Are Chinese Obsessed with White Skin? - Chinese Street Interview - Intermediate Chinese

Street interview is the best format to provide Mandarin students with a variety of Chinese accents and unscripted, casual, REAL spoken Chinese conversation - not the artificial, standard Mandarin conversations you get from Chinese teachers interviewing other Chinese teachers or interviewing Chinese language students who are accomplished Mandarin speakers. You will very rarely hear these type of talk on the streets of China!
Learn real spoken Mandarin by listening to young Chinese expressing their opinions in our comprehensive Chinese street interviews!
Having white skin is the top characteristic desired by the majority of Chinese women wanting to adhere to Chinese beauty standards. But, why is white skin so valued? Eileen goes to the streets of Zhongshan to find out!
List of Questions Asked:
1: What’s your reaction after watching this controversial ad?
2: Do you agree with the Chinese saying: white skin covers three ugliness?
3: Do you use whitening products?
4: Why is having white skin so important in China?
5: Are these two black guys handsome?
6: Do celebrities with perfect skin make Chinese girls feel insecure?
Music: Good Starts by Jingle Punks
Watch this video WITHOUT English subtitles:
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[@MandarinCorner2]

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[@oskardelitz5651]

May I ask, the study content you offer on your website, does it include these videos without the English subtitles? I find them distracting at some point and would like to gradually reduce the use of subtitles all together.

[@MandarinCorner2]

This is free to watch, link in the description.

[@ilovelaos]

How to download your HSK PDF file

[@MandarinCorner2]

You either become a Supporter or purchase the individual courses, link to our store page is here: mandarincorner.org/store/

[@ganbiandoujiao]

does membership include transcripts for all your videos? thank you.

[@giorgiodelmoro406]

very interesting but kinda depressing to see people being so eager to conform to beliefs or bias they never even question. a girl said "because everybody says so"..does it take such a huge effort to ask yourself "why is it so? is it true? who said that? do i care? do i agree?"

[@mime3761]

Monocultural, non-traveller minds are generally rife with dogmas like that one. Traditions, traditionalists are inherently not rational, it's nothing but repetition and herd mentality / desire for conformity. I'm from Milan, Italy is a very traditionalist country so I see that mindset everyday. Unfortunately, if I may add.

[@StratosFair]

Thank you Eileen for the great interview, this is precious learning material, and as a black man living in China, this topic really resonates with me. Naturally, I was very concerned with the way people would interact with me etc before moving, but surprisingly I've had close to no bad experiences after almost 3 years here.

[@breadman5048]

that’s good to hear ❤

[@leonpse]

In America, the wealthy in my city have created a divide among Asians and Blacks, they promote blacks as violent criminals who beat up Asians using social media and the mainstream media. Now, Asians are voting for conservative policies and politicians who call themselves moderate democrats are calling traditional Democrats radical leftists. The “moderates” promote mass incarceration policies (using videos of blacks beating up Asians and shoplifting, the also show videos of drug addicts and the homeless, saying the whole city is a crime filled slum when only a small number of areas have problems. They promote building high priced luxury apartments or condos to end homelessness and promote not building homes for the poor and defunding all social services and subsidizing their private interests. .

[@svc6550]

As a black female who has studied Chinese since high school, this has been my number 1 deterrent of travelling to the “fatherland” to practise the language- fear of how I’ll be treated. Thanks for sharing your experience and that it hasn’t been that bad. Gives me courage.

[@litasworld3178]

I really appreciate the content, it's hard to find daily conversations like this with pinyin and translation. Please continue to do such a great work!❤

[@vade248721]

Moving to China in a few months. I need to get serious. I will be your #1 student. Will buy all the contents and subscriptions. I been following you for years now and this is the best channel for learning.

[@josephhill2868]

Nice where are you moving to and what will you be doing? 😁 I hope to do the same within the next few years.

[@breadman5048]

@@josephhill2868how come

[@outdoorscholar6016]

Oh cool! Which province will you be going to?

