Asian American Attitudes toward Height | Asian American Poll

AA ATTITUDE TOWARD HEIGHT
(Updated Wednesday, Jan 22, 2025, 06:39:09 AM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

Assuming you are an Asian American, how important is height in your assessment of a person's attractiveness?
It's a key element of attractiveness. | 20%
It's one of many factors I consider. | 44%
It's less important than other personal qualities. | 28%
I am not attracted to tall people. | 8%

Assuming you are an Asian American, which best matches your feelings toward your own height?
I'd like to be 3 inches taller. | 43%
I'd like to be an inch taller. | 27%
I'm happy with my height. | 26%
I'd like to be an inch shorter. | 4%

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WHAT YOU SAY

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smarter girl,

there's a big difference between N. Chinese and S. chinese if you don't know. If you see a Chinese in America, 99% chance they are from the deep south. Northerners look and act completely different.
Northern Chinese Thursday, September 13, 2001 at 10:47:25 (PDT)

There's a 6 foot 5 Korean dude in my college. And the mo-fo is buff as hell too! He must weigh at LEAST 200-210 pounds, if not much more. I see him at the gym all the time... U don't want to f*** wit dat, trust me.
5'10", 170 pound Korean-Am dood in college Thursday, September 13, 2001 at 00:45:44 (PDT)

newly proud chinese:
obviously you are so wrong, you've been making stupid assumptions about asian people's height. ASSUME makes an ass out of u and me. so you grew up in a white town with 'scatters' of chinese, koreans, and japanese? well, wake up!! koreans are not 'stockier' than other asians, quite the contrary in my school. the chinese are shorter than i am! (and a bit chubbier) i know of two korean boys who are 6'3 in my grade. don't speak what you don't know
smarter girl Tuesday, September 11, 2001 at 12:36:39 (PDT)

Chinatown and Newly proud Chinese,

I've never been to Beijing, but when I toured the terra cotta warriors in Xian and sampled the melons of Turfan, I came to have a liking for the Chinese peoples of the northwest. I met the mayor of Xian who gave us a banquet host for our tour group touring the Great Wall and Silk routes. The man was no typical Chinese man as depicted on TV. He was not exactly tall, but muscular with a mustache that did not make him look entirely Chinese. The people here love to dance a lot. There is something in them that is more western, like Pakistani or Persian. And, there are Russians here too along with some Pakistanis.
aabb Monday, September 10, 2001 at 19:35:57 (PDT)

Newly Proud Chinese,

Good to hear you found your self-confidence amongst your brethren in Beijing. You're absolutely correct on all of your observations. Being a Northerner myself, I can't help but to express the masculine features of my homeland. My height, deep voice, rugged muscular build and striking handsome features make me stand out amongst the mostly smaller Asian Americans. Because of stereotypes and ignorance of Northerners, Americans think I'm some type of freak for being so tall and big. But back in N. China, I'm just one of the good ol' boys.
Northern Chinese Monday, September 10, 2001 at 18:40:03 (PDT)

I have been at same height, 6 feet 1/2 inch, since I was 16 years old. I have never noticed about my height relative to others till I started to hang around with asian friends a couple of years ago. It seems like everyone, espeically girls, mentions how tall I am. I was very amused by this fact because none of my non asian friends talk about my height.

Yes, while there are more tall exceptions now than ever(including me) it is cold truth that, in general, Asians are still shorter than whites. But the gap is getting smaller with each generation. And I know many Asian males who are as tall or taller than me. Soon only Asians' obsession with heights will be the only telling evidence that Asians are shorter than whites.
anon Sunday, September 09, 2001 at 17:36:31 (PDT)

Chinatown,

Hey, your brought up some interesting points. I'm a 3rd generation Chinese American (Cantonese) who just came back from one year in Beijing. I can't even begin to tell you how it has changed my views of Asian/Chinese people and the course of my life.

I'm about 5'9, 150 pounds and while that's not short, it isn't exactly the epitome of American masculinity either. I admit I grew up in America with a sort of physical inferiority complex. I really believed that Asians were just small people and there really isn't much we can talk about it. I grew up in a mostly White town with a few scatters of Chinese, Koreans and Japanese Americans. I noticed that the Koreans weren't that tall, average about 5'9 but were noticeably stockier. Japanese Americans were taller the longer they've been in this country. And the Chinese were scattered around, some really short, some tall, most pretty skinny. Before I went to China, I knew very little about the country, and I guess I was so ignorant that I actually thought that all of the Han Chinese were just like Cantonese people. I remember talking to a Taiwanese guy before about Asian physical sizes, and he told me that Northern Chinese were supposed to be tall. I just assumed he was exagerrating because he felt an inferiority complex too.

But when I went to Beijing last year, my entire view of Asian people completely changed. For the first time, I was surrounded by tall, stocky, confident, Chinese people with a high proportion of extremely handsome/beautiful facial features. The Northern Chinese are a big people, and they don't share the inferiority complexes that most other Asian groups have towards the west when it comes to physical size. I remember one time, a white friend of mine, and I were taking a taxi. And the taxi driver was a very hefty gruff and tough looking man. He cleared 6' easily. My buddy made a comment on how big this guy was and said that before he came to China, he thought he would be towering over everyone like godzilla. Apparently, the taxi driver had been studying some english in preparation for the Beijing Olympics, and he understood what he said and gave out a huge bellowing laughter and said, "You foreigners really think Chinese are short people?? Maybe it's because you have only seen the Chinese in Hong Kong for too long!" And he thought this was the funniest thing in the world, but again, this was the typical confidence I saw in the local people.

