A few days ago I have read an opinion at 中国日报 “Dear 老外, don't mess with our Chinese-ness” and in that opinion there were many funny things. Especially the way the author attacked foreigners was neither funny nor necessary. I don’t oppose her idea but also can’t fully support it. I believe foreigners should follow the rules and regulations of China and native citizens have to try to treat the law abiding foreigners as friends.

Every person has their own reason to fly away from home country to other country. Some are tourists, some for work, some for medical treatment, some for study, some for accompanying family, and there are many other reasons. Some come for a day and some for years. But sometimes it is really difficult to cope up with the change or sometimes the different language and culture makes a foreigner frustrated.

Learning the language of the country would help a foreigner to get rid of the communication problem but culture and mentality can’t just be learned like the language. There is no book or course that would let a foreigner learn the culture and mentality straightway. To learn these, it requires time, effort, and grasping ability. A foreigner would always seek for the things he is habituated with, for example, food, daily-life commodities and places related to the region where he/she is from.

A foreigner must obey the rules and regulation of the country where he/she is currently in. Whatever the situation is or wherever a foreigner is, he/she must remember he/she is representing his/her country and any of his/her activities would generate positive or negative impression about his/her home country. Also, a foreigner must remember that, by following all the rules and regulations he/she will be protected by the law and the government.

But it is impossible for a foreigner to live an isolated life. Native citizens must support the foreigners to let them learn the language and culture of the country. If the citizens try to avoid the foreigners and always treat them as an outsider, that would create frustration in foreigners mind and could create a feelings of being neglected.

Every country has tradition and there are traditional festivals, foods and gifts. Native citizens should be proud of these traditional things. But it doesn’t require that foreigners should be restricted from those. A lawful foreigner with full respect to the rules and regulations of the country he/she is living in, may eat chicken feet or sea cucumber, or may play with fireworks with necessary caution, because they are 1000s of miles away from their home and they also need to feel the life abiding the law. Native citizens may forget that when they are enjoying with family and friends at the spring festival, some foreigners are out there, alone, far away from home.

There are foreigners in China who have definite love and respect towards China, Chinese culture and Chairman Mao. There are foreigners out there who have China in their heart for specific reasons. They try to learn more Chinese culture and share the love and respect together.