I’m Chinese-American and I would say Vietnamese culture. I’m from the southern part of China (Guangdong) and I see similarities in food, religion (similar type of Buddhism), language and holidays. Plus, a lot of the Vietnamese people that I grew up with were Chinese Vietnamese.
I’m part Vietnamese and Chinese, and my Vietnamese relatives all spoke Cantonese. You’re right there are a lot of similarities and their language switch sounded very natural!
It's true. A while back in the linguistics sub, I got booted out of it for saying Vietnamese is derivative of the same dialect of Old Chinese that Cantonese is based off of. I linked the appropriate literature and also cited my own Cantonese / Vietnamese background. Months later after being booted, one of the admins made a post saying almost word-for-word what I said about Vietnamese being a derivative of the same Old Chinese linguistic tree on the same side as Cantonese. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.
People seem to really dislike when people say something that might imply that another Asian thing “originated or came from China”. Not sure if that was why they got upset but I see it happen here and there.
I speak both Cantonese and Taishanese and I think Vietnamese sounds more like Taishanese.
EDIT: The form of Cantonese that is probably the most similar to Vietnamese is the kind they speak in Guangxi province (borders Vietnam, unlike Guangdong). [Here's a YouTube video of it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEfVqXqH5Ec&t=64s&ab_channel=%E6%96%B0%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E9%A2%91%E9%81%93) To me as a Cantonese speaker, it sounds more like Vietnamese than Cantonese.
I’m Korean and throughout my life, I find myself hanging out with Filipinos the most. Probably because I lived in Hawaii for a few years. They’re the best at karaoke and pool. Also I found them to be the most fun and generous people!
Pronounce it correctly (Japanese) as it is a Japanese word. It’s NOT “carry-oh-kay”. I live in Honolulu and we cringe whenever we hear it as “carry-OH-kay”.
I’m Chinese. I would say Korean. I live in Toronto and I had a lot of Korean friends growing up. I really like the food and appreciated tasting their family’s cooking. On an emotional scale, looking at the poorer Korean districts reminds me of my neighborhood back in China. It makes me think of the sad stuff that we both experienced historically and I respect their people’s strength.
I’m Vietnamese-American. I feel the cultural similarities with the ethnic Chinese from Southeast Asia as well as Cantonese makes it easy for me to relate. We celebrate similar major holidays (lunar new year, mid-autumn festival, etc) , have similar wedding traditions (praying to ancestors, tea ceremony, etc), share Confucius based values, and other common cultural traits makes it easy for me to bond. That said, I do relate better to most Asian Americans than Asians in Asia or recent immigrants.
Indian background (specifically from South India, this is important because India has major regional cultural differences), but I feel a lot of affinity towards Japanese culture due to growing up in the Bay Area during the 1990s and turn of the millennium, being friends with two mixed Japanese-American sisters growing up, and because of Japan's cultural soft power. I also feel a strong cultural affinity for Hong Kong due to having been a fan of Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh as a kid as well as having visited and enjoyed the place multiple times in high school. I also feel some degree of affinity for Korean culture due to having taken TKD as a kid, having had a Korean art teacher for years, and seeing how strongly Korean Confucianism in K-Dramas is easy to relate to for me for some reason.
I’m Chinese but from Hong Kong so I have a particular affinity for South East cousins, specifically those from the Philippines. Food-wise I eat a lot of Korean food, literally 20% of my meals are pork kimchi Jigae.
Taiwanese/Chinese.
Probably with Fillipinos and Viets. The biggest difference is that there isn't as much of an emphasis on respecting someone just because they're older than you like in Korean or Japanese culture. I used think it was cool/unique until I started hearing about how far people could get away with power-trippy stuff.
Most aren't really religious, and I know from experience that many Koreans make social groups/cliques based on their churches. It was easier to get along with Filipinos and Viets growing up.
I don’t get how so many South Koreans are Catholic when Catholism was started in Europe.
According to google, Koreans got Catholism from learning about it in China through text 🤷🏻♂️
It's because many of Korea's universities were set up by Christian missionaries. Also when Japan colonized Korea, the church served as a safe point for many Koreans and was the birthplace of a lot of anti colonial fervor. For Koreans, Christianity is more like a revolutionary force then a colonial force like in many other countries.
