Boris Tkachenko, a leading researcher at the Institute of History of the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, came across the pamphlet “Piercing Russia with a Look”, published in a circulation of only 135 copies. It collected translations of excerpts from Chinese books and newspaper publications. Its author set out to understand the Russians.
According to the Chinese, the Russian people, due to the long period of life in slavery, have no traditions of democracy, but there is a desire for extreme individualism. Moreover, the Russians are so contradictory that, with their individualism, they are distinguished at the same time by slavish obedience. “Russians are forever oscillating between these two extremes. Having received freedom, they know no boundaries, they are ready to destroy everything.
The Russian people are not capable of anything without foreigners: “... Russia's achievements have always been associated with foreigners. As soon as the Russians themselves got down to business, everything quickly fell apart. The reason was their inability to self-control, self-management. Russia has always bowed to the West.”
Russians are patient people, they don't know how to protest, and if they do protest, it is soft and small. Life under Yeltsin is given as an example: “Under Yeltsin, the standard of living of ordinary people fell catastrophically, they were robbed and deceived as much as they could, but the people only murmured a little.
In 2002, about 80% of the population was below the poverty line. There are many dissatisfied, but there is no organized protest. The Russian people once again demonstrate amazing patience and tolerance towards the authorities. This is the main tradition that he inherited from his slave past.
Russian people were constantly at war, so they developed a tolerance for cruelty.
They also consider themselves superior to other nations: “Russians consider themselves superior to others. This was reflected in the theory of the superiority of the Slavic race. Russians look with contemptuous eyes not only on the backward East and South, but also on the more developed West. They always want to be first, to be leaders. The idea of seniority has deeply penetrated the psychology of Russians. Russia's foreign policy is built on hegemonism: "... Even now, when it cannot even be considered a second-rate country, it is difficult for it to hide its hegemonic psychology."
Further we read: “No matter how hard the Russians try to Europeanize, however, they do not look like Europeans. In many ways, they are more similar to the Tatars. More precisely, according to formal features, this is a civilized society, but inside it is a purely Russian filling. Behind external decency, the true rough nature is easily visible. Russians are Slavs. "Slavs" in Latin meant "slaves".
Russian morality is reversed: “Russians tend to disregard traditional morality. Controversy has become a feature of the Russian nation: on the one hand, eastern humility and servility, on the other, promiscuity, unbridledness; on the one hand - fear of authority, on the other - contempt for traditions, rejection of the generally accepted principles of morality and morality. This leads to the fact that they take rudeness for valor, laxity and chaos - for democracy, servility - for virtue.
Russians do not know how to value their history, as if denying historical memory itself: “... Their attitude to history is also extremely radical. For example, they believe that everything old should be rejected, there is no need for any continuity. All traces of the past must be washed away, erased in one night. And not only in form, but also in essence. Perhaps the funniest thing is their desire to change the names of cities, streets and squares, to demolish monuments, as if there were no events worth remembering in their history.
Terrible bureaucracy flourishes in Russia, there are huge queues for officials. “It doesn't matter how many people will be waiting in line - 10 or 100 - employees will work in the same mode: slowly, being distracted by conversations and not forgetting to drink tea. Nothing will force them to change their regulations, no cataclysms.
Since the Russians did nothing but fight, they had no time to improve their native language: “... the well-known expression of the English poet Johnson “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel” translated into Russian looks like this: “Even the most lost person, rejected by friends and society, if the feeling of the Motherland is preserved in his soul, in it is his last hope and salvation.
The Russians had no time to improve their language - they fought and fought more. Even cultured people with higher education can endlessly argue about the spelling of some simple word or sentence. And even many Russians would not be able to pass the exam for obtaining Russian citizenship.”
There is no love in Russia, but there is a cult of sex, which replaces love. The most attractive profession for Russian schoolgirls, of course, is prostitution; society encourages this. Newspapers openly print advertisements for hiring girls to provide sex services. Russian society does not understand at all what is good and what is bad.
As for politicians, they “not only are not afraid to tarnish their reputation on this ground, but, on the contrary, use sex as a tool to achieve their goals. Many of them, including members of parliament and governors, openly keep several mistresses, Zhirinovsky's party proposes to open brothels.
All this is a historical fact. Pushkin, the Chinese write, liked to show off his sexual abilities, while Catherine II didn’t even need to show off.
