Mixed marriage? Chinese/ Indian

Sarah_KK

Hope someone can share...

I am planning to move to Delhi to get to know my Indian boyfriend/ family more in next 12 months. Any serious plan, may be. However, I realise there isn't much information on mixed marriage/ relationship between Chinese and India in the Internet.

Do you know if there is any chinese community (or HK Chinese) in Delhi? Do they mix with Indian there? Not that I need to stick to my own kind, but nice to know if I am homesick from time to time.

I am learning Hindi so that I can know more about the culture and the country. Very impressed by its beauty.

So, any tips are welcome. Thanks so much!

batistuta

Hi and welcome to Indiamike ,I Dont have any info abt your query,
but just want to wish you all the Best in your relationship!

Sarah_KK

Thanks Batistuta.

There are many American/ British/ European + Chinese couples. However, I don't seem to find Indian/ Chinese couple and really want to get some advise/ support from other who have been through similar situation.

Also, in terms of living Delhi for a single woman, wonder how difficult would it be?

What are the perceptions of Chinese in India?

greenchutney

that they are backstabbers. i am afraid this is from history and from an indian point of view.

and indians are naturally suspicious of chinese from that point.....

i really think you would be mistaken to be a northeastern...mizo, naga, assamese. many northeastern indians have an oriental look if i may use that word. if you are bit darker, you could pass for a nepali though there are no rules....just stereotypes....

fyi, there are many many northeasterners's living in delhi.

again it depends on the various classes of the society, the perception and the treatment.

but in general you are allright. nothing crazy or extreme i would think other than some curious harmless questions..... also there is increased coordination these days in economics, lots of indian companies moving to china....and shanghai is frequently touted as role model for mumbai.....

in the professional circles, you shouldnt have a problem.

be ready for talk on tibet if at all the topic turns to politics.

good luck.

lez

I have travelled the world and in every country I have visited there is a Chinese community.

My home town is very proud of having the first Chinese community in Europe

Only 20 years ago in China most Chinese had not seen a European, the thought we had horns growing out of our heads and one of us had read hair, the Chinese thought he was the devil him self. The black man with us had the best fun the kids would run away screaming

I was in china for 6 months and nothing changed.
Now they don’t bat an eye lid at a European.
Things change, don’t worry, be happy.

Lez

Merchant

There is a large Chinese community in Calcutta.

rangss

I had known one Chinese Indian gentleman whose family owns a nice shoe store in Vizag. A very lively character who, like all Chinese Indians, speaks the local language fluently, is a member of the local Rotary Club chapter and has completely assimilated into the landscape. Above all, he is an authority on cricket statistics!

A couple of weeks ago, I met a young Chinese while travelling on train from Hyderabad to Chennai. He too was fluent in Telugu and was travelling with an Indian who seems to be his college mate or something.

From what I know, Chinese are as friendly as Indians...

__________________
...and I took the road less travelled.

Paagla Dashu

This is a question for Sarah-kk:

Presumably you are Chinese (HK).

How do the Chinese in HK or Singapore view Indians?

Answer to that question may help you to find answers to some of your questions.

(Don't worry, most Indians living in India do not know the answer to the question I asked.)

Sarah_KK

Hi... a good question.

I really cannot speak for all. Myself is quite different from most of my fellow folks in HK. I always like Indian culture since college. I see there are a lot of similiarities between two cultures, such as respect for elder, family value...etc. Unfortunately some HK pps don't share the same view. There are quite a sizable Indian community in HK. Their children can speak fluent Cantonese but seldom mingle with locals which i think is sad. Having said, people don't look at me at all when I and my boyfriend holding hands in HK. This is very enjoyable.

As for Singapore, I think the Indian population is much bigger there. General impressions of Indians are they articulate very much, hence a lot of them are successful lawyers and business men. I think the mixed marriage of Chinese/ Indian in Singapore is a lot more common.

Hope I have answered your question.

seraph

Sarah,

About a year ago I read an article in the Times of India or The New Indian Express about the Chinese community in Delhi. While it was never near as sizable as the Kolkata community, there was an organized community. After the 1962 war between China and India, the community began to decline (as did the community in Kolkata). I think they said that there were some 20 Chinese living in Delhi today and they had an association.