I have been to a couple places in Asia for a few days, notably Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok. And generally the same interracial coupling disparity is as prevalent or even more exagerrated than in America. But the being with the Northern Chinese have given me a confidence as an Asian MAN that I've never felt before. Northern Chinese men as a group are swaggering, confident, masculine guys with a reserved sense of confidence. Interracial couples are a rare sight in China period, but I can say that only in Beijing was the sight of AM/WF couples equal or greater than AF/WM couples. I cannot even begin to tell you how relieved I felt when I was checking out the nightlife and seeing beautiful, statuesque supermodel-like Chinese women standing by and preferring their own strong confident tall and handsome Chinese men. Many of these women, when wearing their heels would tower over the average white guy. And I also saw how many Chinese guys that would confidently approach White women, and several night spots that even catered to Chinese men looking for White women, mainly Russians and Eastern Europeans. It was the exact reverse of what I've always known all my life, Chinese men as White-philes and in a dominant position.

My entire view of life and my own identity as an ASIAN MAN has been changed forever with this experience. I loved Beijing, and I am planning to return to live their forever after I finish my education and gain some work experience here in the US. For the first time in my life, I felt what White men have always felt here, and it does feel good to be in the dominant role.
Newly proud Chinese Sunday, September 09, 2001 at 14:13:48 (PDT)

Phew.... I'm just 5'8", so I guess I'm safe, for now. Or at least until the averages go up again... erg. I actually look about 5'9" since I'm buff and have excellent posture.
5'8" Korean American Saturday, September 08, 2001 at 01:19:51 (PDT)

Northern Chinese are said to be taller than Southern Chinese, and by the term "chinese", I mean to specify those who consider themselves to be of Han descent. At times, the two groups have been seperated as being genetically distinct of one another. However, these may be the results of biased genetic sampling of a small number of individuals. It seems far more reasonable to conclude that China is a nation heterogeneously mixed so that the integrity of what may have been two disparate groups, thousands of years ago, is now quite impossible to wholly discern. Throughout history, northerners have been entering the south, and probably vice-versa. In large cities, this is especially obvious. Take just one instance in history, such as the Communist rise into power. There were northerners whom fled to cities as Hong Kong as well as the nationalist island of Taiwan. A number of people in these regions may actually trace their origins to places as Tianjin and Shandong.

I am now officially 6'2, though I wished I had written that on my driver's permit. Oh well, 6'1 isn't too bad on your liscence, I would suppose. The truth is that food is far more readily available in southern climates than in the north. The south is ideal for a corpulent lifestyle, since plant and animal life, as well as all other forms of life, prosper in the humidity and warmth. Where do you find rainforests and those lovely edible delights?

In Africa, the tallest tribe is the Watusi tribe. I believe the average height for men is rumored to be around 6'5. This tribe was also portrayed in "King Solomon's Mines". And no, they are not North African, but linguistically, share far more affliations with Bantu-speaking people.

North Africans are, for the most part, grouped along with Middle Eastern people as Caucasians. You never hear the great builders of Egypt as being of nubian descent.

Quite honestly, I have not seen many jumbo sized asians among our Asian American population. They all tend to be rather small( not one over 5'9, including Coreans, Indonesians, Filipinos)...and then I have people ask me why I am so tall. This makes many of these tautological accounts of giant asians in here, rather dubious. Of course, once questioned, I can't resist a bit of heckling about how Chinese are the tallest, which is all good-natured.

Tibetans are not exactly tall. The truth is, the average height is decreasing, especially among children, which can perhaps be attributed to malnutrition. Aside from those, there are various and distinct populations in this southwestern region.

And the individual who mentioned Shanghai. When I visited the city last winter, I made a similar discovery, where the young people are much taller than Asian Americans here that I have seen. There were a good many people who were 5'11, 6'0, etc. I even saw a few that were at least 6'6, though more than likely taller.

It seems that western Chinese would probably have the highest nose bridges. More than likely, it was due to mixing of peoples with the west at one time or another. However, it is true that northern asians have narrower, and longer noses than their southern counterparts. I am not sure if this applies to all north asians, but I noticed that the noses also tend to be more projecting or "pointier" than the typical snub nose in the south. Aside from this, northern asians also have smaller eyes and usually lighter skin than southern asians.

Chinatown Saturday, September 08, 2001 at 00:38:10 (PDT)

sorry all, i'm used to "korean" but i gotta get used to "corean" so no offense
ck Friday, September 07, 2001 at 18:05:30 (PDT)

rico, i'm glad you noticed and was observant. alot of white guys hold the same steroetype no matter how many tall asians they see. i am surprised that you liked korea so much. most americans who have visited say bad things about korea.

jjk, i don't see that japanese and chinese are either huge or tiny. it seems to me that there are people from 5 ft. ranging to 7ft. whether they are chinese, japanese or korean. also, i think the average height presently of northern chinese is slightly more that south koreans - of course north koreans are a different story because of famine.
ck Friday, September 07, 2001 at 18:03:11 (PDT)

hey abc chic

in my opinion girls should be at least 5'2-3/4"

youre a midget go kill yourself
abc dick Wednesday, September 05, 2001 at 16:11:23 (PDT)

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