I will never be Chinese

Having travelled quite a bit, I find that some countries make you feel at home while others are somewhat different, and although pleasant I will always remain a visitor there. China is one of those countries, at least for now. With its incredible population, most people are at best ignorant and uninterested in me and myt life here--at worst scamming, tricking and downright rude to foreigners in general. Taxi drivers keep passing me by, keep taking extra turns; people take random photos of you whether you want to or not; they don`t think it rude to say "hello" in an inticing voice and then crackle with laughter and chatter in their own language behind your back (about orchids for all I know, but normal social awareness assumes it might be me who`s the great source of fun). In short, I often feel like an animal in a zoo cage, as I often did in Africa--but, sadly, most Chinese don`t offer the same warmth when peering, pointing and downright staring as African people do...this is a nation that catches wild birds and put them in cages so they can sing for them when they please to listen. They celebrate their National Day by doing nothing other than having holidays, and they still sell milk in all stores, never mentioning the crisis from what I see. That being said, the cultures that clash when an independent, young European backpacker meets China, are powerful--and the power goes both ways. I would never dream of doing stuff they do--and they would probably never have dreamt that I`d do stuff I do. At their best, Chinese people are incredibly warm and welcoming; inviting you into their homes, offering you food, spontaneous advise and company, and woudn`t dream of taking money for the expenses they have when helping you because you don`t have your own cell phone. And you find them everywhere--on mountains, on busses, in a random park when you sit down to listen to the local elderly play music and sing together. It amazes me that all these characters exist in the same country, even in the same cities, and how running into the first kind almost always causes an encounter with the second kind. As I move on, some Chinese people will stay with me for life, for good and bad--mostly for the good.