Foreign Disaster: The WORST Thing That Happened To Me While Living In CHINA 

Good for you man. You controlled your emotions regardless of the negative circumstances. You saw the bigger pictures and weighed the benefits. Continue to enjoy your life in China. Best wishes from America.

Ignorant people live among us. I live in the U.S. and I experienced the same thing. While your situation improved, I am still facing racism in the U.S. We don't want to blame the whole country for these incidents. I learned not to let these people affect my life. I just write them off. There are lots of positive things in the U.S. and China. I am glad you did not let it take you down..Keep going and think of all the good things in life. We are not allowing these negative thoughts hang around too long. Thank you for sharing....

I saw tears in your eyes. Sorry you have to experience those in China during Covid-19. I was in Shenzhen, China during the period too. One of my observations is: although China has strong central government but the execution of medical and social measurements were executed by each local administration. Believe or not, each local administration has their own rules beyond the national health commission, I guess this is the reason the local police asked you for quarantining despite you have done the test everyday. And besides I feel like Shenzhen is more friendly to foreigners than other cities. I hope this video can be shared in bilibili( Chinese RU-vid) with Chinese subtitle, so people could understand the situation and treat foreigners in future in a more fair way.

I am so glad that you shared your story as a foreigner living in china during the pandemic. As a Chinese American myself, I totally understand what you have gone through. Like you said, no matter where you come from, Chinese, American, Russian or British, we all have a similar mindset as human beings. Once we realize that, the world will become a better place.

Another underated channel ... i think most china youtubers should collab together for bigger audience ... keep it up john 👍

Good for you for positivity. Happen to us all somethimes shit does happens at wrong time wrong place and encounter wrong people.

I’m Asian and somehow during the Covid period I had to get stuck in one country, I don’t want to name it, but at that time I couldn’t use public transport and some people pointed at me and shouted: Covid is coming, be careful!)) So I I understand your feelings! We need to forgive and move on! Thank you!

Thanks John for being vulnerable to your viewers. That helps to build credibility and trust between you and your online community. I’m sad you had to endure all that racism during COVID. As you say, that was a crazy time all over the world and different communities who were different from the majority were copping a lot of flack back then. I’m glad that’s over now, and I’m glad that your faith in China and humankind remains undiminished. Keep sharing and I hope things are positive for you from now on.

Thank you for your sharing, I am glad that you can stay in China, so that we do not lose a rational person. You know, sometimes the national system does hurt some good people. Please give us some time to popularize our education, more people with good education will make a better China！

"Some people have a different mindset" is a nice way of saying that some people are just stupid. It's the same everywhere. As the great Mark Twain once said, "You can't argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience."

So happy to have come acrossed your channel, your message is dearly appreciated. Helps me self reflect and continue to be positive and kind. Stay blessed John

It happens everywhere, John. Life has its ups and downs. The pandemic period is a very special situation, a precious experience that will stay with you. I think you made a good decision. I hope you keep going in China.

Covid period was a stressful period for everybody. What you faced back then was not right, but at that time, Asian people in the US got it a whole lot worse, coupled with the media spew where the virus originated, even American Chinese were on the receiving end of hostilities. Just to put things in perspective.

Sorry to hear about the bad experiences. Good that you made it through and have a happy life again!

Hi John, your story really resonated with me. It takes incredible strength to go through what you did, and I admire your resilience. It's frustrating how these things happen anywhere in the world. During the pandemic, my husband won’t let me to be alone outside after the dark. You just never know what can happen. By the way, I am the Chinese live in U.S. I am a teacher, one day one of my colleagues came to me, she said this pandemic was all about you Chinese people ate bat! … But I'm happy things are back to normal now, and I'm glad you still find so much to love about living in China! Thank you for sharing your story with such honesty. It's inspiring to hear how you continue to thrive despite challenges. I believe kindness and understanding can build bridges across any cultural differences.

I enjoy watching your videos, John. I am sorry you encountered some unpleasant experiences a while back then. Hope you put all the negatives behind and not let them bad moments weigh you down. Cheerio!