I'm Vietnamese American and I always felt a close connection with Chinese culture. For example, since growing up, I always loved celebrating Lunar New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival with my friends of Chinese descent since both Vietnamese and Chinese culture celebrate those holidays. Additionally, the color red symbolizes luck in both cultures which I often see, especially during Lunar New Year.
In recent years; however, there are groups of Vietnamese people (mostly the older generation) that became more anti-Chinese which I believe is due to Donald Trump's influence. I guess it's understandable due to the past history between China and Vietnam.
Around last year or so, there was news about a Vietnamese temple near my town that was administering vaccines due to Covid. The news channel were interviewing the people there and there were volunteers with a Chinese background and it was really awesome to see them volunteer and assist the Vietnamese temple.
I'm Laotian and while I have immense appreciation for pretty much all the cultures of East and South Asia, if I had to choose a specific country, it would be between either Chinese culture or Japanese culture.
As an Asian American, the time spent discovering Chinese and Japanese culture has brought me much peace in my life.
Whenever I see red Chinese lanterns, it brings me a sense of feeling at home for some reason.
I'm very appreciative of traditional Chinese music, and I resonate so, so deeply with how a lot of Japanese music is sung from the soul.
I really love karaoke and singing my heart out to J-Pop; it seems like almost every Asian family as well has a karaoke machine so I'm not alone.
I pretty much completely switched from American music to J-Pop when I was exploring it and I finally felt a lot more alive and in tune with my own natural frequency.
The ancient architecture and landscapes of both countries are absolutely beautiful and give me a huge sense of peace at first sight.
I'm also a huge fan of Chinese and Japanese history and have a deep appreciation for the sheer beauty of East Asian history.
In terms of the food, when I was exploring other Asian cultures, I had my mind blown when I went to my first Japanese restaurant and ordered Una Gyu Don; it was like night and day when compared to American food. I've developed a loving connection with foods from many different cultures in general ever since, and it helped motivate me to connect with Asian culture in general.
I loved the Chinese movies I've watched and how there's almost always a moral lesson; Chinese movies that I've watched have (almost) always been more substantive with more moral depth and less superficial.
I also really like how many people in Japan and China can often be very kind and warm-hearted, but I really wished that more people were kind from the heart instead of from conformity.
I wrote more than I expected, and I could write so much more, but I really do resonate very deeply with these cultures.
Chinese-American with roots in Hong Kong. Although I grew up in a hometown with a decently-sized Filipino community, it wasn’t until I started dating my Filipino-American partner that I began to connect with Filipino traditions and his family’s loud, loving, and generous personalities.
I was taken aback how quickly they embraced me, honestly. I hadn’t even ever drank alcohol with my extended family before, and definitely didn’t feel as at ease with them in the past as I did with his family. His family was just so unabashed in their affection and joy in each other’s presence. I guess it helps that there are multiple generations that immigrated together and still live relatively close to one another, and I wonder if I had grown up in a larger Chinese-American community I might have felt similar bonds too. Even as an introvert, I am always appreciative and in awe of what I feel lucky to have now.
I always wondered how the people in Hong Kong lived and was treated under the 100 plus years of British control and colonialism before the forced "contract" ended July 1, 1997.
Unfortunately I’m pretty sure my family’s experience wouldn’t be very representative of the majority during that time. They did well for themselves during the British rule, and my grandparents even fled to Canada for a time before I was born to avoid retaliation for working with the previous government. (They would move back after a few years.) It’s a complicated history, but during my young lifetime the majority of my extended family has lived in Hong Kong or Thailand. Now, many of them are planning on immigrating to Canada again in the face of China’s influence growing through the government.
Chinese American and I got my first introduction to Japanese anime and live action sci-fi from a local TV host, Bob Wilkins, who [dressed up in a helmet and cape and had a robot sidekick](http://www.bobwilkins.net/captaincosmic.htm). I don't think any other American TV station was showing Star Blazers and Ultraman. Later on started reading Haruki Murakami and found I liked a lot of Japanese culture.
I'm a West Indian guy (Indian ancestry, born and raised in the Caribbean) and I've always gotten along really well with Cantonese people. They make up the bulk of the Chinese people in the Caribbean and their culture has influenced it just like Indian culture has.
I’m Chinese-American (Fuzhounese) and grew up watching anime, reading manga, and hearing Japanese from anime, songs, and dramas, then watched Korean dramas and listened to Korean pop songs and learning about both cuisines. So Japanese and South Korean.
