artists with at least part non-Han origins. And there are so many HK artists who are part European (Nicholas Tse, Cecilia Cheung, Karen Mok, etc.) that they would fill up the whole page.
December 24, 2009 at 11:23 pm
As for Sa Dingding, she’s half Mongolian (on her mom’s side, I believe), and I’m only listing some of the mixed artists. And again, there are too many of them…Pretty much everything in paragraph form is not meant to be a list but just me ranting about a certain group.
Same for a lot of the older, folk singers. There are numerous Inner Mongolian/Miao/Tibetan/Uyghur folk artists, and I’m only listing some of the more popular ones now.
——
@hobielover
Yeah. Everyone thought Jiang Yingrong was part-Indonesian when she first came onto Super Girls.
December 24, 2009 at 11:29 pm
@nepheliad
Here are the names of the members of Bearbiscuit. Assuming those are their real names, I would say at least two of them are Uyghur. Not sure about the other two.
成 员：
主唱：阿力普
鼓手和声：也尔扎提
贝斯：贺伟
吉他：高晟
December 24, 2009 at 11:34 pm
awesome post
!
@yelei: whoa what a star-studded movie *_*. Jing Boran with a perm.. lmao.
December 25, 2009 at 12:18 am
Baha Guli is so pretty… if only she could sing or act, she could’ve been famous.
December 25, 2009 at 1:47 am
Baha Guli is so pretty! but she doesn’t act? is she a model?
I’ve always envied Hui zhu’s cause all the girls are so pretty (i know its not true) but everyone famous (esp the models) seem to have some ethnic genes in them.
December 25, 2009 at 1:59 am
@idarklight
wasnt there another contestant from Uyghur? She’s the winner of the contest I believe… but her nose is somewhat crooked.
Someone should compiled this into one big information.. but that’s going to take too long since China have too many artists. as well as HK and TW.
December 25, 2009 at 2:52 am
@Chinkirox
Baha Guli is just an entertainer…she’s a terrible actress/singer from what I can tell from Dragon Angels.
There are plenty of pretty people who are Han Chinese. Zhou Xun, Fan Bingbing, Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Crystal Liu Yifei, Guo Jingming, Fu Xinbo, Huang Xiaoming, Li Bingbing, Deng Chao, Sun Li, Zheng Shuang, Zhang Han, Vicki Zhao Wei, Chen Kun, etc. Singer-wise, there’s Jane Zhang, Faye Wong, Peng Liyuan (who, imo, is better than Song Zuying…but I could be biased because she’s Shandongese), Chen Chusheng, Sun Nan, Liu Huan, Li Na (the famous one, not the Super Girl), etc.
@yelei
Quni Ciren, the winner, is Tibetan. She’s a better singer and actress, but her music is only okay and imo she’s not even as pretty as some of the Super girls.
December 25, 2009 at 3:27 am
We should make a C-entertainment wiki, LOL. Joking, joking…
@ chinkirox – I think we hear more about the ethnicity of people who aren’t Han for the same reason we hear more about the ethnicity of non-Caucasian American stars – because it’s more interesting and noteworthy. No one’s really going to bat an eye if you mention that a star in the US is Caucasian; I imagine it’s probably the same in China with being Han Chinese. It probably seems a bit redundant to comment on it.
@ idarklight – The lead vocalist and the drummer? That’s really cool.
BTW, that Hunlunbei’er choir is quite cute. I don’t usually go for adorable, especially when it comes to kids, but that’s just too d’aww for me to not to like. Their outfits are amazing.
December 25, 2009 at 4:09 am
@ Benji
I only casually watch Chinese news and I don’t recall ever hearing them use the phrase, “Han” people. But I don’t really have access to that much Chinese news so I may have missed out on it.
Or are you referring to reports that are in English?
* * *
@ Neph
Here’s Bear Biscuit’s CD cover
http://ent.enorth.com.cn/system/2008/07/21/003576824.shtml
I know it’s a generalization but whenever I hear Uyghur I always think of someone more Arab-looking.