I experienced some similar harsh situations during the covid epedimic as a Chinese American living in Guangdong, China. I'm glad you eventually figured out how to handle those negative emotions generated by some unfriendly people.

Thanks for this great explanation!

Yes, every country or community will have good and bad people. Great that you kept cool and kept your perspectives - only some people are bad, small brains in any country - east, west, noth south. Keep it up.

Sorry to hear you went through this bs in China....it is wrong and you shouldn't been treated like this.....hopefully one day China will be more better than this! ......May God's grace always be with you! Sorry for this man! As a Chinese, I totally feel sorry for you and what those asshole did to you was wrong.....yet you are a man's man and chosed to forgive than hate! Thanks for staying in China! We need more Americans like you in China

Sorry to hear that and glad you are still here china

I like the end of your last word sums up. Very understanding is life being unfair every where in the world. Something can happened anywhere, it's all depend on how individuals to take it .

I commend you for sticking around even after all the adversities that you went through. It definitely was not easy but you showed strength despite of all the problems

It's sad this is going on among the world, racism is everywhere among the world And I can feel your emotions over this... I love you not just because you my son but because you care about all people that have experienced such injustice.I love stay& safe .

Sorry you had to go through such a bad experience. Fortunately you persevere.

John, you got the treatment of a pariah during that difficult time. It was regrettable. In the same time period, on the other hemisphere, the Chinese were running through the gauntlet for the same reason. I’m glad you came out on the other side. Hope everything goes well for you from here on out.

It is indeed depressing that people like that exist. I suggest you integrate more into the local area and make more local friends. I was also locked down in Shanghai for two months during the Covid period. It was tough during that time. Enjoy your life in China, take care.

It's usually ignorant or misinformed people that cause problems. Happens worldwide, thanks for your story John. Take care. B xx

Sorry for the treatment you received during Covid, and appreciate for being so understanding and open minded! China's growth is attributed to the patience and discipline of its people. Chinese like to work as a community instead of individual. Chinese leaders (Asian leaders as well) always maintain a stiff upper lip in handling many matters: Actions speak louder than words! American leaders are mostly lawyers. Their speeches are eloquent and impressive (?). Thus, words speak louder than actions!😅

Respect for your patience during covid. What those police officers did can not be excused. If they received complaints because some of the residents were afraid they should have asked the local community leaders to communicate with you where you could have explained your side. Just demanding you to quarantine was probably from their point of view the simplest solution. Not sure how connected /friendly you were with the neighbors at your previous place but fear originates often from unknown.

You made the right decision and I appreciate your honesty and growth. Sharing this story is so genuine and heartfelt, I stayed in China throughout the lockdown in Shanghai and I 100% know how much the sacrifice felt. I feel lucky there is both a good and a bad side to the lock down, but thinking about the intention why they had the lockdown and those colleagues that lost loved ones, I feel our age and patience paid off. Seeing China now on the other side of the situation, and staying here, I love my neighbors and appreciate everything even more. Right?

Absolutely love your content and your humble and honest perspective on china as an American. that being said, you now have a marginal taste of what it's like to be brown or black in America lol. Some of us (children of immigrants) had absolutely no other choice but to except life and bend the knee to white supremacy every day of our lives. Hope this glimpse into our lives helps you understand why we protest as hard as we do out here in murica haha. anyways, cheers brotha! from a child of an immigrant who so very desperately wishes to be living in china instead of this hellscape of a "country"

You handled those situations well!

In Australia same, Every one need be icelate self in home for three years, Most hard time for me is I couldn't go back China see my mum dieing. Most sad time in my life.

What an ordeal. You might have neighbors in the west like that, but it’s unlikely that authorities will quarantine you when you don’t have it. That is next level. I’m surprised you didn’t hop over to SEA and take a breather while teaching classes online. Well it’s over now, I hope, and onto the next chapter.

I feel what you are saying here. As a Chinese Indonesian, I really agree with you, that all people on this earth are the same. I always knew that the majority would threaten minorities or others who were different from them. You see, our species cannot get rid of our animal nature. I also admire you for acting wisely and appropriately in such a situation.

I’m sorry to hear

what you said is sooo true!