Russian people cannot stop drinking. “You can not eat, but you can not not drink - this is another striking feature of the Russian people. Russians will tolerate the absence of bread, but they will rebel in the absence of vodka. Vodka has become an important part of the culture of Russian society. Alcohol is something that Russians cannot and do not want to do without. If in other countries they say: “Who gets up early, he earns his bread”, then about Russians one can say this: “Who gets up early, he will have something to drink.” The Chinese are reminded that Yeltsin was an alcoholic.
The Russian people have no shame. “The most amazing thing is that they never experience shame, no matter what they do. On the contrary, they always find excuses for everything.” Deception flourishes at all levels in Russia.
Russians live in constant fear. Everything around them is an enemy. An atmosphere of general suspicion reigns in Russia. The role of the FSB is still great. “Almost all telephone conversations are tapped, and if desired, the secret services can always present compromising evidence against you.”
In another article, "Comparison of China and Russia", the Chinese conducted a direct comparative analysis of the two countries. If the wise China, according to the authors, following Japan and South Korea, adopted the Western model, then Russia moved along the path of Africa, at best - Latin America.
The following material, "Opening the Map of Russia", describes the character of the Russian people from the point of view of the Chinese.
According to analysts, the Russian nation is entirely thieves, cowards, robbers; the main features of their character are anger, greed and admiration for violence. The authors summarize: The “greatness” of the Russian nation is 30% theft and 70% banditry.”
All of the above does not pretend to controversy. It does not matter whether the Chinese think about us correctly or not. What matters is what they think.
Russia is the largest country in the world, but why do so few people live in Russia? Compared to China, the population of Russia looks ridiculous. Especially frustrating is the fact that there are many single and beautiful girls in Russia due to gender imbalance.
“However, this situation does not greatly upset the Russians, they are happy to marry foreigners,” writes the Chinese edition of Jinzhi Toutiao.
Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of territory, its area is more than 17 million square kilometers, which is almost twice the size of the third largest country - China. The population living on such a vast territory is very small and amounts to only 140 million. This figure looks very tiny compared to the population of China.
Demographic problems have been worrying Russia for many years, this issue was noticed back in the days of the Soviet Union, but there has been no noticeable improvement so far. The Russian government has allocated a large sum as material support and encouragement to increase the birth rate, but this has not yet brought visible results.
Why do so few people live in Russia? One of the main reasons was the Second World War, in which many Soviet soldiers took an active part. The losses suffered by the country turned out to be so huge that in the battle for Stalingrad alone, more than a million young men - Soviet soldiers - died.
Due to such large losses among the male population, the birth rate has fallen sharply in the country. There is still an imbalance in the ratio of men and women in Russia. If you walk along any street in Russia, you will see that you will mostly meet young girls dressed very beautifully, in the hope of attracting the attention of the opposite sex.
But it cannot be said that such a situation greatly upset the Russians, it is generally difficult to upset them with anything, the abundance of unclaimed Russian brides is very pleasing to foreigners who are happy to marry a Russian beauty.
The second reason for the small population is natural conditions. It is very cold in Russia, you can feel the proximity of the North Pole there, and the highest temperature of the year is only 27 degrees. In such difficult weather conditions, a person is not up to the opposite sex, hence the low birth rate.
A note appeared on the website of the Chinese edition of Toutiao, in which the author Mu Muse shares his observations about Russian girls. They look great before marriage and age quickly after it. The husband becomes a child, and the wife turns into a mother caring for him. The author is looking for the reasons for such radical changes in family traditions, culture and culture.
Russia is deservedly considered one of the countries in which a large number of beauties live. There are a lot of beautiful girls in Russia, but why does all their beauty disappear with age and they turn into aunts? Why do Russian girls look great in their youth, and after marriage they rapidly lose their beauty? In Russia, the husband never knew how to do housework, and therefore the wife gave all her strength to household chores. This is one of those traditions that has a place in the modern world.
There is one statement that in Russia, after the wedding, the husband becomes a child who needs care, and the wife turns into a mother caring for him. Excessive overwork, leading to aging of the body, in addition to this, insufficient attention to one's appearance leads to the fact that sometimes when you meet a girl, at first glance it may seem that she is far from young.
