Yellow Fever: Why Western Guys Date Chinese Girls
It was a warm night. I was sitting with a friend on the terrace of a bar in town, enjoying the balmy evening air, listening to soft jazz, and sipping beers. All was good. Until my friend raised her eyebrows in the direction of the table beside us. A portly western chap of advancing years was balancing a nymph-like Chinese girl on his lap, and they were kissing lavishly. Their arms and hands seemed to be everywhere, and she was giggling like a pre-teen. (If my better judgement hadn’t prevailed, I would have guessed she was a pre-teen.) My friend and I glanced around uncomfortably, wondering if anyone else was witnessing this display. Everyone was. At one point, a collective gasp rose, as the girl was seen to lick the eyeballs of her corpulent swain.
My friend and I looked at each other in horror. Then she sniffed in disdain.
"As if he’d get anyone as cute as her back home."
"Or as young," I added.
"So typical."
And it is. The sight of a mature laowai with a nubile young Chinese girl on his arm is as common in ShenZhen as Haibao. And it’s not just the older chaps that are at it – most of my younger male friends have, at some stage, taken up with local girls. There’s even a saying in Mandarin along the lines of "an old bull eating green grass" (老牛吃嫩草) which describes the situation exquisitely.
So what attracts western men to Chinese girls? Asking around, I’ve discovered that the reasons are as manifold as the couples. One guy told me, quite perceptively, that the Chinese female is the epitome of femininity – petite, smooth skin, almond eyes, lithe limbs, sweet demeanour. Another friend waggled his eyebrows lasciviously and uttered a phrase that makes my skin crawl – "yellow fever". My American neighbour said that having a Chinese girlfriend was great for his Mandarin, and she cooks amazing Hunan beef. How mercenary! But I guess we all choose our partners for reasons that benefit us in one way or another. My friend Jack told me that he enjoys flings with Chinese girls because he doesn’t want to get into a long relationship with a western girl that might prove serious, since he is leaving Shenzhen at the end of the year. According to him, Chinese girls are more accepting of one night stands and brief affairs.
And likewise, Chinese girls repay their western suitors with equal enthusiasm. Is it the allure of foreign paychecks that swell their partners’ wallets? Is it the promise of marriage one day, and a one-way plane ticket to Europe or the States? Is it the more worldly outlooks that foreign guys are supposed to have?
Perhaps it’s because western guys are perceived as being more faithful than their Chinese counterparts (although this, of course, is highly debatable). Chinese guys have a reputation for juggling multiple women. My French boyfriend presented me with a bouquet of roses on Valentine’s Day this year in which each flower was individually wrapped. Was this an example of the typically Chinese way of using twelve sheets of plastic where one (or none) would suffice, I wondered? No, my boyfriend told me. In his opinion, the flowers were thus wrapped so Chinese men could give an individual flower to each of their many girlfriends.
But deep-seated views are difficult to challenge, especially where parents are concerned. My friend Echo has been seeing her German boyfriend Georg for three years. They live together, and are planning to move to Germany next summer. "My parents aren’t too happy that I’m with Georg," she says, "They’re afraid that he is going to take me away from them forever. I’ve tried to explain how much I love him, and how I will always be their daughter even if I move to Germany, but they don’t seem to understand."
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Comment by Blue Valentine on August 21, 2010 at 3:46pm -
Yellow Fever: Why Western Guys Date Chinese Girls?
Answer these questions and you will find the answer to your question.."Why do Chinese girls date western guys, no matter whether they are bald or old or fat or ugly? Is it just for the money or the white skin or a citizenship in a western country?
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Comment by Mike46 on August 21, 2010 at 10:35am
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the Chinese female is the epitome of femininity – petite, smooth skin, almond eyes, lithe limbs, sweet demeanour.
Read like that it doesn't seem to be too stupid. However, if I replace "the Chinese female" in that sentence by Dan or Jane or Shannon, then it makes me giggle.
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Comment by 我是维奇 on August 19, 2010 at 1:29am -
@Abhi: yes, I do think CAREFULLY before I post anything, not that you would notice. I was being sarcastic in my first post.
Read my comment and my answer to Dan again and maybe then you will get it!
:-P
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Comment by 我是维奇 on August 19, 2010 at 1:26am
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Someone that thought oval eyes were an attractive feminine trait?
Yes, I understand that. My point is, who decided that almond eyes are more 'feminine' than any other type of eyes?!! I mean where is the point of reference? It is nothing but a personal preference, isn't it. That sentence about femininity just sounds so funny :D
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Comment by Cynic The Troll on August 18, 2010 at 7:37pm -
@Ade Yep, live it.
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Comment by Coffee Break on August 18, 2010 at 2:33pm -
yes straight I am :)
oh, and not fat anymore, Ade :p
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Comment by Zen on my back on August 18, 2010 at 2:28pm -
Hey dude, don't get me wrong!
Are they female, are you male and possibly straight? What's the big difference? ;)
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Comment by Coffee Break on August 18, 2010 at 2:23pm
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Luigi,
I may be wrong, but they look like western girls (well, with exception of the almond eyes), didn't they?
you are definitely wrong or too horny :)
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Comment by Zen on my back on August 18, 2010 at 2:19pm
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The blog may be a rip off, but the debate it generated is quite entertaining.
Looking at chinese girls and starting dating them is inevitable as long as you are alone and male in China. How many of us have come here with a gf or a wife? How many free western girls are on the market?
I remember my first weeks here, I didn't find chinese girls attractive at all; but as time pass by, since you are constantly surrounded by YCGs, you start falling for them or at least being intrigued by.
I may be wrong, but they look like western girls (well, with exception of the almond eyes), didn't they?
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Comment by Abhi on August 18, 2010 at 1:56pm -
Who would think that these are an 'epitome of femininity '! :-D
Hey there Border Hopper, Now u will say that I like to contradict everything u say. Read what you have written once again.
Do u even put a thought into things before you post here.
It is really easy to see a lot of faults, and not see the good points concenred with them when you are out of your senses.
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