Welsh | Chinese
My Mum came from Hankow, Wuhan, mainland China, my Dad has Welsh parents but grew up in Liverpool, in the north of England. They met in 1961 in Hong Kong. They both worked for Shell out there. She worked in the personnel department; he was a chartered accountant.
My Dad became more Chinese and my Mum became more Westernised, their cultures rubbed off on each other and blended very naturally. They had a good attitude about integrating and lived all over Asia, Africa & The Middle East, so were surrounded by a cultural melting pot.
I think interracial relationships are very beautiful and I love the way they mix cultures and genes. I believe interracial relationships lead to a richer, more interesting life and beautiful offspring! When I was a little girl, I imagined having 6 children all from Fathers from different races (I didn’t overthink the implications of that!) because I loved the thought of the beauty of diversity. But also, I love the way interracial relationships lead to more delicious food!
My parents lived in an international community so despite there being very few mixed-race couples in those days (they were a rarity), people were mostly welcoming. Some of the bigger corporate companies, however, frowned on mixed-race couples but Shell was more open to it. As a Brit you would have needed permission to get married to a non-Western person. From my Mum’s point of view, there were many Chinese people who did not approve of a mixed-race marriage and asked why she would want to marry a ‘gweilo’ (foreign devil).
I grew up in Africa and the Middle East until I was around 8 and then I came to boarding school in the UK, returning home abroad during the school holidays. So, whilst I was spending the school holidays in different countries, I had a British education at school and university which was predominantly middle class. When I started working, I worked in London in the television industry. I met and fell in love with a Englishman from West London. He loves my Chinese heritage and culture and my Mum calls him her second son.
I think being mixed-race just gives you all the rich and varied benefits from food to social customs to different ways of thinking. Even though not many people can tell by my face that I am half-Chinese, I am always very proud when I am asked. I think it’s very special. I also think that having parents who had an interracial marriage in the 1960s shows their tenacity and integrity to do what they thought was right and I am proud to have those qualities in my genes.
Only other mixed-race people seem to be able to tell I am mixed race. I have never experienced racism apart from at primary school where people would bow to me as a Chinese person. I remember crying when that happened and wishing I was just White! I regret ever thinking that now, of course.
Food, food, food!!! I experience my Chinese culture through my Mum’s cooking and the fact we eat often at Chinatown. But also having lived in Africa and the Middle East, I love those cuisines as well. We still have many Middle Eastern friends, so we are mindful of Eid and Ramadan. I have been to Hong Kong but mainly I learn about my culture from my Mum. And my parents-in-law live in Wales, so we are often in Wales.
I used to take being mixed-race for granted. Often the only difference I could see was having a Chinese Mother who would turn up on Sports Day with chicken curry and rice, rather than cucumber sandwiches. Now I realise how lucky I am to be of a diverse, interesting background with all that wonderful DNA.
I have always felt included, but I have to note that there are very few 100% British East Asians in the television industry.
If I had the opportunity to be reborn I would want to come back exactly how I am. Wonderful genes, wonderful history, wonderful food, wonderful people. The Welsh and Chinese have so many amazing qualities from grit, determination, tenacity, being astute and smart (I could go on and on), and I am thankful that I am what I am.