The Pilgrimage: On Living Between Worlds
A British Vietnamese-Cantonese-Hakka third-generation immigrant reflects on leaving London for Shanghai — and never leaving
Quick Look
- A British Vietnamese-Cantonese-Hakka third-generation diaspora member recounts how an offhand comment about needing "international exposure" at a London law firm led them to book a three-month stint in Shanghai a decade ago — and never leave.
- Reflecting on their experience as a minority of a minority in the UK, where less than 1% of the population identified as Chinese, they explore questions of belonging, identity, and the assumptions embedded in casual remarks about where one truly belongs.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The author is a British Vietnamese-Cantonese-Hakka third-generation immigrant who worked at a London law firm before moving to Shanghai. In the UK, less than 1% of the population identified as Chinese, making the author part of a minority of a minority. The piece reflects on the casual remark that prompted their move and the identity questions it raised.
"You could do with some international exposure. China, maybe," a law firm partner said as we stood over the water cooler. His offhand comment was so blasé. I wasn't sure what unsettled me more – the comment or my reaction to it. Was it xenophobia or the inertia of assumption? He was perfectly pleasant, encouraging even, but beneath the civility was an implication I couldn't ignore. I had never set foot in Asia, yet suddenly, it felt as though my credibility required a pilgrimage. I wrestled with a familiar refrain: go back to where you came from. It threaded through my thoughts, persistent and uninvited. So I booked the flight. Three months at a law firm in China, I reasoned. International exposure. Professional development. Tick the box. Return to London. A decade (and five cities) later, I am still in Shanghai, a city that has reinvented itself several times over in that time. The future I thought I was preparing for – stable and linear, shaped by hyper-independent eldest immigrant daughter syndrome – has dissipated along the way. In the United Kingdom, I was a statistic no one read aloud. Less than 1 per cent of the population identified as Chinese. My British Vietnamese-Cantonese-Hakka third-generation diaspora heritage cast me as a minority of a minority.
Open Questions
- What specific law firm in China did the author work at?
- What specific experiences shaped the author's decade in Shanghai?
- How has the author's relationship with their British identity evolved?
