My name is Siyu. I was born and raised in Beijing, and I've spent the last ten years traveling, studying, and working abroad in the US, UK, and France. Many people that I met were curious about Chinese culture, but their impressions of China would end up with words like 'communist,' 'pollution' and 'no Facebook.' While many facts are true, the contemporary, living, and multifaceted Chinese way of life is rarely heard of.
I started "tiny eyes" webcomics a year ago in the hope of sharing cultural differences through everyday life. To me, learning about western culture has always been a fun experience, and I want to pass this feeling to people who are curious about China. In lots of my cartoon drawings, I compare Chinese culture to other cultures. Through comparison, we realize how differently we act in front of the same situation and how we tend to think in a certain way instead of another. In the end, every culture is "weird" in its way, but it's also the weirdness that makes it interesting.
I post these funny comics regularly every week, and I share slices of my personal life and experience through Instagram. I hope you enjoy it!
More info: Instagram
#1
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#2
You don't want to drive in big cities like Beijing.
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#3
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#5
Maybe you have heard that Chinese eat cats. A few horrible people in some obscure places maybe, but the majority, NO!!
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#6
In China, people don't say anything after someone sneezes.
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#7
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#8
It takes me sometime to get used to making constant eye contact when talking to people. Traditionally, Chinese people tend to avoid direct eye contact when talking to each other, which is a way to show respect and obedience, but in lots of western cultures, especially in English-speaking countries, avoiding eye contact signifies hesitation and dishonesty. (Correct me if I’m wrong.)
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#9
Beauty = Thin. “Gaining weight” brings absolute horror for many Chinese girls, even though most of them are already considered thin in other cultures. I’ve seen girls who eat only one apple a day and who drink special tea (which makes you go to toilet 20 times a day) in order to lose weight in a very short time. Movie stars and super models are pushing this aesthetic to its extreme through mass media. When will we be able to simple enjoy being who we are?
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#10
eople have less trouble naming Chinese political figures than naming great Chinese artists and scientists, who have also played a great role in shaping Chinese culture. Why? They don't learn much about it in school; they don't see them in the media often; and in China we lack initiatives and channels to communicate to the outside word.
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#11
There’s a Chinese saying “三思而后行”, which means to think twice before taking actions. In history, Chinese value highly reflection and past experience, but acting cautious and staying wise didn’t save the people from the arrival of the early western explorers who sailed into the unknown and took chances at the risk of their lives. China was forced to take actions in its modern history, often times too fast in exchange for development.
While too much reflection on the past slows down the process of change and innovation, too much action without thinking results in waste of resources and irreversible consequences. It’s time for thinkers and doers to meet and learn from each other in this increasingly connected world. It’s happening.
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#12
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#13
When asked this question, some of the Chinese moms tell their little kids that they were born from their armpits, or even worse, picked up from a trash can.
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#14
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#16
I’ve experienced student dormitories in three countries: In the U.K. I have my own private room with shared public space; In the U.S. I shared my dorm with one roommate; In China, I used to live with 5 girls in the same room. This lack of privacy must be shocking for some of you, but in a country with 1.3 billion population, space is always a problem. While there are many inconvenience not having enough private space, on the bright side, sharing a room with someone also makes you learn quite a deal about communication, responsibilities and tolerance.
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#17
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#18
It’s hard for Chinese to directly express their love to their families and friends. Instead of saying love, we show care to the health of people we love, ask them if everything goes well, and buy nice things to make their life more comfortable. In history, Confucius enforced social orders by putting people in different relations/obligations, but the expression of personal feelings was never encouraged. Emotions need to be under control.
How do you show people that you care about them?
How do you show people that you care about them?
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