扒车喵英国寇松勋爵曾说：“中国好比是一所大学，学者在这里永远拿不到学位。”在外国人眼中，中国就是迷一般存在的神奇。由于传统西方媒体对中国的报道普遍比较消极，因此，在很多外国人在来中国之前，都普遍存在一种固有的负面印象。但如今越来越多的外国人通过留学、旅游、商务等形式访问中国，通过在中国的生活与工作，亲身体验并了解了中国。那些真正善于观察中国的外国人，正在从日常生活的点点滴滴体会自己对中国的认识。在美版知乎Quora上，美国网友提问道：你来中国后，对中国和中国人民的印象有没有改变？这与你去之前所知道的有什么不同？这个问题引起各国网友的围观和热议，我们来看看他们的观点。
问题：来中国后，你对中国和中国人民的刻板印象有没有改变？
外国网友爱丽丝•加图的回答
I have an Indian friend. I will quote his experience to answer this question.
我有一个印度朋友，下面我将引用他的经历来回答这个问题。
From 2007 to 2008, he opened a furniture store in India. By 2012, his debt had reached 29.8 billion rupees. My friend’s house is at risk of being auctioned off. The reason for business failure is not because of bad luck or poor ability, but because of the rampant bribery in India, the extremely low official efficiency leading to license extension, supplier quality fraud, etc.
2007年至2008年，他在印度开了一家家具店，到2012年，他已负债达298亿卢比。我朋友的房子面临被拍卖的风险。生意失败的原因并不是因为时运不济或者能力差，而是由于印度贿赂横行、官方办事效率极低导致许可证延期、供应商质量欺诈等。
Later, he managed to go to China, bought an aquatic company at the price of US $1.3 million, imported aquatic products to India at an average price of US $240 (US $110 plus import), and then sold them to Indian suppliers at the price of 20000 rupees each.
后来，他设法前往中国，以130万美元的价格购买了一家水产公司，并将水产品以均价240美元（110美元加进口）的价格将其进口到印度，然后以每个20000卢比的价格出售给印度供应商。
It took him four days to get the business registration in China and 14 days to get the export license. Every penny he spent will be registered on the receipt. Within a year, he recovered his strength and began to pay off his debts to postpone the precarious property auction.
他花了4天时间取得了中国的商业登记，14天时间取得了出口许可证，他花的每一分钱都会在收据上登记。不到一年，他就恢复了元气，开始偿还债务以推迟岌岌可危的房产拍卖。
Then he managed to set up a furniture factory in Shenzhen. This was not a small investment, but it took him only more than 70 days from the start of construction to the opening. Despite high tariffs, high-quality furniture (not teak or mahogany of course) is much better than most Indian assembled furniture.
然后，他想方设法在深圳建立了一家家具厂，这不是笔小的投资，但从动工到开业，也只花了他70多天时间。尽管有较高的关税，但高品质的家具（当然不是柚木或红木）比大多数印度组装家具都要好得多。
By 2014, his loan was settled, his property was safe and sound, and he began to buy new plots to expand his business territory. His Chinese managers and friends often visited him and visited Bodhgaya and other places. Although he is an Indian and a foreigner, the Chinese financing he obtained was entirely based on commercial feasibility.
到2014年，他贷款结清、房产安然无恙，并且开始购买新地块拓展他的商业版图。他的中国经理和朋友经常去拜访他，并去了菩提迦耶等地游玩。尽管他是印度人，也是外国人，但他获得的中国融资完全是基于商业可行性。
Then he turned to artificial diamonds. A diamond necklace worth $320, made of lifelike looking stones, he obtained the license and registered for business again -2-3 weeks. He made a fortune again by designing, manufacturing and selling “artificial diamond jewelry” in tanishq or ddamas. He finally settled down and his daughter is studying medicine in China.
然后他转向人造钻石。一条价值320美元的钻石项链，由外观逼真的石头制成，他再次-2-3周获得许可证并注册业务。他在塔尼什克（Tanishq）或达马斯（DDamas）进行设计制造并出售了“人造钻石首饰”，再次发了财。他最终安顿下来，他的女儿正在中国学习医学。
So we can know:
于是我们可以了解到：
• China is a booming market economy, rather than a closed and backward planned economy. There are many business opportunities here. Even setting up a small enterprise can make you rich. Financing in China is a very convenient thing.
