But those two aren’t the points I want to focus on. I think a lot has to do with the fact that Canada or the States just don’t feel like home.

I guess it’s harder for you to understand because you have never emigrated. Imagine the reverse is true, that Canada has bad living conditions, has constant disease outbreaks, disastrous working conditions and lack of free speech (I’m not sure how bad it actually is over there). So you have to immigrate to China to seek a better life. How would you feel?

It’s probably the rational choice to go to China, but you will probably miss your family and friends here. You’ll miss the Canadian culture, the food, the hockey, etc. Sure there will be other westerners there and probably a lot of things built to cater to western people (maybe a CanadaTown?), but would you really feel truly comfortable living in a place where you didn’t grow up in and are surrounded mostly by people who don’t share the same cultural values as you, or by foreign media that you cannot relate to? (see Lost in Translation)

As many westerners there are or as many western cultural activities to do in China to help you ease in, it just isn’t the same as home. And I think a lot of Chinese people feel that way. I have personally known and seen a lot of my friends and acquaintances go back to China or Hong Kong as soon as they are done university or whenever they have a chance to. My brother is one example. He came here in grade 8, stayed for 10 years and got his undergrad, and immediately moved back to Hong Kong because he really just can’t stand Toronto. Even when he is here, he does ‘Hong Kong’ things with his friends, and there are such things to do here (Chinatown, karaoke, bubble tea), but they really just aren’t the same. You are still separated from the original culture by half a world. He decided to go back because that’s where he really feels comfortable at; that’s where he feels he belongs.

I guess this may not be the best example because Hong Kong doesn’t have bad living conditions, but I think the idea is still the same – people go back to where they feel like home. And it’s not like all of China is really that bad, big cities like Shanghai and Beijing for the most part really are just as developed. The pictures that you linked obviously show the more extreme side of China. If you perceive the whole of China from those pictures alone than you’d obviously think China is hell, but they certainly make China seem worse than it actually is. For the most part China isn’t that bad (at least the places I’ve been to). Pollution is bad, but I think that’s a small problem compared to being a cultural misfit. Also, not everyone who goes back will work in sweatshops. For those that actually work in sweatshops, they probably didn’t even get the chance to immigrate to a foreign country in the first place. I think many people who do are already somewhat well off to begin with.

For those that came over, it was probably because it looked A LOT better over here than in China, enough for them to sacrifice their culture or their relationships. But now that conditions are getting better, the gap between the two sides of the world isn’t as obvious anymore.

There are a lot of people that are flexible and can adapt to any places. But a lot aren’t, and the current economic boom in China probably gives them a great excuse to go back to where they call home and to where they really fit in.

Maybe the numbers are bigger now because of two things: 1. Immigrants are financial well off enough here to have the freedom to return. 2. Their home country is more stable than it was before, and so there is less risk to return.

Also, people don’t return to China to work under poor living conditions in slave conditions, they return with capital to start businesses, and they can leave with the going gets rough.

As someone who’s parents have returned to their country of origin, I can say that life is better in different ways than what Canada has to offer – financially, professionally and emotionally.