The Russian government promotes an increase in the birth rate, and also provides families with many children with various benefits. Therefore, Russian women usually give birth to several children after marriage. Frequent childbirth, several pregnancies and several periods of feeding - all this leads to the fact that the body ages faster, and Russian women gain weight much more often than others.
It also has to do with eating habits. Everyone who has visited Russia knows that both lunch and dinner here are always very satisfying, there is a lot of flour made from wheat. They usually consist of three courses. Soup is always first. The choice is usually borscht or cabbage soup with cabbage. The second course must be served hot. It could be fish or meat. The fish is usually fried. Meat - beef or lamb - is prepared in the form of a steak or cutlets. In most cases, fried potatoes or mashed potatoes are served with these dishes. All food is very salty, a lot of salted fish, cucumbers, pickles. Sometimes after vodka they drink salt water. And the last dish is dessert. For dessert, they usually offer cakes, sweets, drink tea with sugar or coffee. Russians eat very few vegetables.
Today we will talk about what the Chinese really think about Russia, Putin and all of us. Unlike any irresponsible publicists and opposition politicians, I do not feed my followers with one-sided propaganda based on data (albeit true) from one source! Only for my beloved readers - an objective and complete picture. I had to shovel quite a few sources to figure out how the Chinese really relate to Russia.
In the eyes of the Americans, we were once an evil empire, other countries, on the contrary, looked at us with hope. Once upon a time, the young People's Republic of China and the USSR were best friends. It did not last long: from 1949 to 1956 (this year Khrushchev came to power, and the cooling of relations began), but during this time they managed to draw a lot of propaganda posters with a suspicious bias towards homoeroticism. Here, for example, a young Soviet-Chinese couple is looking in the same direction and holding hands, and only Lenin is higher:
The daughters of the proletarians also feel good together: 
Strong male friendship leads us to a brighter future: 
Welding is fun: 
Etc. Now these wonderful times are long gone: although the split with separate skirmishes on the borders have remained somewhere in the foggy past, one can only dream of the former military alliance, despite the fact that now the official authorities are talking a lot about the new stage of Russian-Chinese friendship. Indeed, a lot is being done: we can recall the recent gas contract, mutual support in the UN vote and the deployment of equipment for satellite navigation systems, and finally, Russia was the first country that Xi Jinping visited after he became the chairman of the PRC.
However, both sides talk only about "relations of strategic interaction and partnership", and the restoration of allied relations is not even on the agenda.
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In this light, it is interesting to know what ordinary Chinese think about our country. Here again, this fucking uncertainty. On the one hand, many Chinese, with whom I had the opportunity to communicate during my travels, easily named a number of Soviet and Russian works. Many people know Tolstoy's novels, Ostrovsky's "How the Steel Was Tempered" (there are as many as twenty different translations), the films "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears", "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", "War and Peace", and the songs "Moscow Nights" translated into Chinese , "Katyusha", "Oh, viburnum blooms!". They also associate Russia with architecture (the Kremlin, Red Square, St. Basil's Cathedral are widely known) and beautiful wildlife. However, such knowledge is distributed mainly among the older generation, and young people are not very eager to learn Russian and get an education here (19,000 Chinese students study in Russia, and more than 100,000 in the USA), and with modern Russian culture, music and art almost no one here is familiar with what, in fact, life in modern Russia is like.
It is also interesting how the Chinese see the Russians themselves. Men seem to them to be physically strong and drink a lot of alcohol, but here this is not considered something bad, but, on the contrary, indicates great endurance. The language even has a stable phrase "big Russian strongman" (俄罗斯大力士). Russian women are considered by the Chinese to be very beautiful, but get fatter in maturity. Among the most popular Russians, mostly athletes: Dmitry Sautin, Alina Kabaeva, Maria Sharapova, and also Vitas! Where without him! (Do you still remember who it is?).
To complete the picture, we need to make a small digression. "Putin" in Chinese is not only the name of the President of Russia, but also the brand of the cheapest and crappiest beer. It is written in the same hieroglyphs. In China, there is such a brand of beer "Swallow" (in Chinese "Yanjing"). The worst beer in Chinese is called "Putong", that is, "Simple". accordingly, the worst beer brand "Swallow" is called "Putong Yanjing". Since the Chinese language tends to reduce 4-syllable words to two-syllable ones, "Putong Yanjing" is abbreviated to "Pu-Jing", the same hieroglyphs as our president. Whether this somehow affected Putin's 18% recognition in China, I don't know.
