People can just pack their bags and move to another state, or in case of Schengen, move to another country entirely.

To a Chinese, this would sound so strange. Like, on phone calls back to friends/relatives in China, I heard my mother constantly say things like “Omg did you know in America, you can just move to another State whenever you want?”… I mean, I’m 1.5 gen, so that always seemed normal to me, I never was old enough to actually experience Hukou and movement restrictions firsthand, so yeah, hearing my parents accounts of their experience… it was like a whole different world for them.

They’d talk about the Free Public Libraries, free school lunch thing (at least in NYC, some places didn’t have it), and the very few holidays they get from work. Like… people be complaining about not getting enough (which is a fair complaint btw, not trying to dismiss these concerns), but to someone from a place so deprived of these “normal” everyday stuff, “normal” seems like luxury.

Like, a random small house in some average/shitty American neighborhood still looked more beautiful than that slum apartment I used to live in, or worse, the villages that I was actually supposed to be. Living in Guangzhou wasn’t a right, it was a privilage. Any change in government policy means you could be kicked out back to your villages. Even though I was born in Guangzhou, I speak Cantonese like any native Guangzhou Resident (and obviously also Mandarin because its the national curriculum), I didn’t have the right to live in Guangzhou, Hukou is Taishan. No independent courts to challenge anything.

Also, we never had internet in China not in 2010, when we left. Americans had it since the 90s? Lol the digital divide. 20 years behind.

Also, did I mention already how I wasn’t supposed to be born lol. The fucking one child policy lol. My existence was illegal. My existence costed my parents a huge fine. But its funny how like if you are willing to pay the “fine”/“bribe” your problems go away. Weird as hell lol.

Which I am grateful for… cuz Imagine if parents were shittier, I would’ve probably have beenleft me behind with my maternal aunts or something. US Consulate isn’t gonna let some kid with no legal identity documents get a visa.

The 黑孩子 (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heihaizi) of China… a very depressing thing. (I think they have since changed the law since 2015, now I don’t think they do that anymore.)

I can’t think about PRC without thinking of this legal rejection of me.

Rejected.

Rejected.

They don’t want me.

Like okay lol, fine, I have no allegiance to PRC lol. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Taiwan #1 xD