December 25, 2009 at 4:29 am
Oh, I was talking about English news reports. : )
(also, Merry Christmas, everyone~!)
December 25, 2009 at 4:43 am
Merry Xmas everyone.
Cfensi… REST!!!!! LOL
Idarklight… Have fun in china, wish I could tag along
Everyone… Let’s hope 2010 will be a less stressful and dramatic year.
Ohhh I really hope there will be a super boys.
December 25, 2009 at 5:09 am
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Winter Solstice, and break in general!
@Neph
They actually starred on an episode of Kang Xi Lai Le and held a concert in Taiwan. I was impressed. They also have some quite talented young singers. Ewenke boy sings beautifully at 19:26:
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/Zu5J7uB5RpM/
December 25, 2009 at 5:20 am
great post
i don’t think a lot of non-chinese people realize how many minorities there are in china.
some of these minority entertainers do look “han” to me though, except some/most of the tibetans and uighurs. baha guli definitely doesn’t look han to me, but he jie does.
did anyone try that quiz online “all look same”? i did really badly on it.
December 25, 2009 at 5:26 am
@lehninguh
What about Shan Ren Yue Dui’s Ai Yong? He can totally pass off as from the Carribean. There is another Va singer who was on Xing Guang Da Dong, and she was also very tanned and had naturally frizzy hair. I would’ve not thought she was “Chinese.”
Also, the problem is that Han Chinese has a very large population, and thus has greater variety in people. There are Han Chinese that looks like almost every stereotype of each group. Again, look at how different Jiang Yingrong, Huang Ying and Li Yuanxi looks, and they’re all from near Chengdu.
December 25, 2009 at 5:32 am
@cfensi
really? I thought Quni Ciren was Uyghur.
Hm. Why is it that majority of Chinese people are from Southern China (or HK, TW)?
December 25, 2009 at 5:40 am
@idarklight: ia, people from the va minority don’t look chinese or east asian at all. sorry i was just giving some quick examples
yeah it’s hard to categorize chinese people. there’s lots of pretty han actresses that don’t look like each other at all to me (e.g. zhou xun, gong li, zhang ziyi, vicki zhao, gao yuanyuan, kitty zhang, li bingbing, fan bingbing — they all have very distinct looks).
December 25, 2009 at 2:46 pm
thank you so much for posting this. i hate it when ppl caracterise chinese looks all into one category when there is so much diversity in just this one country
)
December 25, 2009 at 4:09 pm
@yelei:
The population of China is distributed all over the place, albeit more to the east than the west.
http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/4102/populationdensity2000ch.jpg
Yay, maps!
Most Overseas Chinese people are from Southern China because southern ties with seafaring and trade have made migration more natural and commonplace. Especially compared to Northern China, where going anywhere but south would have been virtually uninhabitable. Also, prior to China ‘opening up’, it was very difficult for a Chinese person to go overseas. The exceptions were Hong Kong, being a British territory, Taiwan, and the Chinese already overseas in Southeast Asia, who are overwhelming descended from Guangdong and Fujian.
In regards to China itself, the provinces of Southern China are typically wealthier and more developed than those elsewhere, so it’s more viable for migrant workers to go there, and for those richer people to go overseas.
Though, I’m not really sure if you asked your question in regards to that, or the ethnic minorities, or…something else. Sorry if none of that made any sense. T _ T
December 25, 2009 at 8:05 pm
@Benji
Thank you =) But cities like Shanghai and Beijing are much more wealthier…
(but most time I see people from Guangdong, Fujian, Shanghai, and Beijing..
December 26, 2009 at 1:23 am
my family’s Hakka =D
December 27, 2009 at 4:58 am
Zhang Liyin and Hangeng are ethnic minorities? I never knew that. I think the beauty of China is that unlike other Asian countries that emphasize homogeneity (like Japan who had a PM who once said there were no ethnic minorities in Japan despite Ainu, Koreans, etc.), China is a very diverse country. In fact, it’s more like a continent threaded together by a common yet diverse “Chinese culture” that each region molds into its own.