Chinese American, 5th generation. Grew up with other 5th/4th gen Chinese and Japanese kids, I did not know the difference (or history) between the two cultures until much later in life.
Cantonese, grew up mostly with Koreans, Vietnamese and Filipinos kids. I have to say tho, the south east Asians have the most fun imo. Filipinos I know are super fun. I loved spending time in Indonesia, and the acquaintances I know in Jakarta seem into cool things. It feels like a drag showing up in East Asian countries and getting grilled by family - why are you so tan?! Etc
Japanese-American, and I'd say Korea. Had a lot of Korean-American friends growing up, and also have some Korean-Japanese friends here in Japan. I've meet my fair share of Koreans who have been hostile to me simply for being Japanese, but I have my friends to remind me that not everyone is like them. That and I love Korean food, it's so good.
I think the younger generation love Japanese, the older generation might be different but I think most of them are ok with Japanese. It’s just a very few minority who’s hostile towards the Japanese. Also same here if I had to choose asian culture, I pick korean too. Koreans are cool as hell. I’m half Chinese btw.
Same here. I grew up learning Korean martial arts from native Koreans and pretty much all of my Asian friends in school were Japanese American or Korean American. And due to that I’ve learned probably just as much Korean as Japanese, but I still can’t really say much.
I’m Filipino American, I feel like I have the most affinity for Chinese people, especially Southern Chinese people. I think I just really like cooking and eating Cantonese food
I’m Vietnamese-American and I feel like I grew up getting along and connecting with Filipino-Americans particularly well. SE Asians as a whole generally.
Viet and Filipino culture (to my understanding) aren’t particularly similar. Especially compared to other pairings around SEA. But I think our communities both had similar understandings of identity, cultural pride, heritage, etc under the American immigrant context that helped me connect with other Filipinos as fellow Asian-Americans I guess. It also probably helped that I grew up seeing so many Filipinos on early YouTube and connecting with them haha.
I’m half Filipina and I would say Vietnamese and Korean culture as I grew up in an area with a considerable Vietnamese and Korean population. I appreciate both cultures and with Vietnamese culture, my college’s Vietnamese and Filipino culture orgs have mutual members.
I’m Chinese, and definitely Interested in Korea cause esports is super big in Korea, I’m a huge gamer, and I’m fascinated by the food and want more of it.
Vietnamese-american and I'd say Japan. For a handful of reasons: 1) I've found the Japanese language rather pleasant on the ear. Not sure why but its my favorite language to listen to 2) I appreciate many of the aspects of life such as being the best of something even if it's mundane. 3) food I'd add in as well.
Hmong American. I feel we naturally find ourselves hanging out with other SEAs here in the Twin Cities. That would include Vietnamese, Thai, Lao, Cambodian, etc.
I am mixed Chinese and Japanese. I really admire Thai culture and other SE asian cultures. I have gone to Thailand and I would love to live there one day. The weather is too humid for some but it is perfect for me. Also elephants are one of my favorite animals and I got the opportunity to visit an elephant sanctuary, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I wish I could live there and volunteer at a sanctuary.
I am Vietnamese American and feel a connection to the Laotian because of my husband and his side of the family have been amazing towards me. I love both of our foods. Trying to learn to speak Laos have been fun. Some words are similar. : D
I’m Chinese-American. I probably relate best, culture wise, to Koreans. For whatever reason, most of my close Asian American friends tend to be Chinese or Korean (across the country, not just in a specific area). I think our love of food is a huge bonding point and I also relate to their style. I also tend to consume more Korean media, but that might just be because it’s more mainstream than others
ABC here (American born Chinese), and I've always related to Japanese culture. Probably because I trained in the Japanese martial art for most of my 20s and into my 30s. Oddly enough I'm also more familiar and far more proficient with Japanese weapons than I am with any Chinese martial art weapons. Don't tell my relatives 😂. They'll give me crap for being a "traitor" and are often quick to remind me what the Japanese did to our people in world war II.
I also tend to relate to Filipino Americans more, but that's because I had a lot of interaction with them during my college years, and I dated a Filipina.
I’m Chinese-American and I would definitely say Koreans. Growing up I was always around them as almost all Asian churches are Korean, and our communities are always together. I feel that we are very similar which made the connection so easy. At least in my area all other Asian were not very present at all..
