No Stupid Questions

Not gonna lie this is funny as fuck.

If you said you were a Chinese national I'd say please don't fucking feed the wildlife bro.

Interestingly if I see Americans abroad I usually assume they are far less likely to be the special ones

Don't.

First of all, Chinese are not that well viewed abroad either, a lot of the Chinese tourists we get in Europe are the top earners kids and are entitled as fuck.

Secondly no one judges people from their country, sure there are a lot of obnoxious Americans and Chinese tourists, but I imagine that's just survivor bias, you don't notice the non obnoxious ones which I assume to be the majority.

Thirdly, and maybe most important, you won't be able to do it. This question is proof that you think and act like an American, you have some ancestor who came from China so you think you're Chinese-american, and that that somehow means you're Chinese, but you grew in a different culture, eating different food, watching different TV shows, etc. In short, you are an American of Chinese ethnicity, you are not a Chinese who was born in America.

Do you want to know what's one of THE most obnoxious bullshit American tourists do? Teaching Italians about Italy because they're Italian-American, or thinking they know all about Ireland because the grandpa of their third-cousin once removed came from Ireland, so they're Irish-American. Unless you spent a significant chunk of your life in China, especially during the formative years, you will not behave Chinese, you have an "Americanized" image of what a Chinese is, and at best you would have fooled someone who doesn't care about your nationality as long as you treat them with respect. There's a song that I think sums out this feeling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq0_yCNSV-c it is a very common one, I've lived both in Italy and Ireland which is why I use them as examples, and every so often you'd get the X-American thinking they're X, and you could tell them apart from across the street.

There's another issue you're not considering: will you be safe returning to the US?

I wouldn't travel abroad while the Nazi regime is desperate for bodies to fill their camps. And I'm a white man. Shit, I'm not even stepping foot in an airport period until things improve.

If you can be respectful of the local culture where you're visiting while you're there, you'll be fine. Being an obnoxious American tourist is just as bad as an obnoxious Chinese tourist. Outside of unwarranted xenophobia, your behaviour matters more than your race.

If you are american, it usually shows. There is normally no way to hide that identity.

In most parts of the world neither Chinese nor Americans get trouble just for where they come from.

In most parts of the world people can decide very well between what governments do and what normal people do.

could I just pretend

But in most parts of the world people prefer very much if you DON'T lie to them.

China's rep isn't exactly great, either ...

But if you're from America (that's where you grew up and live) then that's what you should say, because that's what matters. The obsession with "heritage" is weird.

You are good as long as you don't act like you own the world, or like a Karen with a maga hat.

Most people in the world don't hate Americans, they hate trump and his cronies.

You can expect comments or be asked about trump, ICE, the war and politics if you get recognised as an American.

I don't know what you should do if you are going near: Iran, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Cuba...

My opinion is don't do it. Just be yourself. For many situations, you're only going to see the person for a couple of minutes, at most, so who cares what they think? If the conversation goes beyond that, you might find you want to make a connection, and now you've started the whole thing with a lie. Not a good look, and also you won't feel good about it.

My perspective is as a white guy who travels extensively (almost 40 countries now, 6 continents).

As others have mentioned, people don't judge you immediately based on where you come from. In my experience, they will most likely already have judged you based on your looks. The reaction will entirely depend on where you go, and to a smaller extent how you act.

For example, in (East) Africa, you probably won't get treated as nicely as white people do, from what I've heard. And white people get stared and pointed at a lot (unless you're in the full immigrant/expat part of a big city), harassed for money, and called mzuungu constantly. Generally this is all "in a nice way" for white people (but I got tired of it and didn't like it), but talking to other travellers, if you're "Asian", it isn't so "nice."

In southeast Asia it will be a mixed bag depending on what you look like. You'll probably fly under the radar, and have to deal more with people being shocked at your lack of speaking the local language. I saw this happen to Asian-American people a few times.

In Central and South America, excluding Peru and Brazil, be prepared for outright racism. Peru and Brazil have relatively large Chinese and Japanese descendant populations, but in the rest, I believe there is a lot of anti-Asian prejudice. They'll call you "chino", make eye/hand gestures, etc. Not all of this is in a hostile way, but I imagine it can get tiring or worse. Some will outright ignore you in stores and restaurants or even give you scowls. I saw all of this happen to other travellers, and heard even more stories.

I don't know if I can talk about Europe or Australia. I don't stand out there and I haven't really talked to anyone who does. I imagine it really varies by country and maybe even neighbourhood.

One thing to remember is that in places where English is a second language, they can't tell where you're from based on accent as much. You could say you're from Australia with your American accent and they'll full on believe you.

Oh and another one, since you were talking about using Mandarin or Cantonese with an accent... There are very few places outside of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan where people will speak any Chinese, let alone recognize the accent. Maybe Malaysia and Singapore? English is the de facto language of travel pretty much everywhere. Acting like you don't know it won't get you anywhere. You'd have to do a fake Chinese accent while talking English. Practice your best Uncle Roger I guess.

Final Bonus Pro Tip: the best thing you can do for yourself when travelling to countries that aren't primarily English, is learn how to say hello and thank you in the local language. If you initiate a conversation (e.g. respond to a stare) with a local language "hello", you will get a smile and hello back and tension will ease. The rarer the language, the bigger the smile.

People are going to clock that you aren't Chinese, even if you look as one. Hard to describe, but Chinese tourists can be recognized apart from people of Chinese descendency but that growth up in other places.

I think most places would be fine. In australia people are mostly anti-trump, so as long as you dont start a convo with politics or are rude, you're sweet as

As a Canadian… Americans pretend to be Canadians abroad all the time. As a result, everyone thinks I’m American at first, until they realize I behave differently.

I can usually spot the American in a crowd, no matter their skin colour. It’s generally in the worldview they project.

I can also usually spot the Chinese in the crowd for the same reason.

Unless you can fake the “We’re the best” attitude instead of the “nobody’s better than I can be” attitude, I wouldn’t try to fake being Chinese in many places. You’ll just come off as fake.

Better to just be yourself and hold the views and attitudes you actually hold. If you’re worried about how others will receive that, just be more private with the personal information you share.

Nobody is going to hate you just for being American, chill

I heard that there are people who hate Chinese tourists... so is this actually gonna backfire?

I've been to a few touristy spots in my life and it is my experience that it is a fairly recent development that Chinese tourists have nudged American ones from the top spot in the annoying tourists category. So regardless which group you'll pretend to be from, people will probably still find you annoying.

I totally get why you would want to pretend you're not American these days to avoid questions about the orange, ICE, and the subtleties of international law. Do what feels right and works. I wouldn't go as far as faking an accent but I wouldn't hold it against you necessarily.

I find questions like these more and more upsetting. I’ve posted several articles on Lemmy and other platforms that show how the USA is rapidly sliding into a fascist state, the breakdown of democracy is horrifying, and also directly affects the wellbeing and security of the countries US Americans are visiting as tourists. And all the US tourists that come over here say: well, I didn’t vote Trump (which nobody can check, can we? We just have to believe it). We all know USAmericans are not particularly blessed with vacation days, but wouldn’t they be BETTER spent in creating political initiatives in the USA? By God, man, you may be lucky you can actually re-enter the USA when you come back, and if the midterms go topsy-turvy (and rest assured that Trump will do anything to make them come out in his favor), you may well be seeking asylum in Europe or Australia in 2 years time! So, instead of thinking about what kind of silly hat to wear abroad, stay home and do something, a couple of things against trump’s fascism (end of rant).