Originally posted in the now retired “Keeping up With the Joneses”

Be honest (no one will know) – have you ever said something like, “All Chinese people look alike”?

Now be honest again.  How many Chinese friends do you have?  Wait – Don’t count them unless you know their name (without looking at their nametag) AND they know yours.  Don’t worry this is not another guilt trip or an effort to shame you into being more globally alert.  Living in China, however, has given us the opportunity to get the inside scoop on real live Chinese people.  What I’m about to share is sensitive and may not be suitable for everyone.  Are you ready?  Are you sitting down? Chinese people are  . . . people.

It’s true.  You can check Wikipedia.  

We have absolutely fallen in love with so many of our new friends.  We have also learned that you can’t apply a lone characteristic to an entire nation full of people whether it be how they look, how they act, how they think or what their agenda is.  People are vastly and beautifully different and yet somehow all very much the same.  

So here are some pictures to bust the myth once and for all.  Chinese people do NOT all look the same and if you look closely you even get a taste of their unique personalities.  These are from our first year in China and feature some of my favorite and funnest students.  And friends.