A person of China-U.S. mixed blood
Mike Sui's Chinese name is Sui Kai. His father is a local of Beijing and his mother is a local of Chicago. Sui is a person of mixed blood, but because his father does not speak Chinese at home, his first language is still English.
Sui did not learn Chinese until he went to China and start studying in an elementary school in 1993. His American accent had not disappeared until his first year in the junior high school. Sui said, "It was a very long course."
Later, Sui went back to the United States to study. In order to maintain his Chinese language level, he used to talk with his Chinese friends on the phone and sometimes read Chinese novels written by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). These are tips for him to maintain his fluent Chinese.
It could be said that Sui is a Chinese with a foreign face. He participates in Chinese reality TV shows, acts in Chinese movies, hosts Chinese programs sometimes, and teaches English in Chinese universities. When he is shopping in Beijing, his bargaining is not worse than that of a Chinese at all.
"Chinese people like people with the language talent and a strong desire to perform." The sudden popularity made him come to such a conclusion.
Cultural differences
In addition to language differences, Sui believes that China and the United States also have many cultural differences. A typical character of the Chinese culture is "being indirect," but the U.S. culture is bold, strong and penetrating. In his opinion, being indirect is sometimes not good because it is not frank enough, but most of the time, being indirect means being polite and steady. The U.S. culture has a strong influence, but sometimes, its strong penetrating power makes people feel that it forces them to accept something.
Despite of the differences, people can see the combination of the two cultures of the free and bold U.S. culture and the implicative and indirect Chinese culture on Sui in the video.
Sui said that he will not think what differences of the two cultures could be seen on him in the video, because both cultures have turned into a part of him.
By Zheng Na, Dong Xiaowei and Qiang Dehua (People's Daily Overseas Edition)
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