December 27, 2009 at 6:17 am
wahahaha
i just stopped by for a while and then I saw this:
“and boyband Blue Bird Flying Fish’s 70.
HuHu’s not Yi, but he’s there by association. Maybe Zhang Yunjing can join, too, by marriage. ”
btw some 70 + ZYJ spazzing
they held hands recently ^^
the whole clip is BBFF and Jing madness lol
December 27, 2009 at 6:19 am
wahahahaha
was just stopping by and then I saw this:
“and boyband Blue Bird Flying Fish’s 70.
HuHu’s not Yi, but he’s there by association. Maybe Zhang Yunjing can join, too, by marriage. ”
70 and Jing recently held hands ^^ just to let you know
the above clip is entirely BBFF and Jing madness
December 27, 2009 at 6:20 am
excuse the dbl post XD
December 29, 2009 at 4:24 am
thanx idarklight for such a great post. I learned a lot from this one
January 2, 2010 at 3:07 pm
I was reading a book today (China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power by Rob Gifford), and in it, it said: “When you see programs about the ethnic minorities on Chinese television, all they ever do is dance, dance, dance. And hold grapes while they dance. And talk about how China is one, big happy family.”
I chuckled to myself about the truth behind that, but then I realised…it’s not completely true. These ethnic minorities also often sing.
January 2, 2010 at 11:12 pm
^LMAO
January 26, 2010 at 11:50 pm
hey.. who is the first girl? shes sooo pretty.
January 27, 2010 at 12:24 am
@cristine
She’s Baha Guli. There’s another picture of her underneath next to Uyghur.
February 17, 2010 at 2:13 pm
If i’m not wrong, Sha Baoliang (沙宝亮) is also Hui…
March 12, 2010 at 7:27 am
This is a wonder post!
March 20, 2010 at 8:01 am
I think a lot of the actresses now days have the same look about them.
April 2, 2010 at 9:42 am
When I was in China, I got the comment “you don’t look Australian, you look Italian.”
People just form an impression based upon what is most common. Definately the minority cultures are very interesting though. I like Cui Jian the most.
November 17, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Here are some other current generation uyghur singers I know: Aytulan (艾图兰), Xiao Kait (肖开提), and 天山雪莲组合 (5 uyghurs girlband; I don’t know their english name, maybe Tian Shan Snow Lotus band).
Is it possible Baha Guli half-uyghur half-han? I’ve seen the picture of her parent, looks like her father is Han and her mother is uyghur. I wonder if she could speak uyghur.
She is the first uyghur artist I saw that doesn’t show strong uyghur identity. You can tell from her mandarin accent. It seems she was raised in chinese speaking environment.
November 17, 2010 at 5:56 pm
oh I don’t know this blog has been moved…
November 20, 2010 at 1:59 am
From all the news sources, I think she’s full Uyghur. If her father were Han, she would have a Han last name. From her baike, both her parents currently still work in Xinjiang, and she was born in Urumqi. And since Urumqi is a pretty big city, she probably needed to have fluent mandarin.
Thanks so much for the names, though, I’ve actually been looking for some young Uyghur artists recently.
November 27, 2010 at 10:31 am
@idarklight
You’re right, she is full uyghur. Someone had told me the same thing recently.
Another modern pop chinese uyghur male singer is 艾尼瓦尔江·艾黎根. I don’t know how to translate in english, but 艾尼瓦尔 is usually translated as “Anwar”.
December 21, 2010 at 8:53 pm
Stop forcing uyghurs to be Chinese. Uyghurs are Uyghurs. Chinese are Chinese. Tibetans are tibetans. Foricng some one indentity is a crime and it is a desease that blind chinese nationalists have.
December 21, 2010 at 8:56 pm
There are Chinese people look a bit Uyghur because Uyghur empire covers a vast area. North of the Chinese great wall. The real Chinese people were living in the south of the great wall. Later on Uyghurs were driven away to the north. The ones who failed to move to the north were assimilated by the CHinese. That is why Chinese people of the North tend to have fair skin and bigger eyes.