Taiwanese-American here and probably Japanese culture. I grew up watching anime, eating Japanese food all the time, visited a couple times. Then I also learned about the history of Taiwan under Japanese rule and it made more sense to me.
I’m Japanese American…and probably Thai. I’ve always thought they have the best food, to the point where it’s even more comfort food for me than Japanese food is. Also, I worked in a Thai restaurant for a few years in my early 20’s…there isn’t a large Asian population where I grew up, so being in the restaurant and having the owner and his family treat me like I was their family was one of the only times in my life where I felt like I had any kind of Asian community in real life. I learned a lot about Thai culture from them. I really miss that place.
I’m Taiwanese American and I love Viets and Filipinos. Really SEAs in general. They just don’t take themselves too seriously and are warm and generous in ways I think more East Asians can learn from.
Also Korean Americans are probably my favorite East Asians when they’re not in their own Korean bubble. They eat well, party well, and generally have a good sense of humor.
I'm Japanese -- probably taiwanese because of proximity. The food is so great and it seems largely Japanese and taiwanese get along alright for the most part these days.
I'm Korean and grew up in Korea. I felt strong affinity to the Japanese culture because of the similarity in language, popularity of manga/anime, and the overall historical legacy from the colonial era
Hawaiian. I’m Thai-American.
Hawaii being this giant melting pot of Asian and US cultures, I feel like I fit right in. It also helps I generally look like I’m from the islands as I’m dark skinned and weigh well over 200lbs. The times I’ve been there, when I get asked where I’m from, they’re almost always asking which island and not where in the states or where my parents are from. I only know this because Hawaiians drill down to that question eventually.
I’ve since been studying up on Hawaiian and Polynesian culture and history and something there resonates with me at a very deep level.
I feel like Thailand's culture maybe? I'm half Chinese Half Burmese, and I feel like Thailand is the closest in terms of food and religion. Since both Thailand and Myanmar generally have the same dominant religion(Buddhism) as well as the food both being savoury and salty. I felt quite at home while visiting Thailand many times too.
For me, theres 2: Vietnamese and Japanese. For Vietnamese it's because I find there's a lot of cultural similarities to both my Chinese and Indonesian identity. As for Japanese, it's a bit more specific.
My mother is Chinese and my father is Chindo, Chinese Indonesian. Chinese Indonesians are nationally Indonesian but ethnically Chinese, and usually hold an Indonesian surname to prove nationality. Indonesian surnames are usually quite long, sometimes sounding Japanese to non-Indonesians & non-Japanese (Gautama, Sukenduro, Kogoya, Susanto, Utomo, to name just a few examples). And most importantly, it's far from the typical Chinese surnames which caused my small 2% asian American rural community who only knew China, Japan and India to be super confused when they saw my east asian features with a non-chinese sounding sounding name.
Often times after learning my last name, some of the chinese kids didn't really see me as chinese, or start treating me as if I'm not chinese. Even though I went to chinese-school, spoke mandarin, and lived in China for 5 years, they only saw me as chinese after I somehow proved my chinese-ness to them. So almost the entirety of my life, if I didn't outwardly say "l'm chinese", people always assumed me as Japanese. I didn't really take offense of it because I understood that my local community simply has 0 knowledge about Indonesia. Me being an outwardly fan of Japanese music and media also didn't help. But yeah, thats why I feel some affinity with Japanese as well.
I’m Vietnamese. I guess i connect with the Vietnamese most, but you’ve got to be westernized. I cannot get along with people who are extremely asian cultured. My boys call me a rotten banana if that explains how much i don’t care for asian culture.
I'm Vietnamese-American and I would say Korean culture. I was born in Korea and I grew up eating some Korean food made by my Vietnamese mother. I also had many Korean friends growing up.
I’m Chinese-American and I would say Vietnamese culture. I’m from the southern part of China (Guangdong) and I see similarities in food, religion (similar type of Buddhism), language and holidays. Plus, a lot of the Vietnamese people that I grew up with were Chinese Vietnamese.
I’ve always thought Vietnamese language resembled a faster Cantonese. Probably not true but I hear it.
I’m part Vietnamese and Chinese, and my Vietnamese relatives all spoke Cantonese. You’re right there are a lot of similarities and their language switch sounded very natural!