[@LebowskiDudeful]

You have to try eat everything

[@vade248721]

@@outdoorscholar6016 Guangdong

[@doncdove]

I appreciate the thoughtfulness and diversity of opinions that emerged from these interviews. Great content! Thanks!

[@CeMaK28]

Street interview are the best! Thanks for your work!

[@sylviesylvie5258]

I have been watching some of your interviews and I find them excellent and of great interest. Indeed, people speak their mind. You managed very well your interviews. Really amazing. I would be delighted if one day I could have the opportunity to speak with you Eiilenn.Thank you very much.

[@olgaklimenko944]

Very helpful video,学会了很多新的词语

[@EpicBassTime_]

Another great video

[@SoFarAway73]

Yay another street interview!

[@crumpetlips2062]

很有趣！谢谢

[@z1.7725]

Thank you!!

[@whowantsusernames]

As a very white white woman living Taiwan, I can confirm that a lot of people really like white skin, especially on women, and whiteness really does make up for other flaws, and is considered more glamorous. The taiwanese actually helped me embrace my skin tone, which was not very popular when i was growing up in the west. But I like all natural skin tones, so I think it's a shame that many asian women hide their facial skin under foundation that is several shades lighter than it should be. The most ridiculous thing I've seen is that kind of white face make up on bodybuilders who had self tanner on the rest of their bodies to show the muscle tone. What's wrong with a dark face? My husband has a dark face, and it's beautiful. Sadly, the media and culture has had an effect on my perception after years of being here, and I've gotten more used to the fake white look, even identifying it with success and social status, even though I don't have a preference for white skin. I just wish everyone could experience being appreciated with the skin they were born with.

[@kadriii1]

nah they right, its a shame that where u were born didnt apreciate your skin tone

[@wiggmanoriginal]

And what about white people wanting to be more tanned? It’s just preference

[@whowantsusernames]

@wiggmanoriginal I think that if it's just a preference, it's fine. If it's societal pressure, less so. I used self-tanner for a decade, thinking my whiteness was unacceptable to people, and that was a huge waste of time and energy. Others give themselves skin cancer by tanning their skin for the same reason. Now I just let my skin be, knowing some people really like it and some people really don't. I hope everyone can feel that free, and not unnecessarily inconvenience or harm themselves to be good enough for others. Plus, I really like Asian skin, so I think it's unfortunate that I rarely see a woman wear it with pride.

[@kantnergirl08]

非常好

[@yodaichi888]

white skin is just objectively more beautiful. that's a fact, not preference. it brings out your features more.

[@AngelaSilbermann]

cool, I love the street inverviews. Thank you dear! You are the best. Your channel is the best! 非常牛！！！

[@freeman3467]

Thanks!

[@sirchadiusmaximusiii]

Nice 👍

[@rpg9392]

8:05 this lady speaks with such clear tones!

[@SongLongChen]

Too fast

[@peterburke8388]

check out Mandarin Corner's other video on beauty standards in China, it talks about how important white skin is to many Chinese. it's right at the beginning, the first standard covered in the video.

[@MandarinCorner2]

*List of Questions Asked:* 1: What’s your reaction after watching this controversial ad? 2: Do you agree with the Chinese saying: white skin covers three ugliness? 3: Do you use whitening products? 4: Why is having white skin so important in China? 5: Are these two black guys handsome? 6: Do celebrities with perfect skin make Chinese girls feel insecure?

