On the contrary, if they see a white man hand in hand with a Chinese woman, who is rather homely looking, they will say, "What's wrong with that foreigner?" or, "Foreigners don't necessarily fall in love with good-looking Chinese women! They have such a different taste!"

But why do white men deserve pretty Chinese women, whereas black men don't? The Chinese automatically think that white men are richer and have a higher social status than black men. Therefore, it's a mismatch if a white man is with a plain-looking Chinese woman. Lucky her and stupid him, they think. But black men don't deserve any Chinese woman at all!

In 2009, a Shanghai woman named Lou Jing was one of the finalists on the TV talent show "Go Oriental Angel." Then, people discovered that she was the illegitimate daughter of a Chinese woman and a black man. She received tons of malicious comments solely for her skin color.

Both Beijing and Shanghai are international cities based on their population of expats and number of Western-style restaurants and bars. But they will never become real international cities if the Chinese's mindset remains in the Stone Age when they categorize foreigners into different groups merely by their complexion. Yes, China has been humiliated too many times in modern history, and now it is trying very hard – sometimes too hard – to prove itself and impress others on the global stage.

But as Confucius said: "Do not do to others what you don't want to be done to you." If you want to be treated fairly by other races, you have to treat them fairly too. If so many people in this country still judge people just by their skin color, China is still far away from becoming a true global power.

Gubo works for an American news broadcaster and lives in Beijing.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.