In China, some prohibitive number of books about GDP are published. Names for them, however, come up with some idiot. "Putin was born for Russia." Well, what's the name of the book? A fool understands that Russia was born for Putin! It couldn't be otherwise.
But what is the reason for such love for the head of our state? Partly because the Chinese see him as such a courageous hero in the spirit of Indiana Jones, the quintessential Russian strongman: photos of Putin with a naked torso, fishing, with a tiger, with Siberian Cranes and so on are very popular. And partly, GDP is loved because he is seen by many as a strong leader with the enormous will required to stand up to the West: the way he did during the conflict with Georgia, and now during the Ukrainian crisis, causes many layers of Chinese society's liveliest approval.
The previous chairman of the Communist Party, Hu Jintao, was considered by its functionaries to be too soft, devoid of charisma and unable to resist the US and Europe. They have long been talking about the fact that the country needs a stronger hand, and two years ago they got what they wanted in the person of Xi Jinping, who immediately began to tighten the screws. Such sentiments are also popular among young Chinese: many accuse the former administration of being too soft and unable to protect the interests of the Celestial Empire in the international arena (for example, after the shelling of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999 or when resolving the territorial issue with Russia). Many parallels can be drawn between the personalities of Putin and the current Chinese leader: they are both 61 years old, they are from the same generation and are trying to take everything into their iron fist. “We agree in character,” Mr. Xi once said to Mr. Putin at an official meeting. Of course, all this means that the popularity of the Russian president and his policies only play into the hands of the official authorities, and they take advantage of this.
So it turns out that despite the fact that local schools talk a lot about territorial disputes and conflicts with Russia that have been dragging on since the 17th century (a formal point on this issue was made only in 2005, but a certain amount of this is told), thanks to the official line of the party in Chinese society, the idealized image of Great and Beautiful Russia, a country of wild nature, churches with huge domes, strong men and beautiful women, which is ruled by the strongest and most beautiful man of all - the beautiful Vladimir with an iron fist Putin, who rides a bear through the forests of his mysterious homeland, gives a resolute rebuff to the West and is not afraid of anything in the world, lifting Roissia from his knees.
To reinforce these words, let us turn to the results of sociological research. For example, the PEW public opinion research center provides an opportunity for how the Chinese generally evaluate different countries. The graph of positive assessments of Russia looks like this:
Thus, the positive attitude towards our country among the Chinese population has never dropped below 46%, but after the Crimea happened, Russia in the eyes of the Chinese rose immediately by 18% to the level of 66%. That's what a "strategic partnership" is! In 2006, the Xinhua Agency conducted a survey of a slightly different format, which also gave a rather favorable picture for us: among the urban residents surveyed, 39.6% called Russia the friendliest country for China, and only 1.2% see Russia as a threat to China . North Korea came in second, South Korea third, followed by France, Singapore and Australia.
But this is only the official position, albeit shared by the majority. There is always another opinion. Usually it needs to be sought among the advanced public, which can often be found on open Internet sites. Indeed, quite different moods often reign here. Let's look, for example, at the most popular forum zhidao.baidu.com, this is something like our answers to mail.ru:
Question: Which countries are the friendliest towards China? (2008).
Most Popular Answer: Pakistan. And also some African countries. More Israel. Despite the fact that the media of the two countries rarely talk about each other, but during the 2nd World War, China helped save the lives of many Jews, so Israel has always treated us well. Secretly passed us all sorts of secret military technology. But China, in order to maintain relations with the Arab world, has always kept its distance from Israel. On the issue of a Middle East settlement, we take a neutral position and do not openly support either side. North Koreans are small people, too unreliable. Russia is simply using China to hold back the US. European countries are just rubbish. France used to be nothing, has always supported the easing of military anti-Chinese sanctions, but the recent incident with the Olympic torch has generally driven our relations below the plinth.
It can be seen that not everyone agrees with the official propaganda, which only talks about friendship and cooperation. In certain circles, such views are quite popular. The fact is that the Chinese intelligentsia is divided into two camps: these are “liberals” and “conservatives”. The latter are in solidarity with the general line of the party, and the “liberals” just often studied in the West and criticize Russia from American and European positions, which usually means that they do not like the aggressive policy of our country and how it developed under Putin, but they sympathize young democratic Russia of the nineties.