[@andrejshutilin6815]

Эти вопросы задать лучше Корейцам .🤗🤗🤗 Там для Многих отбеливание Смысл Жизни ...😂😂😂

[@shenmi]

1: My 1st reaction was laughter, a funny and a totally non realistic add! 2: No, I don't agree bc (speaking as a white European) when the skin is more tanned, flaws such as pores or little scars seem to blur 3: hahaha no I don't 4: I think, through the ages, it just became an sub-consciousness Chinese beauty standard 5: Yes and No :)) 6. I do think that it has impact on already insecure young women

[@brownrowntown]

看到这个视频让我感觉难过因为我不知道中国人对黑人这么不喜欢。我在学别的文化语言因为希望世界更好。但是看到这个以后觉得可能没有用。😢

[@dontusethesamenicknameonthenet]

babe wake up mandarin corner posted

[@benis8766]

16:19 Golden!😂😂

[@User-vbhhnvgjmt]

As I know that a detergen commercial promo video in Thailand that later be banned

[@MandarinCorner2]

*TOO FAST?* Control the video's playback speed by speeding up or slowing down the video 5% at a time on desktop computers and laptops OR 25% at a time on smartphone! Access the playback speed controls as follows: *Desktop Computers and Laptops:* open the video, then go to the lower right of the video's screen and click on the settings icon (it looks like a GEAR). On the upper right of the options window that comes up, you will see the link "custom". Click on the "custom" link to control the video's playback speed by speeding up or slowing down the video 5% at a time. *Smartphones:* open the video and go to the upper right of the video's screen. You will see 3 dots. Click on them and you will see the link to open the "playback speed" controls. Click on this link and you will be able to control the video's playback speed by speeding up or slowing down the video 25% at a time. Note that viewing the video on desktop computer/laptops gives you greater control over the playback speed (5% vs 25% on smartphones).

[@Brighton-qd3md]

YES! they are👍✌😁

[@fronskedeboer]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Just don't judge people and their characters on their outside appearance or origin.

[@yodaichi888]

people judge people on outer beauty. that's a fact, and that's ok.

[@considerationopen]

But what if they are brown?

[@nirikshab2006]

​@@yodaichi888that's fact but it's not Ok.... it's a shameful act... it's 21th century by the way....

[@INXIETE]

6:38 The girl wearing the red jacket. Wow

[@cvetnojsad]

Hi Eileen! 幸好在世界上既不黑黑也不白白人没存在! 又加上, 干净的观念和皮颜没有关系呀！ 😊👍

[@REGAL-uf1nz]

2:49 imagine you don't know Chinese at all and you hear the first word she used and then you see the translation "the black guy"

[@garden2356]

In UKca lot of people love sun tanned skin.

[@pilotv6440]

Белая кожа это просто понты. Не стоит специально уделять этому внимание и время. За ролик - только уважение

[@hy02.02]

越南语有句话：nhất dáng, nhì da。意思是排名第一是身材要苗条，第二是皮肤要白。皮肤白的女人显得更美。皮肤白的好像也是越南人的审美标准。

[@hy02.02]

但是皮肤健康已经很好了

[@yodaichi888]

好像整个亚洲都是以白为美

[@hy02.02]

@@yodaichi888 说得对🦝

[@bcibm7917]

韩国，日本，中国，越南都是以白为美吧！其它东南亚国家不了解；

[@yodaichi888]

@@bcibm7917 整个亚洲都是一白遮百丑。

[@nisajth]

As a girl with VERY white skin and lived in East Asia for a while, I can clearly say that people were very racist in terms of being "white" enough or not. For instance, when I sit down with other international students in the university campus, they were trying to talk to me but not to others. They were describing beauty with western standarts like blue eyes, light hair and a high nose. I hated this mentality makes people feel uncomfortable but it is a deep insight most of the people have there, anyway... Just feeling bad... And this is not a case you can only see in China but almost all of the countries except Western countries(white). Even in the country I grew up (Turkey), if you look more Western type, they almost worship you, people try to show off their babies if the baby looks blonde and blue eyes. If the baby looks darker, they feel sad. Damn life...

[@greenscenery1974]

Yeah we like fair skin. Black are unattractive to us

[@angelbenedictoondo8725]

Thank you for your comment, I’ve been here like for five minutes already reading the comments to see some one talking about the nonsense that those guys were saying, I’m African I’ve been in from 2017 till 2022 and most of the people out there they are so racist. They should change the mentality cause they are everywhere buy sadly they are not open minded….