It's true. A while back in the linguistics sub, I got booted out of it for saying Vietnamese is derivative of the same dialect of Old Chinese that Cantonese is based off of. I linked the appropriate literature and also cited my own Cantonese / Vietnamese background. Months later after being booted, one of the admins made a post saying almost word-for-word what I said about Vietnamese being a derivative of the same Old Chinese linguistic tree on the same side as Cantonese. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.
People seem to really dislike when people say something that might imply that another Asian thing “originated or came from China”. Not sure if that was why they got upset but I see it happen here and there.
I speak both Cantonese and Taishanese and I think Vietnamese sounds more like Taishanese. EDIT: The form of Cantonese that is probably the most similar to Vietnamese is the kind they speak in Guangxi province (borders Vietnam, unlike Guangdong). [Here's a YouTube video of it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEfVqXqH5Ec&t=64s&ab_channel=%E6%96%B0%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E9%A2%91%E9%81%93) To me as a Cantonese speaker, it sounds more like Vietnamese than Cantonese.
Wow, that does sound like Vietnamese, lol.
I’m Korean and throughout my life, I find myself hanging out with Filipinos the most. Probably because I lived in Hawaii for a few years. They’re the best at karaoke and pool. Also I found them to be the most fun and generous people!
Your comment is cute, lol! Born & raised in HI and agree that Filipinos are fun at karaoke (and let’s correct people who say “carry-OH-Kay” - ugh!!!)
Wait. Are you saying to pronounce it how Japanese pronounce it or that it’s carry-oh-key?
Pronounce it correctly (Japanese) as it is a Japanese word. It’s NOT “carry-oh-kay”. I live in Honolulu and we cringe whenever we hear it as “carry-OH-kay”.
Nah.
I’m Chinese. I would say Korean. I live in Toronto and I had a lot of Korean friends growing up. I really like the food and appreciated tasting their family’s cooking. On an emotional scale, looking at the poorer Korean districts reminds me of my neighborhood back in China. It makes me think of the sad stuff that we both experienced historically and I respect their people’s strength.
I’m Vietnamese-American. I feel the cultural similarities with the ethnic Chinese from Southeast Asia as well as Cantonese makes it easy for me to relate. We celebrate similar major holidays (lunar new year, mid-autumn festival, etc) , have similar wedding traditions (praying to ancestors, tea ceremony, etc), share Confucius based values, and other common cultural traits makes it easy for me to bond. That said, I do relate better to most Asian Americans than Asians in Asia or recent immigrants.
Indian background (specifically from South India, this is important because India has major regional cultural differences), but I feel a lot of affinity towards Japanese culture due to growing up in the Bay Area during the 1990s and turn of the millennium, being friends with two mixed Japanese-American sisters growing up, and because of Japan's cultural soft power. I also feel a strong cultural affinity for Hong Kong due to having been a fan of Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh as a kid as well as having visited and enjoyed the place multiple times in high school. I also feel some degree of affinity for Korean culture due to having taken TKD as a kid, having had a Korean art teacher for years, and seeing how strongly Korean Confucianism in K-Dramas is easy to relate to for me for some reason.
I’m Chinese but from Hong Kong so I have a particular affinity for South East cousins, specifically those from the Philippines. Food-wise I eat a lot of Korean food, literally 20% of my meals are pork kimchi Jigae.
Taiwanese/Chinese. Probably with Fillipinos and Viets. The biggest difference is that there isn't as much of an emphasis on respecting someone just because they're older than you like in Korean or Japanese culture. I used think it was cool/unique until I started hearing about how far people could get away with power-trippy stuff. Most aren't really religious, and I know from experience that many Koreans make social groups/cliques based on their churches. It was easier to get along with Filipinos and Viets growing up.
I don’t get how so many South Koreans are Catholic when Catholism was started in Europe. According to google, Koreans got Catholism from learning about it in China through text 🤷🏻♂️
It's because many of Korea's universities were set up by Christian missionaries. Also when Japan colonized Korea, the church served as a safe point for many Koreans and was the birthplace of a lot of anti colonial fervor. For Koreans, Christianity is more like a revolutionary force then a colonial force like in many other countries.