•中国是一个蓬勃发展的市场经济体，而非封闭落后的计划经济体，在这有很多做生意的机会，甚至成立一个小企业都可以让你致富，在中国融资是一个再方便不过的事情了。
Like any other prosperous country, it has ferries and ultra efficient trains, and electronic products are very cheap. A $4 hairdryer has been used for nearly two years.
它就像其他任何繁荣的国家一样，渡船、超高效列车应有尽有，而且电子产品很便宜，一个4美元的大吹风机，用了将近2年。
After you arrived in China, all the myths and rumors were dispelled. China is only a normal prosperous country, not a rigid police country full of socialist policies. I believe it will certainly become a world-class leader in all aspects.
在你到了中国之后，所有的神话和谣言都被驱散了。中国只是一个正常的繁荣国家，而不是一个充满社会主义政策的僵化警察国家，我相信它肯定会在各个方面都成为世界级的领导者。
英国网友弗朗辛•瑞萨的回答
I lived there for eleven years. Now I know that China is better than my motherland Britain in many ways, and much better than the United States I heard of. Most importantly, I have completely changed my view of Chinese women.
我在那里住了十一年。现在我知道，中国在很多方面都比我的祖国英国好，也比我听说的美国好得多。最重要的是，我彻底改变了对中国女性的看法。
Like many foreigners, I somehow believe that “western” women are more free than Asian women. After coming to China, I saw a large number of Chinese women working in the field of science and leadership positions. I felt a cultural shock. In my university, the new party secretary (an important position) is a woman in her thirties, quite young. In my three years in China, I met more female engineers, physicists and chemists than in my thirty years in the West. I even saw women workers building roads and carrying rocks in Yunnan. This kind of hard physical labor is almost completely completed by men in the West.
像许多外国人一样，我不知何故相信“西方”的女性比亚洲的女性更自由。来到中国后，看到大批中国女性在科学领域和领导岗位上工作，我感受到了一种文化冲击。在我所在的大学，新的党委书记（一个重要职位）是一位三十多岁的女性，相当年轻。在中国的三年里，我遇到的女性工程师、物理学家和化学家比我在西方的三十年还要多。我甚至在云南看到女工在修路和搬运岩石，这种艰苦的体力劳动在西方几乎完全由男性完成。
Although there are still undisputed sexism in China, for example, the guy from Tsinghua University who took me out on a date just told me that if we got married, he would make all important decisions, which is very male chauvinism. However, I soon learned that Chinese women are not as shy and shy as Western stereotypes, but are strong and outspoken.
尽管在中国仍然存在着无可非议的性别歧视，比如清华大学的那个带我出去约会的家伙，他只是告诉我，如果我们结婚，他会做出所有重要的决定，这非常大男子主义。然而，我很快就了解到，中国女性并不像西方刻板印象中那样害羞、腼腆，而是坚强、直言不讳。
This is the first time in my life that I have experienced a feeling that I will be respected intellectually. I am occasionally disrespected for my ethnic origin or status, but no one has ever questioned my intelligence and ability to think rationally according to gender.
这是我有生以来第一次体验到一种想当然的感觉，即我会得到理智上的尊重。我偶尔会因自己的种族出身或身份而受到不尊重，但从来没有人质疑我的智力和根据性别进行理性思考的能力。
These experiences have not only changed my understanding of China, but also changed the way I view my own cultural origins. I realize that progress is not linear. We are no more “advanced” than other countries. I also realize how many unconscious sexism exist in western universities and workplaces, and how normal it is for westerners to belittle women more persuasively than men to some extent. I am more confident in my intelligence and more respectful of Chinese culture, but I am ashamed to realize that my assumptions are wrong.
这些经历不仅改变了我对中国的理解，也改变了我看待自己的文化起源的方式。我意识到进步不是线性的。我们并不比其他国家更“先进”。我还意识到，西方大学和工作场所中存在着多少无意识的性别歧视，西方人在某种程度上贬低女性比男性更有说服力是多么正常。我对自己的才智更加自信，对中国文化也更加尊重，但意识到我的假设是错误的，我感到羞愧。
In addition, China is more secure and stable, and its people are friendly and wise.
