Chinese girls vs. Taiwanese girls

[xiaoxiajenny]

Youshen is right!

[JessicaP]

Ohk. I'm sorry to correct you, but Taiwanese girls are NOT materialistic. I have them as friends, and they're actually really nice, once you get to know them. Perhaps sometimes they like to be given gifts, but doesn't everyone feel that way?

[SunDaYu]

I found many Chinese girls to be materialistic, extremely manipulative, and even damaging their body just to prove a point (over drinking on purpose to ruin her boyfriend's night). But I've seen the same in American girls.

I feel like the girls that most foreigners end up seeing in the larger cities in China and Taiwan are more materialistic and shallow, but there is still a fair share of good girls out there. For instance, some of the sales girls in Beijing act so spoiled and ridiculous that I ended up yelling at a ton of them for being too aggressive, forcefully pulling my girlfriend into their shop, and screaming broken English into my ear. It can really distort your impression because I have never seen this kind of behavior in any other city in China. When I told my host family about it when I got back to the northeast they were shocked themselves.

I have my own theories over why the mainland Chinese girls are this way, and it's mostly because of the cultural revolution, upbringing, the current economic boom in China, one child policy, and an unheard of amount of pressure from society. I think it's just sad.

[doraemon]

I have my own theories over why the mainland Chinese girls are this way, and it's mostly because of the cultural revolution, upbringing, the current economic boom in China, one child policy, and an unheard of amount of pressure from society. I think it's just sad.

Hey, your theory's kind of similar to mine! High 5! Anyway...I think the one child policy is the fundamental cause of the current state of most girls in China. One child leads to a spoilt unbringing which makes them feel everything has to go their own way and that they can accomplish anything they want...(quite sad IMO). Once they leave the protective sphere of their families and step into the real world, they eventually find out that the world doesn't revolve around them after all...and some who find it hard to adapt become very

materialistic, extremely manipulative, and even damaging their body just to prove a point

as well as

spoiled and ridiculous ...aggressive

+ self centered.

But I guess one thing good about them is that they tend to almost always speak their mind and it is this straightforwardness and candid nature that can be quite appealing (despite their spoilt behaviour at times). They seem a lot more efficient whereas Taiwanese girls can seem quite 'fake' to me (probably because of the way they talk) although I don't think they're as manipulative as mainland Chinese ones...

I personally don't like either that much (don't get me wrong, most of them are good people but I just don't want them as girlfriend/wives)...

[putonghua73]

I don't have enough evidence to compare, although my previous, with whom I was in a relationship for 2 and a half years was Taiwanese. I will mention one observation in that Taiwanese girls can be summed up in two words: padded bras.

There is the materialistic stereotype with Asian women, particularly Japanese. However, I have met plenty of non-materialistic Chinese women. My previous was not materialistic nor into status, and I met her via a language exchange in the UK as opposed to a bar / club.

Hate to say it but you're either attracting the wrong women, or as abcdefg eloquently put it, "I would humbly suggest that a noisy, smoky bar in Kundu would be one of the least likely places to meet such a potential companion".

Also, one should be able to spot these types in a heartbeat. 5 minutes of conversation is enough.

It should be said that I go for 'women', not girls ;)

Cheers!

[Lu]

Taiwanese girls can be summed up in two words: padded bras.

Seriously? That is the essence of Taiwanese girls, there is nothing else to them, personality, interests, looks even?

I don't know why this thread is even alive again, it's rife with generalisations.

[putonghua73]

Yep, that's the reason I spent 2 and a half years in a LDR with my ex: it was her padded bra.

I was being facetious (tongue in cheek).

Cheers!

[gato]

You spent two and half years with a padded bra?

[roddy]

Feel free to apologize to the Taiwanese girls reading for the bad joke.

[g1izmo]

Firstly I should say that I happen to prefer TW girls in the way they look, not just fashion wise but just the way they look, like bigger eyes and softer features. So needless to say when a pretty TW girl asked me to be her boyfriend I couldnt resist - WOW, my first asian gf at the age of 22 (I started late ). She was incredibly cute sweet but after 6 months the novelty of a pretty face wears off when all you hear is nagging, she was soooooooooo demanding in every way, she called me like a million times a day and after a while she was even trying to control what time I went to sleep and woke up! I spent sooo much money on the girl it was unreal!... 'materialistic' isnt the word :o

Anyway, when I finally broke up with her it was a complete disaster she turned into the legendary 'psycho mei mei' type, just the type my TW expat friends had told me to avoid at all costs.

On the postive side all my friends were jealous, especially the asian guys ;) and she was *insane* in bed

My more mature friends assured me that it was just a case of her being young and immature, no wonder why you guys on here are dating older TW girls, theyre much easier to date, from what ive heard.

[rezaf]

This part of the world is really materialistic. Chinese people aren't interested in anything unearthly. And for the record I don't think that Taiwanese people are not Chinese unless it's about politics.

