Faces

In the United States, I’ve heard it said that all Chinese people look alike. I never really agreed with that, but after being here for a few days it’s making more sense as to why they would come to that conclusion.

In Beijing I’ve been frequenting a restaurant with some young female employees. At first I thought that 4 girls worked there because the restaurant was open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. After my fifth visit there I realised that only 2 girls worked there but it was still hard for me to tell them apart. One of the girls wears her bangs in her eyes and the other has her hair pulled back. Aside from those differences, these girls have the same body type, eye color, and mannerisms. Like most Asians, physical differences are in the subtleties.

I get just as confused when I watch Chinese TV programs. Now, granted, I’m watching television geared toward young children. Nonetheless, it seems like the same exact girl is hosting every program. She has the same voice, the same type of mini-skirt and above all else, the same face.

So I got to thinking about why they all look the same. As babies, when we first open our eyes, we are programmed to recognize faces. We immediately begin to study faces; and we study the faces from our homelands.

In high school, my parents hosted a foreign exchange student named Xavi. He had this skewed perception of the United States based on the hit TV show “Baywatch.” Xavi thought that all Americans girls were blond and big breasted, and he thought the men were ripped and suave. He was really shocked when he arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where most of the girls in our high school had brown hair.

It’s a little different in China. Chinese body types don’t vary much, and I’ve yet to see a natural blond or blue eyes. The diversity is in the subtleties. And since I’ve been unconsciously studying American faces for 26 years, it might take a little time to distinguish between these little nuances.