This decade of our history is generally a very sore subject for the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire, as an example of the development of a country that has abandoned communism. Despite external stability, the need for reform in China is becoming more and more obvious, so local intellectuals are carefully studying the experience of other countries. The two camps agree on one thing: in this sense, Russia is, unfortunately, a negative example for China.
Let's turn to the first article we came across in the search engine, which fully reflects the mood of a large part of the Chinese "liberal society": "Those whom we consider friends treat China worst of all, and vice versa!" .
Its main meaning is:
“We know that when it comes to the Chinese, the Chinese diaspora, the businessmen from China who are allowed to operate most freely, then the most comfortable country in this regard, whether you like it or not, and everyone knows about it, is without a doubt America! Immigrants from China integrate very well into American society, occupy high positions, become prominent professors and scientists. There is no such thing in Europe, but even there the Chinese live well, while China has rather cool relations with all these countries, at least officially. But what about in Russia? And in Russia, everything is not very good for the Chinese: many are afraid of skinheads, there is a widespread opinion that Russia is the most corrupt country in the CIS, the general public condemned the incident with the sinking of a merchant ship by Russian border guards and called it inhumane. This is the paradox: with countries where visiting Chinese are treated the best, China has the coolest relations, and vice versa. It is said that the peculiarity of national Chinese diplomacy lies in the fact that it calls its friend and ally the one who sticks his tongue deeper into the ass of the Chinese leadership best of all portrays the deepest sympathy for the Chinese authorities, and the Russian Foreign Ministry succeeded well in this, unlike all the others. .
Where is Russian-Chinese friendship heading? For a long time, fortunately, not towards a bright communist future, but not towards discord and conflict like the one that occurred in the sixties. The attitude towards Russia in this country is ambiguous: for the broad masses of the people, we are a mysterious land with strong men, beautiful women who get fat by middle age, and tall pine trees, where wild birds live in large cities, and people sing Katyusha and Moscow Evenings ". Someone sees us as an example to follow, someone, on the contrary, tries to learn from our mistakes, some still remember territorial disputes, while others simply like Russian films, songs and the image of a strong ruler. And each of them is right about something. Do not fall for one-sided interpretations!
“I can agree with such a formulation as a “fighting nation”, as long as the Chinese like it. I don’t think they put any negative meaning into this expression, but I myself would not call myself that way. ”
Before the start of the World Cup, it was reported that 60,000 Chinese fans would come to Russia in July and August to watch football matches. To make it easier to meet Chinese tourists, Russian Internet users have compiled a special instruction. Among the points is this: "The Chinese media are very fond of talking about the fact that Russians have bears at home, so do not be surprised if you are asked about this."
In addition to “domestic bears”, the Chinese network is full of other jokes about Russians: “it’s not blood that flows in the veins of Russians, but vodka”, “Russian girls fight like boxers”, “at a scientific conference of the USSR Academy of Sciences, one mathematician did not agree with Kolmogorov and he beat him…”
© RIA Novosti, Konstantin RodikovThey have bears, they can drink vodka, fearless and aggressive, self-confident - these are the characteristic features of Russians who are popular among Chinese Internet users. We really like to call the Russians "fighting people", but why do we use this expression only in relation to them? It seems as if there is no way to check this.
We found several Russian students who study abroad to get the opinion of the Russian people themselves about this formulation. They said that only the Chinese call them a "fighting nation".
In China, this expression has already become a figurative name for Russians.
The expression "fighting nation" originates in the Japanese manga Dragon Ball: the story features a naturally aggressive race of warriors called the Saiyans. The more wars they wage, the stronger and braver they become. They have an excellent appetite, and being on the verge of death, they begin to actively fight again, and their combat power increases dramatically. Because of their aggression, many Saiyans die in the war.
We will never be able to find out who first called the Russians a “fighting people,” but in Chinese Internet culture, “Russian people” and “fighting nation” have long become synonymous. We make fun of the Russians because this image is built thanks to the news feeds - the Russians do business firmly, always act decisively. In addition to laughter, it makes people gasp in surprise.