I understand that what you've experienced was very unpleasant. But at least you did not get beaten up, or killed, like the Asians did in the west during those hard times. In one instance in the USA, an old Asian man (not Chinese) was attacked by a group of boys as he was walking down a street. He fell and died. Your experience, although very sad, was nothing compared to many of the Asians communities did at that time. They were subjected to racial and physical abuse. But as you said, I am so so glad that all these are way behind us now.

I am sorry to hear that you had such a horrible experience. People were frightened because of this new killer virus and it brought out the worst in them. There was no excuse for that guy in the lift nor worse, the police. They had no ground whatsoever to take you anywhere. Do they know the laws or not. Like you said, Chinese were also treated badly aboard during covids. Let's hope there will not be another pandemic or at least we, human beings, can deal with it better if it happens again.

You should try making friends with more local Chinese people for support especially with this kinda situation. Were your co-workers (Chinese) at school supportive at the time? Hope you’ll keep experiencing more positive things with your stay in China in the coming days. Good Luck!

Man, your story sounded tough.....you are a tough guy.

The biggest and only type of discrimination is fear. This is the best thing you can stand up to thru humility and humanity.

I’m glad you didn’t quit and leave China during the COVID years, when your businesses didn’t do so well. You persevered and survived , despite the negative experiences from individual Chinese who assumed some westerners could have covid, based upon Chinese media reports. . But you have to remember you’re living in a country with 1-4 billion people who can act unpredictably,, . Like others have stated Asians in the USA were treated a lot worse. Trump politicised the pandemic, and referred to it as the Chinese virus , which was echoed across the conservative media channels like Fox News, This created unnecessary fear, and racist attacks against Asian's in the US. . But the important thing is , you survived and your life is better now. You seem like a laid back guy, who overcomes problems and just moves on, By the way , I love your accent , is it a southern American accent? I’m Chinese by descent, but I was born in Australia.

Those covid years were tough. over a million ppl died here in the US.

In china, You need to choose your neighbourhood. I am living in Shenzhen and I was originated from hongkong. My neighbours here are Chinese like me, but I always feel that their behaviour is not of the same class where I am coming from and it's just hard to make friends with them. Unfortunately I have already bought the house and it's not easy to move away. But I have looked at other neighbourhoods and are certain that there are neighbours out there who have the same value as I am. The period you mentioned is the most difficult time of this planet earth. And every foreigners living abroad away from their home will experience some kind of difficulties. Just don't take it too seriously and let go. Despite what you said and what I have experienced, China is still the most livable place on this planet earth.

Looking back it was really unprecedented times. Even Robert Kiyosaki wanted to leave US because he can't stand wearing mask lol. In Australia, it was the first time I understood how it must feel for many black person in the US at that time. Being an Asian here, the glares, the frowns, kids saying to mommy there's an Asian, taking disgusting gestures from kids. It was so hard and I wanted to leave Australia for good. Things have gone better since and I hope the younger generation learn from this experience and curb racism.

Sorry for the experience you had during the Covid19. Chinese as a group are more disciplined and cooperative, and some Chinese think that foreigners might have more chances to get infected since they value individual freedoms, even though they were in China the whole time. There were a few cases which became national news that some infected foreigners escaped from the quarantine. Glad that the Chinese police who knocked your door didn’t use force, as the police in the states. I was the only one who wore masks for 2 years in my office (red state) and our office had 70% positive cases over the time because they never wore masks. Enjoying staying in China!

is that the zhujiang river behind you?

To be honest, this kind of prejudice against foreigners can be seen everywhere in Western countries and is often impolite to show in person. In contrast, Chinese people tend to be more enthusiastic towards unfamiliar foreigners than towards Chinese people. I think it's also possible that Western media deliberately stood on the opposite side, portraying a country that could have been a partner as an opponent.