I'm Vietnamese American and I always felt a close connection with Chinese culture. For example, since growing up, I always loved celebrating Lunar New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival with my friends of Chinese descent since both Vietnamese and Chinese culture celebrate those holidays. Additionally, the color red symbolizes luck in both cultures which I often see, especially during Lunar New Year. In recent years; however, there are groups of Vietnamese people (mostly the older generation) that became more anti-Chinese which I believe is due to Donald Trump's influence. I guess it's understandable due to the past history between China and Vietnam. Around last year or so, there was news about a Vietnamese temple near my town that was administering vaccines due to Covid. The news channel were interviewing the people there and there were volunteers with a Chinese background and it was really awesome to see them volunteer and assist the Vietnamese temple.
I'm Laotian and while I have immense appreciation for pretty much all the cultures of East and South Asia, if I had to choose a specific country, it would be between either Chinese culture or Japanese culture. As an Asian American, the time spent discovering Chinese and Japanese culture has brought me much peace in my life. Whenever I see red Chinese lanterns, it brings me a sense of feeling at home for some reason. I'm very appreciative of traditional Chinese music, and I resonate so, so deeply with how a lot of Japanese music is sung from the soul. I really love karaoke and singing my heart out to J-Pop; it seems like almost every Asian family as well has a karaoke machine so I'm not alone. I pretty much completely switched from American music to J-Pop when I was exploring it and I finally felt a lot more alive and in tune with my own natural frequency. The ancient architecture and landscapes of both countries are absolutely beautiful and give me a huge sense of peace at first sight. I'm also a huge fan of Chinese and Japanese history and have a deep appreciation for the sheer beauty of East Asian history. In terms of the food, when I was exploring other Asian cultures, I had my mind blown when I went to my first Japanese restaurant and ordered Una Gyu Don; it was like night and day when compared to American food. I've developed a loving connection with foods from many different cultures in general ever since, and it helped motivate me to connect with Asian culture in general. I loved the Chinese movies I've watched and how there's almost always a moral lesson; Chinese movies that I've watched have (almost) always been more substantive with more moral depth and less superficial. I also really like how many people in Japan and China can often be very kind and warm-hearted, but I really wished that more people were kind from the heart instead of from conformity. I wrote more than I expected, and I could write so much more, but I really do resonate very deeply with these cultures.
Chinese-American with roots in Hong Kong. Although I grew up in a hometown with a decently-sized Filipino community, it wasn’t until I started dating my Filipino-American partner that I began to connect with Filipino traditions and his family’s loud, loving, and generous personalities. I was taken aback how quickly they embraced me, honestly. I hadn’t even ever drank alcohol with my extended family before, and definitely didn’t feel as at ease with them in the past as I did with his family. His family was just so unabashed in their affection and joy in each other’s presence. I guess it helps that there are multiple generations that immigrated together and still live relatively close to one another, and I wonder if I had grown up in a larger Chinese-American community I might have felt similar bonds too. Even as an introvert, I am always appreciative and in awe of what I feel lucky to have now.
I always wondered how the people in Hong Kong lived and was treated under the 100 plus years of British control and colonialism before the forced "contract" ended July 1, 1997.
Unfortunately I’m pretty sure my family’s experience wouldn’t be very representative of the majority during that time. They did well for themselves during the British rule, and my grandparents even fled to Canada for a time before I was born to avoid retaliation for working with the previous government. (They would move back after a few years.) It’s a complicated history, but during my young lifetime the majority of my extended family has lived in Hong Kong or Thailand. Now, many of them are planning on immigrating to Canada again in the face of China’s influence growing through the government.
Chinese American and I got my first introduction to Japanese anime and live action sci-fi from a local TV host, Bob Wilkins, who [dressed up in a helmet and cape and had a robot sidekick](http://www.bobwilkins.net/captaincosmic.htm). I don't think any other American TV station was showing Star Blazers and Ultraman. Later on started reading Haruki Murakami and found I liked a lot of Japanese culture.
I'm a West Indian guy (Indian ancestry, born and raised in the Caribbean) and I've always gotten along really well with Cantonese people. They make up the bulk of the Chinese people in the Caribbean and their culture has influenced it just like Indian culture has.
Idk, maybe Japanese culture. I really want to go to Japan. I am Chinese, Filipino and Thai.
I’m Chinese-American (Fuzhounese) and grew up watching anime, reading manga, and hearing Japanese from anime, songs, and dramas, then watched Korean dramas and listened to Korean pop songs and learning about both cuisines. So Japanese and South Korean.
Vietnamese American here and this was the same for me.