Russians keep bears at home
The bear is a very ferocious animal, but photographs are circulating on the net in which Russians seem to mistake bears for ordinary pets, forcing them to do such things, after which the bears lose their authority and the image of a wild and dangerous beast.
On July 15 Beijing time, Russia beat Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the very first match of the World Cup. At the end of the match, a lot of football fans took to the streets to celebrate the victory. Among them was a fan who was driving a bear playing the trumpet.
Russian aviation makes the heart beat faster
American actor Leonardo DiCaprio has already mentioned on The Ellen DeGeneres Show about the scariest moment in his life - flying with Aeroflot. Leonardo said: “I was flying to Russia, and the engine of the plane exploded. In the porthole, I saw that it literally turned into a fireball. There are only Russians on board. It seemed that I had already died, because at the same time everyone was silent, and I was the only one tearing up - everyone just turned to me. The stewardess simply said that we seemed to be having a “little problem.” Finally, a Russian came up and asked what the problem was. She replied that we were just left without an engine. Then the Russian asked how many engines the plane had. two - left alone," the stewardess replied. After that, it took the crew 45 minutes to drain the oil and make an emergency landing. More than a hundred ambulances were waiting for us at the airport.”
Context
How did the Russians become a "warlike people"?
Beiqing Net 06/27/2018British investigation: why Russians don't smile
InoTWIT 09.06.2018The intelligentsia in Russia ordered to live long
Medya Gunlugu 20.05.2018Instead of vodka, Russian men swing and walrus
05.06.2018Nautilus: what does a Russian smile mean
Nautilus 06/28/2018After an excerpt from this interview was circulated online, people were amazed at the psychological resilience of the "fighting nation".
There is still a lot of evidence of the "coolness" of Russian aviation. Aeroflot is known for always arriving on time, no matter how bad the weather.
In October 2014, the air in Beijing was very polluted, and in the evening after sunset at the Beijing Capital International Airport, not a single plane could land, they all decided to land at other airports around Beijing. And only one Russian SU200 aircraft decided to cope with the Beijing smog. At night, he flew through Inner Mongolia, waiting for the wind to disperse the smog, and at 2:09 successfully landed at the capital's airport.
This happened more than once. On December 20, 2016, Beijing was again covered in smog. For 3 and a half hours, not a single plane landed at the Beijing airport because of him. Only an Aeroflot airliner landed.
The representative of the "fighting nation" - Putin
President Putin can be called a representative of the "fighting people", his style in business is firm and adamant.
Putin said that America does not have the right to dictate to Russia what to do: "In 2003, when US Secretary of State Powell, showing evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, took out a test tube with a substance of unknown origin - there was washing powder inside."
Putin, speaking of terrorists: “We will pursue terrorists everywhere. At the airport - at the airport. So, you’ll excuse me, we’ll catch them in the toilet - we’ll soak them in the toilet, in the end. ”
Above were stories about Russians as a "fighting people" that are popular on the net. How do Russians themselves relate to such a name? Three Russian students shared their views with us.
Russian students: "It seems that only the Chinese call us a warlike people."
1. Respondent: Natalia, PhD, first year of study
“I don’t quite understand why the Chinese call us a ‘fighting nation’.
I came from Moscow. I first visited China in 2006, and I heard the expression "fighting people" a few years ago. My Chinese friends may also sometimes use this expression in relation to me, but I do not quite understand why the Chinese call us a "fighting nation". Then it seemed because we are not afraid of the cold, and our planes fly very cool.
The network says that we raise bears at home - this also happens. For example, some people find bear cubs in the forest and then feed them at home. They also say that in winter we are not afraid of the cold - this is also probably true. They say that the Russians are very good at fighting - of course, there are people who are really good at this, it's just ordinary self-defense. As for alcohol, I think the Chinese drink a lot more than the Russians. They can drink without snacking until they are drunk.
I can agree with such wording as "fighting nation", as long as the Chinese like it. I do not think that they put any negative meaning into this expression, but I myself would not call myself that way. The examples that the Chinese give as proof of this expression are just our way of life, which has nothing to do with war.
2. Respondent: Vika, PhD, second year of study
“Bears do not walk the streets of Russia”
I've been studying in China for three years, and it seems that only the Chinese call us a "fighting nation" - other foreigners can't say that. When I first heard this, this opinion seemed curious to me. But to this day, I don't understand why they call us that.