[@sleefy2343]

Well that’s because they haven’t seen a white person before so they are quite curious about blue eyes and stuff

[@considerationopen]

@@angelbenedictoondo8725 or you could always go back to your home country

[@vcn2022chaos]

The legacy of colonization affects many countries. China went through a period of semi-colonization by the West and experienced a form of mental colonization starting from the 1980s when it was very poor and lagged far behind the West. This led many people to subconsciously associate the West with strength, beauty, and civilization. Women, in particular, tend to admire powerful figures, so there's a subconscious belief that fair skin is beautiful. Of course, green, brown, blue, and hazel eyes are also considered beautiful, as long as they are not black. The media also played a role in amplifying these perceptions. For example, in China, if you want to advertise and promote a product, you will almost always see images of white men embracing Asian women in the advertisement. Using chatGPT for translation

[@qianyifan-nl6kd]

I'm a chinese who is learning English,here are both chinese and english subtitles,great!

[@josefonseca4007]

in many cities like Shanghai women really have an obsession with white skin and blond hair. no having white skin as a foreigner will lead to distrust and kind of reject. People will ignore you and try to avoid you sometimes you will feel like a criminal or in the best case as a ghost 😂 on the other hand, people will white skin and blond hair will get a lot of attention and special treatment everywhere. Not everyone will think this way but color will definitely play a main role on how easily you can make friends and integrate. basically if you are not white enough you have to somehow gain the trust of people and it can take long time. being white will give you a VIP pass to be friends with anyone and date anyone 😂 For the first time in my life i got worried about getting tanned and started buying high quality sunscreen 😂 i wish a could be a skin tone whiter 😂 🙏🏻

[@user-ju9fv2om6o]

從來古代的時候，中國人總是都喜歡白皮膚。

[@Keaixiaoen0919]

About to watch the video but I'm going to guess the short answer is yes, but not the reason the average Westerner thinks. Anyways love the videos. Thank you for posting

[@andrejshutilin6815]

Спасибо за откровенность. 🤗🤗🤗

[@anananwar6073]

2:29

[@luismanuelvelazquezmejia2619]

Wow, and I want to date with a Chinese girl,but I don’t know if she will find me attractive because I have dark skin 😢, anyway I hope find a friend that speak Chinese with me to get that goal, date with a Chinese girl, by the way good content and thank you, you got a new sub.

[@JoshPecksDad-nm6nd]

dont let these videos depress you too much. the younger generation are slowly leaving this negative views behind there are many black youtubers in china who all get a lot of attention from chinese girls

[@User-xyxklyntrw]

Chinese commonly have five color : reddish, light brown, dark brown black, yellow, white. China embrace all color, China love all colors in harmony. All colors are beautiful on it own.

[@dnisbet71]

5:07: why "*meiyou* name haokan"??? Shouldn't it be "bu name haokan"???

[@REGAL-uf1nz]

Because even tho it's not a proper comparison, meiyou is used in a comparison structure. Black "meiyou" white haokan. Something like that

[@btlim4316]

There is no such thing as an ugly woman, the only question is if she was born in the right time period. During the Italian Renaissance, the ideal woman is an overweight woman with a big tummy. Yes, look it up if you do not believe me. Our taste is continuously shaped by our media. I remember before I learned Chinese, I prefer a slightly dark skin. But after I learned Chinese and browse a lot of xiaohongshu, I started to think light skin women are very pretty. I used to think they were ugly and unhealthy. White can actually be a healthy kind of white. I guess before, my only exposure to white skin are from people who stay hope all the time and the unhealthiness came along. But there is a way to get white skin and still look healthy if you apply sunblock or exercise indoors etc. etc. I have a small tiny nose so I am hoping the media will start changing that and make a small tiny nose pretty. Nope, I am not going to plastic surgery for it.

[@Chad-on8jg]

False. There is a high degree of objectivity to beauty spanning time and place. Symmetry, youth, well-defined features, physical fitness, good hair etc. are all universally preferred.

