#culturaldiffusion

After we left the Kaifeng and the Shaolin Temple in Zhengzhou, we went to Xi'an, a part of China famous for it's ancient history, it's city walls (it's actually the Historical Mulan's hood!), as well as having a large population of Chinese Muslims. 

While I was in Xi'an, I walked into a store and while I was looking around these store worker girls came to me and asked where I was from. When I explained I was African-American, they laughed, one literally slapped the other and said "see?! I TOLD YOU she was African!" And I noticed a black faced figurine bowl (not too unlike a "mammy") in her hand. I don't like being made a joke of (who does?) so I walked briskly out the store in a huff. Then in my anger, the thought occurred to me " I can either be angry, or I can educate. Or I can at least learn, and figure out why those figurines were there in the first place." I chose to educate and be educated.

I walked back, and noticed that there were also Maasai figurines next to the Mammy. I asked them why those African cultural figurines were there and where they came from, and they told me the figurines were made in a China, in Yuenan. So then I asked them why would Chinese people make African cultural things, and her answer surprised even me: The Heritage of the people in Yuenan is not too far off from Africa, actually, so they make the figurines and basically express their closeness in doing so. Then I said in Chinese "啊，明白了。我们都一样！“ "Oh I get it! We're all the same!"  Then she said "Yeah."

...And to think I would've never known the story behind those figurines if I went away in a huff and stayed that way.