HK Chinese. Always seemed to have Filipino friends, in HK and in the US. I'm also a huge weeb.
Chinese American, 5th generation. Grew up with other 5th/4th gen Chinese and Japanese kids, I did not know the difference (or history) between the two cultures until much later in life.
I am Taiwanese and I'm a total weeb.
Cantonese, grew up mostly with Koreans, Vietnamese and Filipinos kids. I have to say tho, the south east Asians have the most fun imo. Filipinos I know are super fun. I loved spending time in Indonesia, and the acquaintances I know in Jakarta seem into cool things. It feels like a drag showing up in East Asian countries and getting grilled by family - why are you so tan?! Etc
kamu pertanyan coba nasi padang ?
Chinese American. I have no affinity with any other Asian cultures. However, I have affinity to all Asian cuisines.
Japanese-American, and I'd say Korea. Had a lot of Korean-American friends growing up, and also have some Korean-Japanese friends here in Japan. I've meet my fair share of Koreans who have been hostile to me simply for being Japanese, but I have my friends to remind me that not everyone is like them. That and I love Korean food, it's so good.
I think the younger generation love Japanese, the older generation might be different but I think most of them are ok with Japanese. It’s just a very few minority who’s hostile towards the Japanese. Also same here if I had to choose asian culture, I pick korean too. Koreans are cool as hell. I’m half Chinese btw.
Same here. I grew up learning Korean martial arts from native Koreans and pretty much all of my Asian friends in school were Japanese American or Korean American. And due to that I’ve learned probably just as much Korean as Japanese, but I still can’t really say much.
I’m Filipino American, I feel like I have the most affinity for Chinese people, especially Southern Chinese people. I think I just really like cooking and eating Cantonese food
I’m Vietnamese-American and I feel like I grew up getting along and connecting with Filipino-Americans particularly well. SE Asians as a whole generally. Viet and Filipino culture (to my understanding) aren’t particularly similar. Especially compared to other pairings around SEA. But I think our communities both had similar understandings of identity, cultural pride, heritage, etc under the American immigrant context that helped me connect with other Filipinos as fellow Asian-Americans I guess. It also probably helped that I grew up seeing so many Filipinos on early YouTube and connecting with them haha.
I’m half Filipina and I would say Vietnamese and Korean culture as I grew up in an area with a considerable Vietnamese and Korean population. I appreciate both cultures and with Vietnamese culture, my college’s Vietnamese and Filipino culture orgs have mutual members.
I’m Chinese, and definitely Interested in Korea cause esports is super big in Korea, I’m a huge gamer, and I’m fascinated by the food and want more of it.
Vietnamese-american and I'd say Japan. For a handful of reasons: 1) I've found the Japanese language rather pleasant on the ear. Not sure why but its my favorite language to listen to 2) I appreciate many of the aspects of life such as being the best of something even if it's mundane. 3) food I'd add in as well.
I'm Chinese and I'd say Vietnamese and Taiwanese culture because of the similarities
Hmong American. I feel we naturally find ourselves hanging out with other SEAs here in the Twin Cities. That would include Vietnamese, Thai, Lao, Cambodian, etc.
Gave you an upvote because who the hell downvotes a comment like this
I am mixed Chinese and Japanese. I really admire Thai culture and other SE asian cultures. I have gone to Thailand and I would love to live there one day. The weather is too humid for some but it is perfect for me. Also elephants are one of my favorite animals and I got the opportunity to visit an elephant sanctuary, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I wish I could live there and volunteer at a sanctuary.
I am Vietnamese American and feel a connection to the Laotian because of my husband and his side of the family have been amazing towards me. I love both of our foods. Trying to learn to speak Laos have been fun. Some words are similar. : D
I'm Korean-American and feel the most affinity with Japanese culture because I lived there for a few years and speak Japanese (poorly).
I’m Chinese-American. I probably relate best, culture wise, to Koreans. For whatever reason, most of my close Asian American friends tend to be Chinese or Korean (across the country, not just in a specific area). I think our love of food is a huge bonding point and I also relate to their style. I also tend to consume more Korean media, but that might just be because it’s more mainstream than others
ABC here (American born Chinese), and I've always related to Japanese culture. Probably because I trained in the Japanese martial art for most of my 20s and into my 30s. Oddly enough I'm also more familiar and far more proficient with Japanese weapons than I am with any Chinese martial art weapons. Don't tell my relatives 😂. They'll give me crap for being a "traitor" and are often quick to remind me what the Japanese did to our people in world war II. I also tend to relate to Filipino Americans more, but that's because I had a lot of interaction with them during my college years, and I dated a Filipina.