[@cardboardtenshi1008]

@@Chad-on8jg "well-defined features" doesn't make sense. a hawkish nose is widely considered to be ugly, but it sure is well-defined. also, what does "good hair" mean?

[@Chad-on8jg]

@@cardboardtenshi1008 I'm just talking about strong masculine features for men and soft feminine features for women. No where in the world is a recessed jaw desirable on a man. As for good hair, we're talking not thinning and neither too dry nor too greasy. There are thousands upon thousands of studies supporting the reality of objective beauty standards. It's refected in global advertising too. Neither China, the US, Brazil nor India uses men with negative canthal tilts and upper eyelid exposre in there advertising.

[@pilotv6440]

На 17й минуте, на вопрос почему в Китае так популярна белая кожа,девчонка правильно говорит причину

[@chadsensei-ue6jn]

Did the Chinese do that white pancake makeup like the Japanese did?

[@sleefy2343]

Nope they never did

[@alinealbuquerquecarvalho3695]

In Brazil, the producers of such advertise would be directly go to prison for racism.

[@yodaichi888]

i thought there's freedom of expression in the west.

[@talorrrani12314]

9:15 为数不多的思想健康的人

[@hershe4341]

I've lived in China for over 8 years. Majority of my closest friends are Chinese. Being pale, white is just a beauty standard, just like BBL's. I've lost jobs just for not being pale,white (straight racism).

[@ollieanntan4478]

Yes, my husband is black and I'm nervous for him to visit China.

[@Apaloozagg]

This is so stupid, they forget what white people have done to them in the past

[@kadriii1]

straight victimism stop crying and acept that u suck at work

[@chrisroq]

what are you? indian?

[@greenscenery1974]

Yeah we prefer fair skin

[@Bia-po9pn]

Most of the answers were quite upsetting

[@ERBravoSix]

08:35 man wat a girl😍

[@mathiasmaranhao]

No one talks about racist aspect of the ads at first. It's crazy. It's funny, it's romantic... But nobody said: it's so racist...

[@chenzenzo]

It's not white skin they're after but status. No matter your history or upbringing, you want to be recognized. All these beautiful women want is recognition.

[@garden2356]

People always want what they can't have.

[@dylanbrooks4843]

Great content, but it would be nice to have a version without English subtitles, since it's extremely easy to stop listening and simply rely on the subtitles.

[@MandarinCorner2]

Watch this video WITHOUT English subtitles: mandarincorner.org/videos-by-student-level-and-subjects/#ingles_no_ingles

[@dylanbrooks4843]

@@MandarinCorner2 多谢！

[@sususegar]

As a non-PRC Chinese, I know for a fact that this obsession with white/fair skin isn't something exclusive to China or Chinese ethnics but extends to the entire Asian continent including the Indians and their neighbours. However I feel there's an unhealthy level of obsession among East Asians ethnics, and it sometimes extends to skin colour discrimination (I've heard some really racist shit coming out of some Chinese people's mouth). I know very few Chinese friends who are actually ok with dating brown or dark skinned boy/girl, conversely I sometimes find overly fair skinned girls repulsively unhealthy looking.

[@sleefy2343]

Actually East Asians aren’t even yellow They are either tan or pale

[@erikk8629]

Yes, white fever. No duh

[@gloriawilson4691]

Self hatred...😢😢

[@user-zv9hg2ul7h]

By saying white skin are equating that to white people? Because Chinese are not obsessed with white people skin, what Chinese people like is fair skin and that’s a big difference!!!

[@yellowcloud0115]

it's crazy how much Chinese use idiom in daily conversation.. also so many conjunction

[@overseaschinese2445]

Maybe it's more about being fair skinned rather than white. Perhaps, fair skinned is considered as not exposed to sunlight too much so people who are fair skinned are supposed to have a less strenuous life, not exposed to laborious labour (under the sun).