I lived in Orissa and there was even a tiny Chinese community in Puri - Buddhist Temple and all. They had arrived from Kolkata for business and stayed. They were definitely completely assimilated.

As GC pointed out, you will most likely be mistaken for a Northeasterner.

Many Indians love Chinese food or the Indian version of Chinese food (Chow mein) that is sold on many a street corner. Just thinking of it makes me hungry.

Good Luck!

eater

There is something called the Hakka people - Chinese / Indians who settled in the Mumbai and other Indian cities / regions.

First time I ever heard of this when I was invited to an Indian restaurant in Toronto, to eat Hakka food, chinese - Indian food.

The owners were Chinese people (I think they called themselves Hakka people) from Mumbai.

Here's a bit of the history:
http://edu.ocac.gov.tw/lang/hakka/english/a/a.htm

The Jews of Asia

The term "Hakka" was not originally a designation for a certain ethnic group living in a particular area. When the term "Hakka" first appeared in household registries during the Song Dynasty, it was used to indicate "guests" who had left their homelands to settle down in other parts of the country, in contrast to residents originally from the area. Although evidence is sketchy, the Hakkas are thought to originate from the lands bordering the Huang River (Yellow River) or Shanxi, Henan, and Hubei Provinces of the Northern China of today. To escape calamity, they would later flee southward traveling through many lands. They eventually settled down in the Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong Provinces. Referred to by locals as "Hakka" or "guests", the Hakkas appeared on the world stage for the first time.

“ Even as far as India, Hakka people exist. Right in Tapa, west of Calcutta, India, there are nearly 2000 Hakkanese over there, and their trade is “hide processing” There are basically two dominant religions in India, the Muslim and the Hindu religions. The Muslim eat beef, but the Hindu believers take cow as sacred animal, so they won’t kill it or eat it. As the believers of neither religion want to get involved in “hide processing” business, the Hakka people stepped in and turned it into a profitable business. The work is hard, as all the hides need to be processed with chemicals, and the workers have to use their hands and feet to clean the hides, which leads to serious skin-problems afterwards.”

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Just happy to be here.........

Sarah_KK

Thanks. Yes, Hakka literally refers to being a 'guest' or 'visitor' and they speak a different dialect. I am not Hakka but Cantonese.

I just think this is interesting that there are not too many Chinese living in Delhi. Anyway, I shall brave myself there. Thanks for this forum and I find some social places to meet friends. I think I should be ok given I studied overseas and have no difficulty to meet expat.

However, I also want to know locals and get myself mingled to my boyfriend's culture. I also read from other threads of living with Indian in-laws and that worry me a little bit. I am very bad at housework and will not see myself being a 'housewife'. How would the in-laws may feel about it?

Another question, how would the complication to have baby out of wedlock in India these days? Will the baby or myself be stigmatize?

Most appreciate

capt_mahajan

It would be really complicated, depending on how 'traditional' any relatives in india may be; and even with outsiders... schools, neighbours etc.

Stigmatised is a strong word, but, yes, even that is possible.
May be a little less in a big city, but thats a matter of degree.

__________________
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The cynic must remember that he is a spy (Epitectus)
Indiamike moderating team ..ich bin ein oneliner

seraph

Yowza! Of course it depends on the family and how responsible your boyfriend is, but if Bollywood films in any way reflect the mores of Indian society, I would say that this is a really serious complication. Even more so because you are not Indian. Frankly, that is alot you are asking his family to accept all at once.

I wish you the best of luck in what may be a bit of a rocky road ahead. If there is a negative reaction - be strong! Once the baby is born the attitude may shift.

IMHO, It is better to go into all of this with your eyes wide open. I think if you ask yourself how a traditional Chinese family would react to this situation then you will have a good idea of how this might play out.

Sarah_KK

No worry. I am just thinking outloud. I am not that far yet.

HK is by no means a traditional Chinese society and the acceptance of that kind of baby is quite high. Of course there are always some more traditional parents dislike the idea.

Alas... I am just scared and yet excited about the unknown future. That's why I am searching the net like mad to find out more things about India. My bf has been very supportive. Still I don't want to be his emotional burden to begin with.