December 22, 2010 at 3:39 am
@ Anonymous
Your beliefs seem to be a bit outdated. Just like the term “American” doesn’t just mean white people anymore, the term “Chinese” encompasses more than just a race.
December 22, 2010 at 5:30 am
@anon
I agree with JJ.
The term Chinese use here, and I believe in most uses, refers not to an ethnic group but people who are citizens of China (what that is may be to your interpretation). The ideas of a nation-state only arose in the 20th century, and what we now consider as national identities have only formed since then.
While it is true that the PRC semi-forced many identities in its classifications of the various ethnicities in China, those identities remain now, and certainly no one has claimed that Uyghurs are are a subset of Han Chinese, and no Han Chinese I know consider that the term Chinese only implies Han Chinese.
December 22, 2010 at 8:55 pm
In my experience, Han Chinese use Chinese in reference to Han and then use he minority label in reference to minorities. I was once talking to Uygurs and I referred to them as Chinese but from their reaction I could see that they didn’t like it. I was just trying to be egalitarian. I also asked some Han if a minority could ever be president of China and then said probably not.
For China to reduce social conflict, I think it may have to change some of the labels it uses. For example, use putonghua instead of hanyu. Use Han instead of Chinese.
If you want a guide, think of the labels used in reference to Taiwan. In my experience, if you say “Taiwan and China”… mainland Chinese correct you and say “Taiwan and the mainland.”
December 23, 2010 at 3:47 am
@ Tripitaka
That’s a good point. I can definitely see how integrated minorities are can determine how they view themselves. When I was in China (Shanghai-specifically) I met several upper-middle-class Uighur & Tibetan friends that considered themselves Chinese (along with their own regional affiliation).
Which was interesting because many of my Mainland Chinese friends also classify themselves by which region they’re from.
And the thing is, I’ve actually never heard them say they’re “Han” Chinese. It was always, “I’m Sichuanese,” or “I’m from Hubei,” etc. So whenever I hear the Western media talk about Han vs. non-Han it’s a bit jarring and strange.
And it’s very similar to Taiwan (where I’m from) because a lot of Taiwanese will switch back and forth between if they consider themselves “Chinese” or Taiwanese.
For example, if you talk about modern politics, social behavior, and other things that might directly affect them now then they’ll say their Taiwanese. But then if you talk about some great historical event or person, like Guan Gong, then all of a sudden they’re “Chinese.” Haha
December 24, 2010 at 2:21 am
@Tripitaka
Isn’t the more common term for mainland mandarin speakers “zhongwen/Chinese language?” (for HK and TW, it’s generally guoyu/national language).
December 25, 2010 at 4:15 am
idarklight, in my experience in Beijing, the locals said Hanyu in reference to Putonghua. I met some Cantonese who said they would refer to it as Putonghua when speaking in putonghua but Hanyu when speaking in English to non-Chinese. I met some Taiwanese who referred to it as putonghua. I never heard it referred to as Zhongwen; however, I have heard Zhongwen in the media in reference to the language being used in radio or TV.
December 28, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Let us be practical here. Uyghurs never see themselves as Chinese. Probably they have to say that within China. If they do not say they are chinse then they can be labled as seperatist or terrorist. Why should anyone has the rights to force some one an identiy which do not want to accept. Uyghurs are Muslims, Uyghurs is one of the anient Turkick languages. Completely different from Chinese. If i say Han Chinese that means I would offent Uyghurs and Tibetans. Because Chinese means Han Chinese. UYghurs’ country was occuped by China in 1949. Since then China is giving preussure to Uyghurs to be Chinese. Bahargul is one the good examples. She is Uyghur. But because of the sinolised education in Occupied East Turkistan, she lost her identity. You can not see if she is Uyghur except her look. China should stop bringing Chinese people to Occupied East Turkistan and force Uyghurs to be Chinese. Other wise another July 5th will happen very soon. Chinese gov and Chinese people should respect Uyghurs and their feelings. Stop forcing their language and culture to Uyghurs.
