Chinese Artist Makes These Comics Comparing Chinese With Western Culture

By
May H
-
Image by @tinyeyescomics / Instagram

Siyu, a comic artist born and raised in Beijing, traveled the world a lot and got to live in a few different countries, including France, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. Wherever she went, Sijy got many questions about Chinese culture. At one point, she decided it was easier to start a comic about it and that’s how Tiny Eyes was born.

Why that name?

“Because it’s one of the common stereotypes of Chinese, among many others, Siyu writes on her website. “This generalised and often distorted image of China that we got from mass media is usually heavy, dull, political, and mystified. In contrast, this comic hopes to creates a fun, intimate and authentic space that serves as an alternative channel to people who are curious about China.”

Scroll down to see her comics.

View this post on Instagram

Every time a friend gets married, he/she will show me their album of pre-wedding photos, where the couple pose romantically in different settings wearing wedding costumes in either western style or Chinese style. Wedding photos were first introduced from the West to China during the period of The Republic of China, but the pre-wedding photo industry is fairly recent, gaining popularity from the 1990s. The photos can be done in a studio with a changing background. Or, if willing to pay more, the couple can travel with a professional photographer to other parts of the world for the shooting( Europe is the most popular destination). After the shooting, there’s retouching in photoshop, which renders everything “perfect”, to the point that it often looks a bit fake. The process could take a day or even weeks, requiring lots of energy, especially that you have to smile non-stop!! #wedding #weddingphotography #preweddingphoto #photoshoot #chineseculture #sliceoflife #webcomic #comics #webtoon #tinyeyescomics

A post shared by Siyu Cao (@tinyeyescomics) on

View this post on Instagram

I recently realized that I tend to change the portion size of different meals as I travel from one country to another. This is all personal habits, and I still don’t know which way is the best for my health. 🤷‍♀️ In France, breakfast is usually small and sweet. A croissant with a coffee will do. I know many people who skip breakfast. For lunch, grab a sandwich or a salad, it’s richer but still quite light. I eat the most at dinner, because dinner time is late in France and I often feel that I haven’t had enough from the previous meals. In China, there’s a belief that one should “eat well for breakfast, eat plenty for lunch, and eat light for dinner.” (早吃好，午吃饱，晚吃少）There’s a lot of choices for breakfast and it’s believed to be the most important meal of the day. Lunch is the time when I can eat as much as I wish, and my family like to have a light dinner, which is supposed to be good for digestion. In the U.S, when I cook for myself, I can still follow my normal routines as in China, but if I go out to eat or order stuff, I end up eating too much for every meal. I guess it’s mainly to do with the huge serving size, and I don’t like wasting food. And you? #eatinghabits #meals #portionsize #servingsize #breakfast #lunch #dinner #culture #sliceoflife #infographic #webtoon #webcomic #comics #tinyeyescomics

A post shared by Siyu Cao (@tinyeyescomics) on

View this post on Instagram

Eating Chinese noodles while watching Netflix after work has become one of my routines in Paris. I feel lucky that I’m living in this world where cultures are no longer restrained to their physical land. If you are living in a big city, chances are that you can also choose live pieces of different cultures: eating sushi, watching a French movie, listening to an African band, using a product made in Germany, or hang out with someone from the opposite side of the world. More and more of us no longer live a singular culture, instead, our lives begin to weave into each other, creating a richer texture. ———————————————————————— 🎈Support Tiny Eyes Comics on Patreon (link bio or below) and discover more content that I’ll be able to create with your support. 👉www.patreon.com/tinyeyescomics #culture #multicultural #plural #lifestyle #sliceoflife #webtoon #webcomic #comics #tinyeyescomics

A post shared by Siyu Cao (@tinyeyescomics) on

View this post on Instagram

The English word “ouch” is commonly used as an expression of one’s physical pain, (refer to the episode for usage) although in China , I would normally say “哎哟” （ai-yoh) instead. In France, the equivalent is “Aïe”. This got me curious, and while searching for other expressions, I bumped into an article from the @guardian —“Is ouch used worldwide?” Well, the answer is no, and people being interviewed in the article have shared some amusing examples from their cultures, illustrated here. (Please feel free to add other varieties or make corrections ) Even though the expressions vary from one another, one thing in common is that they all begin with a vowel, and are quite short to pronounce. I guess we all go back to our primal instinct when getting hurt. ______________________________________________________ 🎁Bonus: I also made a post about Chinese way of expressing surprise. Go to the address below or click on my link bio: 👉www.patreon.com/tinyeyescomics/posts #expression #language #linguistics #culture #funfacts #sliceoflife #webtoon #webcomic #comics #tinyeyescomics/posts