Thank you for your sharing🙏👍🙏

I am so sorry to hear ur unfair treatment and being prejudice in Shanghai, u lived here for 12 yrs, I am pretty sure u have a lot of feelings on China and city, but in casual times, bad things happen like this. Like what Asians were being hated in the US while in COVID pandemic for no reason but becuz racist. My high school Eng teacher is a 3rd gen Chinese American, she got treated badly by a white woman racist in a store, nobody stood out for her, I know these are very tough experiences and we can’t change ignorant people’s minds. Please stay strong!

hahaha, it was so funny, I can't help laughing. But really Me myself experienced such kind of bad things during that periods. Once I travelled to Hangzhou on Business, because it is quite near to Shanghai, so my plan was a one day trip. When I left Shanghai for Hangzhou, I had my green QR code, after arriving I was tested again (2 hours later, the result was negative), but anyway my QR code turn yellow suddenly, that means I was locked. I was not allowed to take taxi or go to train station , how I could be back to Shanghai again. Then I had to call 12345 again and again until they solve the problem (then my QRCODE turn green), but it cost me at least 3 hours.

From your story, I see a simple and beautiful soul. I am very happy to have people like you living in China. China's policies have been changing rapidly. When you are approaching the retirement age, I believe that at that time China has launched a retirement policy for foreigners who have lived and worked in China for a long time, so it is entirely possible for you to retire in China in the future. In addition, in the face of some practical problems, I will give you an effective method: the mayor’s hotline - 12345. Although this hotline is called the "mayor's hotline", it is actually a "super hub" that directly connects ordinary people and all branches of government. The Chinese government has established a very large-scale call center to receive calls or complaints from the people. This information will be sorted and quickly filed. After filing, it will be handed over to the relevant departments for quick processing. Usually it will be answered within 2-3 working days. Process the results and must be executed within a week. The problem you mentioned in the video can be solved by calling the mayor's hotline. You can directly dial 12345 and inform them of the situation, indicating that you have been harassed and interrogated for no reason by Police. They will sort your information and hand it over. Submit it to the public security supervision department and then send it to the specific district police station. Usually, you will get an apology from the police within 3 days, and then receive a return visit from the mayor’s hotline within 5 days to confirm whether the problem has been solved.If not, keep complaining,it works! Of course, there are many ways and channels to safeguard your legitimate rights and interests in China. Because you are an American and you are not familiar with the socialist political system, so you don’t know how to deal with it. You have to remember one principle: the people have the highest power In a socialism country! Focusing on this thought can help you solve almost any problem. If you encounter other problems in the future, you may wish to send it and I will tell you how to deal with it effectively.

It's hard to argue with someone when you don't have a full command of the language. I feel your frustration with that hubei mofo in the lift. I am a navtive speaker however so I would have made that guy cry if I was there.

getting to 5k soon

You are strong, my friend. happened to me, too, in the USA. Some good people and bad people never where you live in,

I miss my home in Yuqing. I will be going back soon. Until then, Thanks!

COVID brought out the worst in our society.

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences in China, but I am open to hearing about the good aspects of China and the bad aspects as well.

Yep, I experienced the same stuff. People would not get on an elevator with me, in my own building.

This happened to the chinese or american chinese all the time, even its not a crisis time.

In a large population like China, you get the best of people and the worst of people. Most of my experience in China have been friendly like 95%, but there is one area I went to where almost every interaction with the locals were aggressive and rude, which I won't name because maybe it was just my experience.

The good ole days of Covid. Yeah I hated these times too. All a bunch of BS

那时候回国被网友称为：千里投毒。我在22年回国的时候 乡下都不想要我过去做隔离

Where's your bar? I would like to pay a visit

I am sorry for your experience

Yeah, John, you're out of luck with your neighbors.And the guards are always square-headed. They act according to instructions. So who ate the bat anyway?😆

Sorry for the experience, china is big country and has big population, so just ignore those stupid people. Wish you have good time there.

You should go to Southeast Asia for vacation to relax

中國有50多個民族、方言土語、文化、生活習慣各種差異但都能和諧相處，靠的是包容彼此尊重對方，把自己的情緒忍著。在中國少數民族受到特別待遇的。

I had the same kind of experiences but what you call racism, I tried to put some distance between racism and just plain fear.

You were lucky because the police could drag you out of your home.

If you want to feel better, imagine what would happen if you did the same thing to the police here in the US....