除此之外，中国还更加安全稳定，人民友好智慧。
Many ignorant right-wing journalists who have never been to China have written down what they think of China according to their morbid fantasies on the brainwashing media supported by the United States. He imagined China as a smoky and oppressive country, but I know that China has many beautiful natural scenic spots and clean air in cities. Religious tolerance. I went to churches, stayed in Buddhist temples for meditation, and visited Taoist temples. Social life is free, there is not so much political correctness, and real life is much freer than in the West.
许多从未去过中国的无知的右翼记者根据他们在美国支持的洗脑媒体上的病态幻想，写下了他所认为的中国的模样。他把中国想象成一个烟雾弥漫、压迫重重的国家，但我知道中国有许多美丽的自然风景区，城市也有清洁的空气。宗教宽容，我去了教堂，呆在佛寺冥想，参观了道观，社会生活是自由的，没有那么多政治正确，现实生活比西方自由得多。
I have been to many cities and traveled in the countryside. I also have many Muslim friends, including Uygur friends. I don’t know what idiot demons are in the minds of many Westerners (mainly the media), but I think it’s crazy when people who have never been to China tell me that my experience is wrong and their hateful dark fantasy is true. The madness of western Anti China sentiment will exacerbate their collapse.
我去过许多城市，在农村旅行。我也有很多穆斯林朋友，包括维吾尔族朋友，我不知道许多西方人（主要是媒体）脑子里都有什么白痴恶魔，但我认为，当从未去过中国的人对我说我的经历是错误的，他们可恶的黑暗幻想是事实的时候，这太疯狂了，西方反华情绪的疯狂将加剧他们的垮台。
I would rather live in a civilized China all my life than in the United States or Britain where crime is rampant and corruption is unbearable.
我宁愿在文明的中国生活一辈子，也不愿在犯罪猖獗、腐败不堪的美国或英国生活一天。
德国网友戴维•雷维的回答
Before my visit, I had many prejudices against China. I am a European who often travels to the United States, so I have a Western centric view. After China, everything has changed. Basically, most prejudices have disappeared:
在访问之前，我对中国有很多偏见。我是一个经常去美国旅行的欧洲人，所以我有一种以西方为中心的观点。在中国之后，一切都发生了变化，基本上，大多数偏见都消失了：
Prejudice 1: China is a backward developing country
偏见1：中国是一个落后的发展中国家
In the most populous urban areas, China is obviously no less than Europe and the United States. China has the latest roads, bridges, tunnels, subways, railway stations, airports, planes and so on. Its infrastructure is amazing. It is definitely not like a “developing country”. By contrast, New York’s slow and noisy subway and rugged roads have not been repaired for decades.
在人口最多的城市地区，中国显然不比欧洲和美国逊色多少。中国拥有最新的道路、桥梁、隧道、地铁、火车站、机场、飞机等等，基础设施令人惊叹，它绝对不像一个“发展中国家”。相比之下，纽约缓慢而嘈杂的地铁和崎岖不平的道路有几十年没有进行维修了。
Some people say that many parts of China are obviously underdeveloped. Although this is true, I have a very subtle view on it. First of all, from a statistical point of view, China is the country that has raised the largest number of people from the poor to the middle class in the shortest time in history.
有人说中国的许多地区显然都不发达。虽然这是真的，但我对此有着非常微妙的看法。首先，从统计学的角度来看，中国是在有史以来最短的时间内将最多的人从贫困人口提升到中产阶级的国家。
Let’s consider the size of China’s population: 1.4 billion, too much. We need to have a concept of this figure. I made a comparison. China’s 1.4 billion population = the sum of EU + Russia + Ukraine + Belarus + Turkey + the United States + Canada + Mexico, so it is all the western world + some surrounding countries. Among them, poverty exists in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Turkey, Mexico, rural America and several European countries.