A post shared by Siyu Cao (@tinyeyescomics) on

View this post on Instagram

In 1982, the “One Child Policy”was officially implemented as one of the basic national policies of China. No one has expected that only after 30 years, this policy has become history facing the rapidly aging population. Couples are now encouraged to have a second child, not only for the sake of family planning, but also for the future of the nation. Ironically, the end of the “One Child Policy” didn’t lead to immediate population growth. Many friends of mine who live in big cities are worried about not being able to afford a second child, or not having enough time and energy to take care of their children due to the high social pressure. What’s more, women’s idea about having children has also evolved as they received higher education. Many choose to have children later in their life, and some, not having children at all. Maybe we could get some inspiration by looking at similar cases in the past such as Sweden in the 1930s and 1940s when birth rate was at its low point. Following the proposal of Swedish economists Alva and Gunnar Myrdal, social reform and policies were implemented to support families, including better maternal and child healthcare, free delivery, maternity and housing benefits, and general child allowances. It focused on improving the quality of life, and the birthrate started to rise as a result. #onechildpolicy #china #parent #change #family #socialreform #irony #sliceoflife #webtoon #webcomic #comics #tinyeyescomics

A post shared by Siyu Cao (@tinyeyescomics) on

View this post on Instagram

The first time I saw the steep wavy roads in San Francisco, I immediately thought of a theme park I used to visit. It looks so surreal and exciting compared to the flat road I’m used to in Beijing. That was the only time I was considering learning to drive because it looks fun (but it’s definitely much less fun when you have to walk or bike on this type of the road). Similar to Beijing, streets in SF are laid out on a grid pattern, except that the grid goes right over the many hills in town. The result is a unique collaboration between human and nature. ———————————————————— 🎁Bonus post: I discovered an interesting old French travel book about Beijing in the 1970s. Have a look inside on my new Patreon post (link bio) 👀 www.patreon.com/tinyeyescomics #city #topography #cityplanning #humanandnature #beijing #sanfrancisco #paris #sliceoflife #webtoon #webcomic #comics #tinyeyescomics

A post shared by Siyu Cao (@tinyeyescomics) on

View this post on Instagram

I’m not changing citizenship, but I know there are lots people who have done it or are preparing to do that. As more and more immigrants move away from their birthplace looking for a new home to settle down, the governments have also raised the bar of citizenship by including citizenship tests as one of the basic requirements. It normally contains questions about facts and historical events that sometimes even people born in the country would struggle to know. How many amendments does the Constitution have? When was the 5th Republic established? Was Catherine Howard the sixth wife of Henry VIII? While it’s understandable that the test should emphasize on language, history and politics of a country, knowing these facts and figures alone does not create emotional connections to the history, or a sense of belonging between the aspiring citizen and his/her future country. What if we put more imagination, emotion and stories into the test? What if we include food, art and social customs? Is it wiser to give people a textbook of facts to memorise, or give them something to enjoy, be proud of and to be prepared for in case of cultural shocks in their everyday life? ##citizenship #test #history #politics #immigrants #culture #sliceoflife #webtoon #webcomic #comics #tinyeyescomics

A post shared by Siyu Cao (@tinyeyescomics) on

View this post on Instagram

When I was little, before recycling bins existed, every month my mom would ask the recycling guy to come home and take all the newspaper, metal cans and plastic bottles that she had accumulated in exchange for a tiny amount of money. Normally the guy came with a tricycle where he put all the recyclable waste he had collected in different neighbourhoods before dumping it at the recycling center. Nowadays, with new city regulations, there are fewer tricycles on the road, but you can still see them performing on the streets, transformed for different usage: some adapted for city tours, others equipped for street food. With the arising of delivery services, electric three-wheelers have also gained its popularity. Non-electric tricycles always remind me of the older Beijing when things were not developing so fast as they are today and when the pace of life was slower and stabler as the tricycles themselves. #beijing #tricycle #change #lifestyle #citylife #chineseculture #sliceoflife #webtoon #webcomic #comics #tinyeyescomics

A post shared by Siyu Cao (@tinyeyescomics) on

View this post on Instagram

Chinese cuisine is often associated with words such as “rich” and “diverse”. Despite all its glamor and greatness, we all know that in many people’s mind, there’s also a dark corner of slimy, creepy stuff related to brains, insects and eyeballs. In 2011, CNN selected world’s 10 most disgusting food. On top of this winning list is Chinese “century egg”(皮蛋), which many Chinese find delicious, including myself. (I mean, who wouldn’t want some congee with minced pork and century eggs?!) The comments of the CNN reporters triggered some serious rage from its Chinese audience, with a major Chinese food company demanding CNN to apologise. I still remember the first time I saw century eggs on a dinner table. I noticed the smell and the unusual black color immediately, but as a child I was more adventurous and open to tastes, especially when my parents let me try, I knew that it must be something “safe” and “normal” to eat. I’m sure if my parents had made me insects instead of rice every meal, today I’d happily gobble down a bowl of steamed caterpillars with some fried scorpions. After all, culture is this arbitrary thing that we adopt from others. Do we really need to agree on what’s delicious or disgusting? #centuryegg #food #delicious #disgusting #chinesefood #chineseculture #sliceoflife #webtoon #webcomic #comics #tinyeyescomics

