Between 1999 and 2013, Veazey was among the 70,000 Chinese adoptees granted permanent homes in the United States. For these adoptees, the home or school environment serve as important stages for connection with their Chinese heritage. Raised in a loving single parent home in Golden, Colorado, Veazey attended a local school where she caught occasional glimpses into mainland Chinese culture through annual intercultural festivities. Now in their twenties, Chinese American adoptees, like Veazey, have since returned to China to fully immerse in the culture and reconcile pieces of their identity.  

 DKU is home to a global Chinese diaspora community of over 40 people – and one that is continuously expanding. Among them are transnational adoptees, as well as the later-generation sons and daughters of Chinese immigrants from countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines, Germany, and the United States. They have returned to their ancestral homeland to deepen their understanding of mainland Chinese culture and reality, which they have only glimpsed through the narratives of older generations and the customs adopted by their local communities. Although their physical features allow them to seamlessly blend into the local crowd in China, the unique identities of diaspora members often become apparent through their interactions with locals.  

DKU Global Health senior Jordan Knight, born in Hunan, China and now connected to Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of the adoptees striving to reestablish connections with her Chinese heritage. “I think I definitely knew I was Chinese, but when I was younger, I would draw myself with blonde hair and blue eyes,” Knight said, explaining that her adoptive mother had these features that she once wished for herself, though she was acutely aware of her own differences since she was a child. Knight recalls how her mother consistently immersed her in Chinese culture, frequently participating in week-long Chinese celebrations, such as dragon boat races and mid-autumn festival performances, with other adoptee families. “I started learning Chinese when I was five years old, so I have a long background of learning Chinese,” she said. 

Knight’s decision to attend Duke Kunshan University, a joint US-China liberal arts institution based in Jiangsu province stems partly from her desire to explore aspects of Chinese American identity. “I also knew that I wanted to go to China, at least for some type of study abroad semester. I was a freshman in high school when my sister came home and was like, ‘there is this really cool school in China built for people that want to learn more about Chinese culture while still having that American feel to it.’” 

Just over a decade old, Duke Kunshan University, established in 2013, is among the first of its kind in Chinese higher education that seeks to mold purpose-driven “rooted globalists”.  The young university reflects the ambition of 21st century scholars and its international student body to blend Western and Eastern perspectives within its “interdisciplinary” education model. Situated between Shanghai and Suzhou, the university’s geographic location at the heart of the Yangtze River Delta exposes students to one of China’s most developed regions. Paired with the American curriculum of its parent institution, Duke University, the hybrid space of Duke Kunshan University attracts thousands of students, among them members of the Chinese diaspora seeking to explore their dual identities.  

Veazey says she finds her undergraduate education at DKU as a perfect opportunity to connect with her transnational identity. She describes coming back to China as a surreal and emotional journey, navigating an identity she did not grow up with. “It was really crazy because [Chinese authorities] kept calling me by my Chinese name and I hadn’t told them my name at all. Even when I was leaving China to come back to the US. They were like, no, you’re not Skylar. You’re 黄华西. When they called me that, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I really am still part of the system. That was the weirdest part because I left that behind when I went to America,’” she said. 

Despite sincere efforts to reconnect, adoptee children say they encounter numerous challenges when assimilating into Chinese culture. Their upbringing in the United States often manifests in habits and mannerisms that diverge from those of Chinese natives. Skylar expresses the challenges of transitioning from Colorado to China, where only 3.8% of the population are Asians, much less Chinese, to suddenly finding herself immersed in Chinese culture and experiencing a different but familiar sense of unbelonging. ”I was raised by white people, but I experience what it’s like to be Asian because I look Asian. On the outside I look very similar [to a Chinese person] but on my first day in China someone could tell I am an outsider just by the shirt straps I wore,” she said. 

Beyond attire, food preferences, greeting customs, and notably, accents are distinguishing traits that can be picked up by native Chinese to tell foreigners apart. These characteristics contribute to the adoptees’ sense of otherness, even in environments where they physically resemble others, they say. 

Both women recall experiences unique to the Chinese-American adoptee identity, such as being handed separate bills when out with their single parent. Now that they are grown, the once-prominent age gap that helped distinguish them as parent and child has faded, leading to frequent mistaken assumptions of them being two friends simply hanging out, due to their contrasting appearances. On another instance, Knight remembers being scolded by cab drivers who, while usually understanding and more patient with foreigners, expected her to be able to navigate China because she looked Chinese. Reflecting on these experiences Veazey expresses a sense of disillusionment: “It definitely threw me into a spiral. There were points where I was like, why am I trying to do this? I don’t know myself as a Chinese person. Why am I fighting so hard for something that isn’t really mine?” she said. 

This conflict does not exist only in terms of personal factors, but rises to the level of regions and nations, a number of indicators suggest. The perception and treatment of native Chinese towards Chinese of other nationalities also contribute to the diaspora and adoptees’ struggle and sense of isolation. Some Chinese users have expressed their bias against foreign citizens of Chinese origin on Chinese platforms, viewing them as not true Chinese, believing they do not belong to China, and occasionally exhibiting hostility towards them. Chinese Americans, in particular, after receiving such sentiments, are more prone to develop a poor view of China. According to a survey, only 40% of Chinese Americans have a favorable view of China. Such practices can deepen identity conflicts and cultural barriers between Chinese and Chinese Americans.