让我们看看中国的人口规模：14亿，太多了。我们需要对这个数字有一个概念，我做了一个比较，中国14亿人口=欧盟+俄罗斯+乌克兰+白俄罗斯+土耳其+美国+加拿大+墨西哥的总和，所以全是西方世界+周围的一些国家。其中，俄罗斯、乌克兰、白俄罗斯、土耳其、墨西哥、美国农村和几个欧洲国家都存在贫困。
I say this because we obviously have to treat China as a country, but let us realize what 1.3 billion people are. Because of this fact, when we read the news of “China’s high-speed train derailed, XX people died” or “China’s coal mine collapsed, XX people died” in the west, I laughed when most people said “Oh, China, look at how bad everything is”. Wow… If we take into account all the problems that have occurred in the EU + Eastern Europe + Turkey + North America + Mexico and report them like a country, in this sense, we will have much more problems than China.
我这样说是因为我们显然必须把中国作为一个国家，但让我们认识到13亿人是什么。因为这个事实，当我们在西方读到“中国高速列车出轨，XX人死亡”或“中国煤矿坍塌，XX人死亡”之类的新闻时，当大多数人说“噢，中国，再看看一切有多糟糕”时，我都笑了。哇……如果我们考虑到欧盟+东欧+土耳其+北美+墨西哥发生的所有问题，并像一个国家一样报告这些问题，那么从这个意义上讲，我们的问题将比中国多得多。
So I apply the same principle to the poor areas in China: Yes, of course, there are extremely poor areas, and there will always be. In any case, people are more and more attracted by cities, so it is difficult for the western mountainous areas and other areas with small population to survive. It is such a large country that it is impossible to solve all the poverty problems so easily, so the achievements so far are impressive.
所以我对中国的贫困地区也适用同样的原则：是的，当然有极端贫困的地区，而且永远都会有。无论如何，人们越来越被城市所吸引，所以西部山区等人口较少的地区无论如何都难以生存，它是一个如此之大的国家，不可能如此轻易地解决所有贫困问题，所以迄今为止所取得的成就足以令人印象深刻。
Prejudice 2: China is dangerous
偏见2：中国是危险的
People often think that the Chinese are “sneaky”. I don’t know where it came from. I am surprised that during my ten day trip to China, I did not encounter any danger or embarrassment in China. It’s very safe here and people are very honest. At night in Europe, in a city like Paris, you feel insecure. Groups of single men gather to intimidate random people. In Italy and Spain, your bag is often stolen. Everyone is very honest with us. In some cases, people can easily deceive us without any effort, but they have never done so, not even taxi drivers. The Chinese people are great.
人们往往认为中国人“鬼鬼祟祟”。我不知道这是从哪里来的。我很惊讶，在我十天的中国之旅中，在中国境内没有遇到任何危险或尴尬的情况。这里非常安全，人们也非常诚实。在欧洲的夜晚，在巴黎这样的城市，你会觉得不太安全，成群结队的单身男子聚集在一起恐吓随机的人，在意大利和西班牙，你的包会经常被偷。每个人都对我们非常诚实。有些情况下，人们不费吹灰之力就可以轻易地欺骗我们，但他们从来没有这样做，甚至出租车司机也没有这样做，中国人很了不起。
Prejudice 3: China’s environment is very dirty
偏见3：中国的环境很肮脏
China was once heavily polluted, but now you can hardly see pollution with your eyes in big cities. How green China is in terms of vegetation. They pay great attention to beauty, while city parks are exciting. There are green, beautiful and huge vegetation everywhere. The degree of air pollution is in direct proportion to the beauty and cleanliness of the park.
中国曾经污染严重，但现在在大城市你几乎难以用眼睛看到污染。就植被而言，中国是多么的绿色。他们非常注重美丽，而城市公园则令人兴奋不已。到处都是绿色、美丽和巨大的植被。空气的污染程度与公园的美丽和干净程度是成正比例的。
China is amazing. It will replace the United States as the next world leader. I have no doubt about it. Most Westerns have absolutely wrong views on many levels. The Chinese are smart and willing to solve major problems such as pollution. It is only a matter of time.
中国令人惊叹，它将取代美国成为下一个世界领导者，我对此毫不怀疑。大多数西方媒体在许多层面上都有绝对错误的观点。中国人很聪明，也很愿意解决污染等重大问题，这只是时间的问题。