A post shared by Siyu Cao (@tinyeyescomics) on

View this post on Instagram

Since a lot of you have showed strong interest in food, I decided to make it the theme of December. All the posts this month will be related to food culture! Let’s begin with some seasonal drinks. On the top row are some of the popular hot drinks from the western countries while on the bottom row I list some of the hot drinks I would make for myself in China. All of them are believed to have medical effects that help you strengthen the body and cope with the cold weather (I’ll talk about diet treatment in another post). For example, pear soup (梨汤) moisturises lungs and relieves cough. Dates and longan soup(桂圆红枣茶)warms and nourishes qi and blood. Ginger and brown sugar soup (姜糖水)warms the stomach and expels cold. I don’t know the exact medical values of these soups, but at on psychological level they make me feel better in a cold weather. Do you have a favorite winter drink? ——————————————————— 👀 Do you know that Beijingers used to have five meals a day? Check out the second part of my Patreon post “Inside an old travel book” (link bio) www.patreon.com/tinyeyescomics/posts #food #winterdrink #spicelatte #hotchocolate #soup #mulledwine #seasonal #chineseculture #chinesefood #diettreatment #sliceoflife #webtoon #webcomic #comics #tinyeyescomics

A post shared by Siyu Cao (@tinyeyescomics) on

View this post on Instagram

If century eggs and chicken feet are the nightmares for lots of westerners, then for me, raw stuff is the absolute horror. In my personal dictionary of cuisine, the word “raw” is associated with bacteria, bad digestion and barbarians (human invented fire to cook great food right?). I still remember the horror I had the first time eating a steak in the U.S. My American friend had to convince me that it’s both safe and delicious to eat not fully cooked beef. With globalization, steak and sushi restaurants are no longer exotic in China. Yet traditionally, apart from a few marinated specialties, Chinese dishes are usually well cooked, whether it’s red meat, fish or vegetables. The word “salad” 沙拉 in Chinese is a direct translation of the sound of the English word, because it was a new concept. Having lived abroad for many years, I still find pure green salad a bit “tastless”. (although I love Salade Niçoise where there are lots of mixed ingredients) “Why do Chinese people like eating ‘hot salad’?” It made me laugh when a Romanian friend asked me this question. I had never thought about it from the other side! #food #tartare #frenchcuisine #chinesefood #salad #raw #culturaldifferences #sliceoflife #webtoon #webcomic #comics #tinyeyescomics

A post shared by Siyu Cao (@tinyeyescomics) on

View this post on Instagram

If you ask a food critic to rate my mom’s cooking, she’s probably not going to get many stars. Actually, her cooking is probably too simple and her menu hasn’t changed over the years. Nonetheless, if you ask me, I’m going to give her all the stars that I have. It’s totally subjective. Her cooking is the taste of my childhood, warm and familiar. It’s something that stays the same against the change of time, a strong connection that I have with my past while exploring and absorbing other cultures into my identity, and a solid rock that I can always grab and rest upon in the flowing river of life. #cooking #momcooksthebest #childhood #holidaythoughts #bestfood #memories #sliceoflife #webtoon #webcomic #comics #tinyeyescomics

A post shared by Siyu Cao (@tinyeyescomics) on

View this post on Instagram

Several international studies reveal how little the latest generation of youngsters know about the foods they eat and the animals that produce them. The same for fruit and vegetables. A considerable number of kids have no idea where sugar came from, or that bacons are made from pigs, and bananas grow on plants. It’s a global phenomenon. China has a long agricultural history, and the relation between people and nature used to be very close. Ancient Chinese observed their environment, weather and animals closely in order to understand how they are connected to each other and how to survive in times of change. The cycle of their everyday life is in accordance with the cycle of the seasons. Industrialisation and urbanisation has made separation between people and their natural environment possible. New technologies have made everything easier. Food and and other goods simply “appear” on the shelves, ready to be picked up. Growing up in big cities, I benefit a lot from this type of convenience, but when I only see the final result instead of the process and connections behind it, it’s really easy to stop caring and asking questions about where my food come from and how things are made. Does everyone get their justice in the process? Does our land and ocean get hurt by what I consume? The false idea of ”independency” can be dangerous for modern human. Common challenge: How can we make the connections more visible and help each other understand our positions in the larger cycle ? #nature #connections #process #food #modernlife #separation #chineseculture #globalchallenge #foodforthought #webcomic #sliceoflife #children #tinyeyescomics

A post shared by Siyu Cao (@tinyeyescomics) on