We can't raise bears in the house. The famous Russian poet of the 19th century - Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin - wrote one story in which the nobles really kept a bear at home. But this was the nobility of the 19th century, modern Russian people cannot keep bears at home, I have never heard of such a thing. There are still photos on the Internet where a Russian “walks” a bear through the streets. When I was little, a beverage company made an advertisement showing bears walking the streets of Russia. After a while, I made a friend from the UK, and it turned out that many Britons really believe that in Russia, bears can just walk the streets.
There are rumors on the Internet about how powerful Aeroflot is - I also heard this. Last year, when the smog was especially strong, only the Russian company did not cancel the flight and landed, we also felt very cool. I was returning home on an Aeroflot plane because the ticket price was right. I myself am very afraid of shaking on the plane, but on the Aeroflot plane I felt safe.
A lot of foreigners believe that vodka for Russians is like boiling water for the Chinese. I think this is the biggest stereotype about Russians. When they hear that I am Russian, foreigners immediately say that I must be able to drink. But this is not true at all! Now young people in Russia, who, like me, are in their 20s, mostly do not drink vodka. Vodka is too strong. Sometimes I can drink red wine. My dad and grandfather rarely drink vodka either: they might have a couple of shots at a wedding or a birthday, but they don't drink it every day. In some remote rural areas of Russia, the economic situation is very bad. Young people do not work and drink every day - we have this, but I think that this problem is slowly being solved.
As for the people who say we eat raw meat, that's not true at all. I remember the first time I went to China: in my first year, I went to study with classmates in Shanghai for a month. One day we went to eat Hogo ( Hogo, hot pot or Chinese samovar are all possible names for a cooking method where food is boiled in a cauldron right at the dining table. per.), and after the waitress brought all the products, we did not know at all how it was all to be eaten. At the time, someone said, "You know Russians like to eat raw chicken and vegetables, what's the deal?" We can only eat raw vegetables in a salad, and we eat them especially often in the summer.
Also, not every person in Russia has a weapon, much less than, for example, in the United States. If you want to have weapons in Russia, then you need to pass a special exam, then prove that you do not have any mental illness, then you need to get a special license issued by certain government agencies, and only then you can go buy weapons. Most ordinary people do not have weapons at home.
A lot of people say that we are not afraid of the cold. In fact, Russian apartments have central heating, so short sleeves can be worn indoors. There are people who deliberately douse themselves with cold water in winter to harden themselves, but all these photos circulating on the Internet are still an exaggeration. Usually we just wash ourselves under a slightly cool shower. There are many more photos of Russian people swimming in the ice hole in winter. This is the religious tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church. After Christmas, we bathe in the hole on the day of the Baptism of Jesus Christ, thus imitating him.
I believe that Russians can be called a "fighting nation". From a historical point of view, Russia has gone through many wars, and now the economic situation is unstable. “Our life is not sweet,” the Russians say, but we have no way out, we have to survive. Everyone maintains an optimistic mood.
3. Respondent: Aichin, PhD, second year
“Wrestling is part of our mentality”
I have been living in China for 5 years, first I got my master's degree, now I'm getting my PhD. I first saw the term "warrior people" in my news feed. My Chinese friends also ask me from time to time what I think about this expression and how I understand its meaning.
I have nothing against the name "fighting nation", there is no bad meaning in this expression. There are a lot of funny photos and videos about Russians on the Internet that do not show our way of life at all, just as they do not show the “combatant” side of the Russian people. There is also a lot of the same funny information about China and other states on the Russian Internet, but it cannot reflect the real situation in the country. It's the same with the video about Russia.
It seems to me that Russians who drink vodka and are not afraid of the cold have nothing to do with war or combat. The meaning of the expression "fighting nation" should be deeper. It shows that Russian people are courageous and resolute from birth, and under any circumstances firmly go to the end. I believe that the Russian soldiers who defeated the Nazis in World War II are the best example of a “fighting people”.
In the 1990s, Russian society was in a state of chaos. My parents had very low salaries, and in order to feed the family, there was no other way out but to work several jobs. I was raised by my grandparents. Grandfather got up very early every day to stand in a very long line and get milk for me. Despite the fact that there was complete confusion in society, everyone tried to survive.