You're living in an authoritarian country and you were shocked by what happened?

I've gone through similar experiences. Chinese girls screaming in fear when seeing me in the elevator... On the bright side...I always had seats to myself on the metro since no one wanted to sit next to the Black foreigner during that time. But believe it or not,..those weren't my worst experiences. Ever been taken to a Chinese police station...? I'll just leave it at that... for now.

I'm sorry you had those troubles in China. Although I don’t always agree with the government’s one-size-fits-all strict management measures during the epidemic, I still want to verify some details from you. You mentioned that security personnel prevented you from going home but allowed the Chinese to go home, if you have lived there for a long time, I don't think the security personnel will be unfamiliar to you, your description sounds like you are completely unfamiliar with the security personnel in the community, which is usually not common in China. Secondly, if your QR code is green and your recent trip has not been through an epidemic area, then I don’t think you will be blocked. You seem to have described your experience of traveling overseas. You returned to China two days before the border was closed. This may have been the reason why you needed to quarantine. Since the policy at the time required at least 14 days of quarantine observation, maybe The police or security personnel took control of you within those 14 days. I think you may need to add as much detail as possible. I wish you a happy life.

China is totalism country. I am not saying it is good or bad. It is just a fact. I can understand why chinese people adopted this system, rather than democracy. People just get used and feel comfortable with it. But for foreigners, the brutally infringing of personal freedom makes you very uncomfortable. I can understand that too. I am sorry this rigorous measures frustrated you deeply. The good thing is that Chinese government finally realized those strict measures are not sustainable and lift it eventually. But the economic and emotional hurt has been done. I wish you can scratch this bad memory and find back your happy life in China as before.

I blame the lab leak. WIV!! Peace in Biowarfare

危机时期外貌不同的人肯定是被首先锁定的，这是人性，特别是美国有太多细菌五器方面的前科，比如中国人喝热水的习惯就是朝鲜战争美军投毒造成的，如果你了解中国近几十年的历史，很多事情都是政府承担骂名来赢取国家发展的机会。并且中国人身份认同的方式是文化，不是在某一个地方呆了多久，你的很多观点其实都是美式思想，很多美国人不知道自己国家做的某些事情到底产生了多恶劣的后果。有不少中国人像你一样觉得自己受委屈了于是移民然后后悔了，所以你不离开是对的。

🙏💪👍🔥♥️🇨🇳

That was a very dark and painful period. It's really not easy for you to survive that period and persist in staying in China. There are always good and bad things in life. Wishing you all the best in the future!

哥们，你了解一下中国文化，中国有56个民族，每一个地方文化不一样的，但他们非常有团体和团结一致的人，（意思是，中国没有种族问题的，因为这几年的感染病毒出现之后，全世界的经济出现衰退严重）所以，中国人，不想复制，以前的经历，所以，（小数人）一些动作或语言表达会令到你不安，我讲一声，对不起，亦希望你忘记他吧，希望你不要为这些事情而不开心，亦讲句，中国是一个民族国家，五千多年历史文化，有14亿人口，中国人，绝大多数人是勤劳，善良，包容，热情的人，中国没有种族问题的，只不过，文化修养和不会说话的人，特别是年轻大的长辈，无论如何，中国是一个非常安全的国家，交通便利，物价稳定，旅游景点特别多，亦是一个美食天堂，夜生活的地方，加油，我们永远支持你哦，祝福你生活愉快，身体健康，

In USA, you could lost your life over racism. George Perry Floyd Jr.

Human beings are sinners. All the same sinners.

谢谢你分享你的遭遇，你的视频非常公正，中国有好当然也有坏，坏的地方要继续改进，有一点是肯定的，中国会越来越好，也希望你继续留在中国，向世界传递真实的中国

Hope this COVID shit won't happen again

Aren't you also “racist” against Waidiren🤣? But I can understand you. Some “Waidiren” are just ridiculous😵‍💫.

约翰，相信我。这些只是少数素质低下的人，很抱歉给你留下了不好的印象。

中国做得不好的地方本来就应该被批评……😊

imagine the chinese living in western ，same thing happen ，

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