By David Powell

    I was struck in watching the winter Olympics by the number of “Olympic tourists,” natives of one country competing for a newly-adopted nation. In particular, the three Reed siblings were born in America but competed for Japan and Georgia. As an American living in China, this situation struck me with a deceptively simple question -- “Could I become Chinese?”

    I have gathered little moss over the past 25 years, having lived in five cities and three continents. People often ask, “Where are you from?” When I first moved to a new city, I reflexively said I was “from Saint Louis,” where I had been raised. I felt comfortable claiming the heritage of Saint Louis as my own because I spent the majority of my so-called formative years there.

    The question became more complicated when I moved to Italy. I was told on more than one occasion that the only “true” Romans are those whose families have lived in Rome for seven generations. So, Roman I was not. Instead, I would say, “I have lived here for a few years but I am from America.”

    And then there was China. During my first months here, I was “from Los Angeles,” where I had previously lived for the better part of a decade. Over time, my ties and allegiance to L.A. weakened and I reverted to saying I was “raised in Saint Louis.”

    I have lived in Xiamen for more than four years now and yet I would not even consider saying I am “from Xiamen.” Why is that? China is certainly no longer a closed society, and yet Chinese self-identity is tied incredibly closely to genetics, even more so than birthplace. My very face and race immediately and irrevocably convince many that I am not from here. 

    Acculturation is not assimilation. Even those international migrants who are ethnically Asian and who speak Mandarin with a standard accent are still viewed as intrinsically not Chinese. This is not to say that discrimination necessarily follows, but this difference is always noted.

    In the end, I believe that heritage can be adopted but that the act of “becoming Chinese” is a willful choice that represents an intellectual assertion of identification, one that will not be fully accepted on a gut level by many local persons. A majority of Chinese citizens will continue to simply view me, physically and culturally, as a “lao wai,” an old outsider. And that is okay -- while I am blessed to have a good life here, I am also fortunate and honored to be able to say I am “from America.”

 一个长居中国的外人

       观看冬季奥运会时，那些“奥运游客”的数量使我感到十分惊讶。这些人本来是一个国家的土生土长的本地人，但是在冬奥会中却代表另一个新加入的国家参赛。一个特例是里德三兄妹，他们都出生在美国，但是却代表日本和格鲁吉亚参赛。作为一个居住在中国的美国人，类似情况一直困扰着我，这是一个看似简单的问题——“我能成为一个中国人吗？”

       在过去的25年中，我一直辗转于各个地方，曾经在三个大洲的五个城市待过。每当我刚搬到一个新的城市，人们经常问我，“你来自哪里？”我总是条件反射般地回答：“我来自圣路易斯。”那是我生长的地方，我这样说觉得很舒服，因为我在那里度过了所谓的成长期中的大部分时光。

       当我搬到意大利后，这个问题就变得更加复杂了。我在多个场合被告知，只有那些在罗马居住了七代以上的人才是“真正的”罗马人。所以，我称不上是罗马人。相反地，我会说，“我在这里住了几年，但我来自美国。”

       接下来，就是中国了。到这里的前几个月，我称自己来自洛杉矶。在之前的10年中，我大部分的时间住在那里。随着时间的推移，我对洛杉矶的依赖和忠诚减弱了，于是，我又回到了以前的说法：“我是在圣路易斯长大的。”

       现在，我已经在厦门居住了四年多。但是，我从来没有想过要说自己来自厦门。为什么呢？中国已经不再是一个封闭的国家，但是中国人的自我认同始终是与遗传学紧密联系在一起的，令人难以置信的是，这种联系甚至比出生地更加紧密。我与周围人不同的的面孔和种族总是让人们快速地、极其肯定地确认，我是个外来者。

       文化适应并不等于同化。即使是那些属于亚洲人种、说着标准普通话的国际移民在本质上仍然被人们视为不是中国人。这并不是因为歧视的存在，这种差异是始终被人们所关注的。

       最后，我相信传统是可以学习的，“成为中国人”的行为是一种出于自愿的选择，是经过思考后对个人身份的声明。虽然这在许多中国本地人的直觉中，还不能完全接受。大部分中国人还是会将我视为“老外”，不仅是外貌上的，也是文化上的外人。这也没关系——有幸在中国有一段美好生活的同时，我也觉得十分幸运和荣幸能够说自己来自美国。

       张萍萍译