1. A Scene
In 1999, I opened my first restaurant in Florence. Back then, Giaogiao was a tiny Chinese restaurant with just six tables. I was the owner, the chef, the waiter, and the dishwasher. Every day, I faced a parade of customers: Italians, French, Germans, British, Americans. They walked in with curiosity about China and with misunderstandings about China. Twenty-five years passed. Giaogiao grew from six tables to three floors. But some things never changed: every day, customers ask me questions about China. And these questions, over twenty-five years, have remained almost exactly the same.
2. A Funny Misunderstanding
Let me list the classic misunderstandings I have heard over twenty-five years: Do Chinese people eat dogs? Is Chinese food always spicy? Do all Chinese people use chopsticks? Do all Chinese people practice Buddhism? Is there only one "Chinese cuisine"? Do all Chinese people know kung fu? Do all Chinese people drink green tea? Do all Chinese people think red is lucky? These misunderstandings are endearing because they represent the things foreigners are most curious about when they think of China.
An Italian once asked me: "Is it true that Chinese people eat everything that has four legs except the table?" I laughed and said: "In Italy, you eat horse meat, donkey meat, and rabbit. In China, we eat pork, chicken, and beef. The difference is smaller than you think."
3. The Chinese Explanation
But I have come to realize: these misunderstandings are not "wrong information" — they are projections of cultural difference. When Europeans ask "Why do you use chopsticks?" they are really asking: "Why don't you use the tool I know?" When Europeans ask "Why do you eat dog meat?" they are really asking: "Why is your moral standard different from mine?" When Europeans ask "Is there only one Chinese cuisine?" they are asking from their own framework: "Italy has Italian cuisine, France has French cuisine, Spain has Spanish cuisine — does China have something similar?" Every question is a comparison, not an inquiry.
4. The Deeper Logic
Over twenty-five years, I slowly understood one thing: cultural misunderstanding is not a mistake to be corrected — it is a difference to be understood. When an Italian asks "Why do you share food?" he is saying: "My culture emphasizes individual boundaries." When a Chinese person says "Eat more," she is saying: "My culture emphasizes care and concern." Neither culture is right or wrong. They are simply different. xiaokz.com was born from this understanding. I am not here to "correct" misunderstandings. I am here to explain differences.
5. Learn a Chinese Word
误解 (wùjiě)
- 误 (wù): mistake, error, wrong
- 解 (jiě): to untie, to explain, to understand, to solve
- Wùjiě means "misunderstanding" — literally, "wrong understanding." But in Chinese, the word contains a beautiful possibility: once you "untie" (解) the "wrong" (误), it becomes "understanding" (理解, lǐjiě). This is why I am not afraid of misunderstandings — because every misunderstanding is an opportunity to "untie" something and turn it into understanding.
- The character 解 is made of three parts: 角 (horn), 刀 (knife), and 牛 (cow). It originally meant "to butcher a cow with a knife" — to separate, to analyze, to decompose. Understanding comes from taking apart the wrong and seeing what is inside.
- Remember: wù is fourth tone (falling), jiě is third tone (falling-rising).
6. One-Sentence Summary
> Every question I have heard about China over twenty-five years was never really about China. It was about: Who are you? Who am I? Why are we different? xiaokz.com started with that question.