Now the manifestation of “war” for Russian youth is different from what it was before. My parents went through a lot, their fighting spirit was shaped by circumstances. Our generation is like that too. There is one saying in Russia: the generation of the 90s is not afraid of anything, because we were born in the most terrible time. I hope that the spirit of the "fighting nation" will continue, because I feel that this is a very important part of the Russian mentality.
But why do we like to call Russians a “fighting nation” so much?
Perhaps Russian students do not understand why we study their way of life with such pleasure and do not discuss the real embodiment of the “combatant” side of the Russian people.
In fact, we ourselves discuss the phrase "fighting nation" very often, and in most cases we don't care if it really represents Russia. Most people who are interested in learning about some funny events in Russia read such news to have fun. In addition, a significant part of the people like to call Russians "fighting people" because of the perception of Russians as straightforward, simple, and self-confident people.
Even though Russians don't think these stories circulating on the internet can show the real Russia, they still joke about these stereotypes.
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Dan Soder 08/10/2016 In Russia, the series “How I Became Russian” was once filmed, telling about an American journalist who was sent to work in Russia. At first, the main character was very uncomfortable in Russia, but after he experienced a number of difficulties related to cultural differences between Russia and the United States, he finally fell in love with Russia. In this series, Russians sneer at their love of alcohol, bribery, selfishness and selflessness - "a sober person in Russia is afraid to drive a car." In appearance they are smug, rude and serious. Or maybe they just hide their kindness and optimism? The materials of InoSMI contain only assessments of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editors of InoSMI.
Many of our compatriots had to live in the Chinese town of Harbin, founded by Russian people. A huge number of Russian people live there: they are students, office workers and employees of large enterprises, as well as people who have tied the knot. I had to communicate with them a lot, learn, so I want to touch on the topic of the attitude of the Chinese towards Russian-speaking visitors.
Most Russian visitors live in northern China. These are translators and people who own their own business. However, the majority of Russian speakers are shuttles. There are enough students in the city, but I believe that Russians still prefer the South or Beijing.
In the northern region of China, the Russians are already well known. Many Chinese merchants have partnerships with them. In addition, border towns are located here, many people come for a shopping tour at the weekend. These are Suifenkhe, Manzhouli and other border cities.
Attitude towards Russians in northern China
But lately, more often you can find bad reviews about the activities of our compatriots. They are accused of alcohol addiction, as well as prostitution. Often in small towns there are conflicts between the Chinese and Russians.
Attitude towards Russians in southern China
In the southern region, things are different. We are talking about the city of Shenzhen or Guangzhou. There are many more Russians here, because large companies and representative offices are located here. In some parts of China, many Chinese do not know anything about Russia, there are fewer conflict situations, or rather, they are not heard of. In the south, only a small part of the Chinese understands Russian, preference is given to English.
In general, relations between Russia and China can be called friendly or even fraternal. Even the song "Russian and Chinese brothers forever" was written. Friendship was quite trustworthy. In the future, years passed, and relations cooled, but now the culture of kinship and communication is reviving again.
Causes of misunderstanding of Russians in China
The main reasons for the misunderstanding and not particularly friendly attitude were the territorial disputes between Russia and China, now we are talking about the islands of Primorsky Krai. But ordinary Chinese do not even remember this. But, as far as I know, earlier, part of the territory of Primorsky Krai was owned by China.
Another significant factor is the attitude of Russian girls. The Chinese do not treat Russian girls very well, with contempt, and often make jokes about chastity. Russian girls have greatly spoiled the image of Russia, as they were engaged in prostitution in nightclubs in China. In addition, they often had problems with visas, they were often overdue. Even today, many Chinese are perplexed and wonder why girls from Russia refuse to go to their home for financial encouragement.
In China, we have seen many funny marriages. Most often it is a Chinese and a Russian girl. The Chinese may be pursuing profit, because by marrying a Russian, they have the right to obtain a residence permit and even citizenship, which will allow them to legally do business. There are marriages of Russian men with Chinese girls, here I don’t know what the benefit can be, most likely men choose their women for love. Russian girls expect material assistance from the Chinese, who have their own business. But the Chinese have become smarter - after several years of living together, they are reducing the flow of this financial stream.
Photo: wedding of a Russian girl and a Chinese guy