[@eqlz3228]

🤔。。🤭。。。😅😂😊

[@chita4114]

个人有个人的偏爱，没毛病。 我却想提出这个话题两个方面。 一个是色彩主义，另一个是种族主义。 我觉得色彩主义的基础就是皮肤黑意味着外面劳动晒黑了，社会地位低。 种族主义的一种理念是白人优越，所以肤色接近白比较好。 你多跟各种的人真正地交流会发现肤色到底那么琐碎。

[@ilovelaos]

I think in East Asia or Southeast Asia there are many people with white skin than Europeans.

[@sleefy2343]

You are wrong I’m singaporean I have tan skin

[@ollieanntan4478]

This video makes me realize I shouldn't visit with my family.

[@RM-xr8lq]

much more educated regarding racial issues than the average american, especially filtering by analogous homogeneous population percentage (similar areas in the US would be giving some very different and very scary answers 😂)

[@BerjoleneJoseph]

I am a black girl leaving in china ,and I am feeling so uncomfortable watching this video

[@ollieanntan4478]

Have you experienced any negative attitudes?

[@benis8766]

The propaganda machine will support you soon, don't worry, but locals will never ever accept you

[@BugMateo]

Don't watch it, then...

[@greenscenery1974]

China is for Chinese 😂

[@angelbenedictoondo8725]

@@BugMateoget out of here

[@cardboardtenshi1008]

nuclear blackpill

[@puntura]

whole Asia is if I was black people call me blackie.

[@yuugen999]

2:49 Is that what she thinks is wrong with the ad? 去睡觉吧女孩...

[@jeor1450]

Are Chinese obsessed with white skin? 看完视频之后，答案是明显 hh

[@woyeso]

It's encouraging to see young Chinese diverting from the old generation when it comes to their view of skin color as a beauty standard. Credit goes to Tiktok and social media 😂

[@yodaichi888]

they are not diverting from the old beauty standards.

[@user-lu4ig8ee2b]

@@yodaichi888you seem really mad 😂 you’ve been replying to other comments negatively, completely in denial. China will divert from the old beauty standards, wether you like it or not.

[@yodaichi888]

@user-lu4ig8ee2b anything is possible in ur dream

[@lxtatar7773]

很敏感啊，这个话题 😶

[@Trumppower]

Hahah so much for Black Guys thinking in China：＂they like 黑色外国人" 。😆

[@FUZASHIII]

Racism 💪

[@eqlz3228]

为什么？

[@SongLongChen]

没有

[@greenscenery1974]

Nothing wrong in being racist when it comes it preference. I prefer pale skin over dark skin anyday

[@user-lu4ig8ee2b]

@@greenscenery1974you clearly dont understand what racism means 😂

[@sleefy2343]

@@user-lu4ig8ee2bit means you feel superior to the other race But they didn’t say anything about being superior so it’s not racist

[@VivalaryMan]

Okay so I can save you 27 minutes by saying yes, yes they are. the reason for this is the whiter they are, indicates they've spent a lot of time outdoors. They don't like dark because it makes it look like they've been in the sun all day working. It's basically them trying to not look poor. You're welcome.

[@lxtatar7773]

The point of this video is to help learn Chinese through short interviews. Also, your comment is incoherent. "the whiter they are ... spent a lot of time outdoors". That's the other way round. You're welcome.

[@VivalaryMan]

@@lxtatar7773 fair point on all points. I just seen the length of the video and commented that little bit of info which I got from Japan. This is what geisha girls are doing for example. Have a nice day.

[@marilynfoster5279]

No I dont agree.Because I think it comes from the inside . Every negative thing that is coming from some of these people ,its coming from the inside. You have to really ask your self ,why would you cover yourself with pounds of ghost like dead makeup,if you are truly proud of who you are? All I can say is ,The power to be have did a job on thier thought process. And that is where the self hate come in.At the end of the day ,you are the one that have to deal with the real person you see in that mirror.🫥🫥🫥🫥🫥🫥🫥🫥🫥🫥❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