December 28, 2010 at 3:19 pm
^ So you speak for all Uyghurs?
I agree that China needs to be sensitive to the needs of its citizens but I think you missed the point.
Just like the term “American” now includes more than just white folks, “Chinese” means more than just Han Chinese.
February 1, 2011 at 10:27 pm
@ annoymous fr December 28, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Allow me to clarify- while yr criticisms of the Chinese govt is valid, I’ve come across many Chinese people in China who never ever denied the Ugyhurs are non-Chinese- in fact, lots of them refer to them as ‘adopted children’ of the motherland (China) and acknowlege their very different culture and physiological differences…many Han Chinese admire the Ugyhur’s ‘agility’ and generally better dancing abilities. So frankly, yr accusations of Chinese people ‘forcing their language and culture ‘ to Ugyhurs -or for that matter, any other ethnic group, don’t hold any water.
As for language, I’m sure you it’s a basic courtesy to speak the language of the country you reside in, whether or not you are a native. You know, when in Rome….some examples: in France you speak French irregardless of whether you are Alsatian, Marsellais, Arab, African,
Asian etc, in Britain or the US, everyone, incl foreigners, speaks English. Ditto for Japan where basic Japanese at least, is a must.
But make Mandarin Chinese mandatory in China and suddenly everyone screams ‘cultural genocide’! Seriously, detractors, is it because Chinese is not considered ‘”Indo-Aryan” and hence “unworthy” of yr time???
Let’s be honest for once, shall we?
February 1, 2011 at 10:53 pm
As for the ‘ethnic minorities’ in entertainment circles, pardon my not-so-nice comments…bt I hear quite a no of them are in fact Han girls who underwent cosmetic surgery to look ‘mixed’- whatever that means.
Bt if you want to get a good first-person acount of the ethnic diversity en Chine then entertainment artistes are not the best bet. EXPLORE the country…I have and I can tell you many, many, Chinese are in fact very heterogenuous in their appearance, stature,etc. Not that I’m complaining..I enjoy gazing @ beauties…and the more diversity, the merrier! 
Of course you hv natural beauties, two famous examples I can think off-hand are Michele Reis, who typifies the Eurasian beauty, and Zhang Ziyi, whose classic features best represent Chinese beauty
February 2, 2011 at 2:10 pm
@cobra
Plastic surgery is actually not as common in Chinese entertainment …. the large majority of mainland’s pop stars came straight from college, be they singers and actors, and it would be obvious if they had anything that changed their facial features dramatically.
Plus, I don’t think people would lie about their ethnicity, or really could given the fact it is on their records.
February 18, 2011 at 11:06 pm
@anonymous:
You do know that Islam is a religion and not an ethnicity/nationality, right? And also, it sounded like you quoted your information from a non-Chinese, possibly biased source. Before you go all “Chinese government is bad because they’re FORCING people to do this and that, blah blah blah”, check your information. In fact, go to China. What really annoys me is that people hear a few words of something and they assume they know it all, when they really don’t.
As for the whole minority thing…it’s really not that big of a deal. I’m mixed Han and Manchu, and no one can tell~ I actually think that some minority people are really pretty. But I don’t think it really matters if you’re minority or not. Either way, they’re Chinese, even if foreign people don’t believe it.
July 13, 2011 at 2:05 am
Most ethnic minorities in China are Mongoloid. Meaning they are identical to other Mongoloid nationalities such as Chinese, Mongolians, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese etc. The PC term is Asian or East Asian. There are also South East Asian populations in China. They are largely identical except with darker skin tones.
A few exceptions exist such as Uyghurs and Tajiks who are actually of Persian and Iranian stock. These people are Caucasoid with stereotypical Middle Eastern features. Uyghurs ancestrally are a Mongoloid people. But they expanded over non-Mongoloid populations that tend to create a mixture in their stock. Tajiks were always Caucasoid, and speak a language that is related to Iranian and Persian.
The girl in the first picture is Uyghur. She has the typical elliptical face shape of a Mongoloid but lacks epicanthanic folds. Or at the very least, they are not very pronounced.