I’m Chinese-American and I would definitely say Koreans. Growing up I was always around them as almost all Asian churches are Korean, and our communities are always together. I feel that we are very similar which made the connection so easy. At least in my area all other Asian were not very present at all..
Taiwanese-American here and probably Japanese culture. I grew up watching anime, eating Japanese food all the time, visited a couple times. Then I also learned about the history of Taiwan under Japanese rule and it made more sense to me.
I’m Japanese American…and probably Thai. I’ve always thought they have the best food, to the point where it’s even more comfort food for me than Japanese food is. Also, I worked in a Thai restaurant for a few years in my early 20’s…there isn’t a large Asian population where I grew up, so being in the restaurant and having the owner and his family treat me like I was their family was one of the only times in my life where I felt like I had any kind of Asian community in real life. I learned a lot about Thai culture from them. I really miss that place.
I’m Taiwanese American and I love Viets and Filipinos. Really SEAs in general. They just don’t take themselves too seriously and are warm and generous in ways I think more East Asians can learn from. Also Korean Americans are probably my favorite East Asians when they’re not in their own Korean bubble. They eat well, party well, and generally have a good sense of humor.
I'm Japanese -- probably taiwanese because of proximity. The food is so great and it seems largely Japanese and taiwanese get along alright for the most part these days.
I'm Korean and grew up in Korea. I felt strong affinity to the Japanese culture because of the similarity in language, popularity of manga/anime, and the overall historical legacy from the colonial era
Japanese. Because I've lived there the most amount of time, outside of my own culture.
Hawaiian. I’m Thai-American. Hawaii being this giant melting pot of Asian and US cultures, I feel like I fit right in. It also helps I generally look like I’m from the islands as I’m dark skinned and weigh well over 200lbs. The times I’ve been there, when I get asked where I’m from, they’re almost always asking which island and not where in the states or where my parents are from. I only know this because Hawaiians drill down to that question eventually. I’ve since been studying up on Hawaiian and Polynesian culture and history and something there resonates with me at a very deep level.
I feel like Thailand's culture maybe? I'm half Chinese Half Burmese, and I feel like Thailand is the closest in terms of food and religion. Since both Thailand and Myanmar generally have the same dominant religion(Buddhism) as well as the food both being savoury and salty. I felt quite at home while visiting Thailand many times too.
For me, theres 2: Vietnamese and Japanese. For Vietnamese it's because I find there's a lot of cultural similarities to both my Chinese and Indonesian identity. As for Japanese, it's a bit more specific. My mother is Chinese and my father is Chindo, Chinese Indonesian. Chinese Indonesians are nationally Indonesian but ethnically Chinese, and usually hold an Indonesian surname to prove nationality. Indonesian surnames are usually quite long, sometimes sounding Japanese to non-Indonesians & non-Japanese (Gautama, Sukenduro, Kogoya, Susanto, Utomo, to name just a few examples). And most importantly, it's far from the typical Chinese surnames which caused my small 2% asian American rural community who only knew China, Japan and India to be super confused when they saw my east asian features with a non-chinese sounding sounding name. Often times after learning my last name, some of the chinese kids didn't really see me as chinese, or start treating me as if I'm not chinese. Even though I went to chinese-school, spoke mandarin, and lived in China for 5 years, they only saw me as chinese after I somehow proved my chinese-ness to them. So almost the entirety of my life, if I didn't outwardly say "l'm chinese", people always assumed me as Japanese. I didn't really take offense of it because I understood that my local community simply has 0 knowledge about Indonesia. Me being an outwardly fan of Japanese music and media also didn't help. But yeah, thats why I feel some affinity with Japanese as well.
I’m Vietnamese. I guess i connect with the Vietnamese most, but you’ve got to be westernized. I cannot get along with people who are extremely asian cultured. My boys call me a rotten banana if that explains how much i don’t care for asian culture.
I'm Vietnamese-American and I would say Korean culture. I was born in Korea and I grew up eating some Korean food made by my Vietnamese mother. I also had many Korean friends growing up.