[skylee]

Chinese people aren't interested in anything unearthly. And for the record I don't think that Taiwanese people are not Chinese unless it's about politics.

Such generalisation. I think you understand why people make generalisation about your people, then.

[knadolny]

This part of the world is really materialistic.

There is the materialistic stereotype with Asian women, particularly Japanese.

I'm not sure what people are trying to get out of this conversation. My wife is Japanese and I do not consider her materialistic. Sure she likes to dress up, wear nice clothes (preferably designer clothes), wears makeup, high heels, etc. Does that make her materialistic? Is it materialistic to do your best to l look good? In that case, materialistic is not so bad. Which girls do you find yourself checking out on the street?

If you had an ex that you couldn't stand then welcome to the club, but don't generalize an entire continent based on your one or two experiences. Plenty of us have very positive experiences.

[rezaf]

I wanted to tell myself that stereotypes don't exist but here I have learned that stereotypes are very REAL. This is what keeps the society together. Gives you an identity. Stereotype in a western society might mean racism but in here it is identity and it doesn't necesserily mean something bad. We all need an identity, it's either from inside ourselves or from the society. I have noticed that in my country the focus of education was on endividuality and what makes you unique but in here it is on how you should try to be like everyone else. Both systems have their pros and cons but generalisation and stereotypes play an important roll in the second system. I'm simply saying my observation without my personal feelings and I'm not trying to say who is the bad guy and who is the good guy.

[rezaf]

skylee there is a misunderstanding. I think

Such generalisation. I think you understand why people make generalisation about your people, then.

is a critical comment but would you say the same thing if I had made another generalisation like: "Chinese people are very kind and respectful towards foreigners."? .

Being more focused on earthly life(materialism), being respectful and kind are all different characteristics of the stereotype in the Chinese society.

Who says that Having preprogrammed (mainly materialistic) social goals towards your family and country thal lead you in finding your roll in the society are bad? At the first glance individualism and being unique might shine but in a lot of situations they have lead to chaos.

[skylee]

Why is my comment critical? Who says generalisation is bad?

[rezaf]

[rezaf]

Yeah in a friendly way China is full of stereotypes. Even my (future)mother-in-law always calls me Laowai and I don't find it offending at all but Skylee if you lived in America and people called you Hongkong girl or foreigner instead of your name what would you feel? Things in different situations can be judged differently as being good or bad. If you think about Chinese customs like buying expensive gifts all the time for 表现(and the fact that people including your relatives will judge you based on those gifts), the fact that you'll be categorized even by your family based on how much money you have, materialistic standard expectations for marriage like pinjin,fangzi... are all signs of a materialistic society(more than the other societies that I have seen) but on the other hand it also ensures a firm and realistic approach towards life which has its own benefits.

[Shi Tong]

OMG I cant believe you've all even started a thread with this title.

First of all, I'm married to a Taiwanese woman, and this narrows my view greatly, since I've only ever had the pleasure of travelling to Taiwan and haven't been to the mainland yet (something I really want to do). So I've met loads of Taiwanese "girls"/ women and they vary hugely, (OBVIOUSLY) from those who care about their apearance, buy expensive things, and are quite materialistic, to those who dont, and ones who are extraverted and those who are intorverted. There are ones who are "not so good looking", and ones who are amazing looking.

Then you have to consider that most of those are from Taipei (1 city out of about 4 large ones in Taiwan), because that's where my wife is from and her friends are from there too.

There's all of the REST of Taiwan which is also big (enough) as it is.

THEN you're talking about Chinese girls as if they're all from one place? You do realise that China is massive, dont you? There are "girls" from Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Hong Kong. Then you have all the "girls" who are not even from big cities.

Get real, these people are all as different as "you" and "me" who are from.. wherever.

I'm not saying that there are maybe not some tendancies in attitudes at all, but the variant in these cases (that the person is a person with their own personality), is too large to catagorise in any way.

Oh, and positive discrimination can be just as misleading and negative. I've met plenty of idiots in Taiwan too, and those who do not line laowai's. I think that people calling you laowai is annoying, and I dont think it's just funny or a way that people speak there, it's socially inadequacy. Of course, your future mother in law saying it has become an in joke, and that's fine, but that's like saying the word "ni**er" is fine because your black friend and you joke about this word.

[Hofmann]

Stereotypes are oversimplifications. To apply them to people is unjust. Stereotypes have very many negative effects and only a few positive effects. Those positive effects only occur in certain uncommon situations and only for a few people.

Also, there is no such thing as "reverse discrimination." Distance cannot be negative.

If you're going to generalize about a group of people, you'd better make sure it's accurate, stated clearly, and supported by scholarly references. An example: "According to the US Census Bureau in 2007, the median household annual income of those who identify themselves as Chinese Americans was $57,433 in 2004."