ok lets hang out for a month。但是。我们见的时候不能用英文。 什么时候你想见面吧

如果你你跟我说用中文。

@Tonyoad, I won't hold you to the wording of your comment because you may well have been trying to say something else, but your implication that a whole culture can be either 'right' or 'wrong' doesn't make sense.
As for firm boundaries being necessary for any discussion of culture, that's not necessary, nor is it realistic - lots of things, including 'Chinese culture', have fuzzy boundaries, and placing them in absolutist categories is merely a matter of useful (sometimes, sometimes not) generalizations. Example: where, exactly, does the Caribbean meet the Atlantic?

@Alien, Can you show me the quote in which you think implied this? Because as you said, I do not believe there is a right or wrong culture. Maybe it's just poorly worded on my part.

True, to place a firm boundary on culture would be pointless as I believe one culture blends into each other; this blending also happens at a temporal level as well. It is because the blending takes up such a large percentage of a culture, the discussion on "pure" culture would be very limited and useless. However, that was my point exactly, you can't really put a boundary on culture due to the fuzzy nature as you have said.

The OP wishes to discuss where the line is "between an expat in a foreign culture enjoying a 'taste of home,'...and actually importing his or her own culture to the foreign one in a way that erodes the foreign culture?" In order to discuss we need to first agree what is foreign and what is not. For example, is drinking coffee considered a foreign culture in China? If it is, then we can begin discussing whether or not the mere fact that I am drinking coffee is changing Chinese culture; if drinking coffee in it of itself is not changing Chinese culture, then is opening a coffee shop and selling coffee to the Chinese people changing Chinese culture, and so on. If drinking coffee is considered part of Chinese culture then this point is moot.

Another example would be the consumption of maize and potatoes. Both of these are not native to China but have been imported so long ago that it has been incorporated the daily lives of the Chinese people. Now, should we consider maize and potato as foreign? If so, then is the consumption of maize and potato in China eroding Chinese culture? Again, where is the line between foreign and domestic culture? If one cannot make a clear distinction, then how can we draw a line.

To me, this is a fundamental question that must first be addressed if we wish to continue this debate as the OP claims to do. And I am looking forward to this debate with the OP, or anyone else who would wish to join in, in a clear and professional manner.

Cheers~

is every foreign influence that is incorporated (or imposed) into a culture equal or bad?

maybe some foreign influences degrade a culture and some foreign influences enhance a culture?

example: coca-cola rots your teeth out. potatoes are healthy and a cheap food supply.

@Magnifico

THAT! is the fundamental question at the center of the debate in which the OP wishes to discuss.

The OP would want us to believe that any outside influences are negative and evil (hence the title of this thread "Cultural Colonialism") and that we are all horrible, evil human beings for trying to live an foreign lifestyle in China. And by reverse logic, because he is trying to live the local culture, he is somehow holier than the rest of us. (Which is completely BS because as I have pointed out before, there are many elements in his lifestyle that is not native to China whether he would like to admit it or not. And a quick read on the things he have posted in the past, hanging out at Salvadors, buying cheese, working as an English teacher would also suggest his lifestyle is at odds with his professed viewpoints.)

Anyway, still looking forward to @mmkunmingteacher's response to my questions so we can get the discussion going.

Cheers~

ha ha! and wait....isn't mm an english teacher? an english teacher starting a thread about colonialism.. ha ha. will be following this debate carefully...

This seems silly. My country has almost 10% Chinese people which has grown from about 2-3% in 15 years. They (by and large) prefer to have their own communities and don't really integrate that much with locals, often barely speaking English and spending their time with other Chinese as much as possible. While there are some (mostly extreme right wing) rumblings about this behaviour, most of us don't really care that much and enjoy the variety they bring with them.

In China, foreigners number less than 1% of the population, Western foreigners likely less than 0.5%. To suggest we are having some negative influence on Chinese culture is pretty much ridiculous considering these low numbers. And the popularity of the Western establishments with Chinese customers shows that they are just as interested in Western culture here as we are in Chinese culture back home.

They will take what they want from our cultures, less if we try to force it upon them. They will do this consciously with eyes wide open, discarding anything they deem silly/ridiculous/invalid. So the idea of cultural imperialism in this context is moot.

@blobbles
It is absolutely silly, 100%. And to take OP's logic to it's conclusion: If we should all live according to the local lifestyle and not our own, then similarly, all immigrants to the US (where I am from) should also live according to American customs and not bring in any of there own. I cannot even begin to imagine a more antithesis to the founding principles of American than this. The pilgrims left England because they wished to practice their way of living without government and social interference. They did not adopt to the local culture, they brought their own. America declared independence because they did not want to conform to the government, they wished to control and mold their own destiny...and then proceeded to create their own unique culture instead of continuing British culture wholesale. America is founded on the idea that the people should be able to live their life as they see fit without government interference. Because of this principle, America has established a rich cultural heritage as it embraces and assimilates all cultures. Without such outside infusion, American culture would be like British Lite (a diminutive version of British culture).

To argue that by exposing locals to our own culture some how only diminishes instead of enhancing local culture is hog-wash.

hope mm doesn't accept the foreigners salary. That would be a real slap in the face.