Long lives the great unity of the world's people by Luoyang
Updated: Nov 11, 2020
Grocery shopping at Queen Victoria Market. A middle-aged woman asks me 这个鸡蛋多少钱[1] without 你好[2], sorry or an excuse me. I am offended as if I am not Chinese. Frowning brow performing being lost in translation, I turn around to the next stall buying green chillies from 一个会说中文的[3] female vender we speak English. A windy night many and many a day ago in St. Kilda a White male passer-by mocked us 你好你好你好[4]. My friends are Vietnamese. Waiting for the traffic light to cross the road to buy a bottle of 料酒[5] from an Asian grocery, an inner voice recurs: are you Chinese? I am Chinese. I have a Chinese passport and I speak Chinese. I carry a bag of veggies heading home to stir fry 中国菜[6]. But I don’t like the Party; I don’t like the people who like the Party; I don’t like the banners of the Party; I don’t like 中国特色社会主义[7]. Am I Chinese? My father is a Party member, my uncle hates Japan, my cousin majors in Japanese and I carry a bag of veggies crossing the road to buy a bottle of 料酒[8] and heading home to stir fry 中国菜.[9] [1] 这个鸡蛋多少钱?(zhe ge ji dan duo shao qian?) How much does this egg cost? [2] 你好 (ni hao) Hello [3] 一个会说中文的 (yi ge hui shuo zhong wen de) This phrase is used as an adjective in Chinese. Literally: who has the ability to speak Chinese [4] Hello [5] 料酒 (liao jiu) Cooking wine [6] 中国菜 (zhong guo cai) Chinese food [7] 中国特色社会主义 (zhong guo te se she hui zhu yi) Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, i.e. authoritarian capitalism [8] Cooking wine [9] Chinese food