| abstract | - As the main page points out, non-Asians typically mistake one East Asian ethnicity for another. Here's a couple "guides" this troper found on Yahoo Answers to help this page get started: First: "ok these are GENERAL observations that I have noticed over the years. This does not apply to everybody so do not get offended. These are my observations from my own experiences from telling them apart: Chinese- more rounded faces, higher cheekbones, medium to light tan skin, broader noses. Korean- lighter skin, smaller eyes, high cheekbones, eyes seem closer together. Japanese- medium to light tan skin, shorter than chinese, more narrow faces, the nose is less broad. Filipino- medium to darker tan skin, wider bigger eyes broader noses, some have slight overbites. On the other hand, some are pale to the point of looking Chinese or Japanese. Vietnamese- often the shortest of Asians, some have broader noses, medium to darker tan skin, the eyes seem more sunk in. Cambodian- more sunken eyes, forehead seems bigger, more broader noses, medium to darker tan skin. Keep in mind that these are my GENERAL observations, and there is a spectrum of different looks for all Asians. Second, slightly more in-depth: "Hello, I'm a native Korean and this is a very interesting question! Koreans, Japanese and Chinese may look the same to non-Asian people; however, we Asians can distinguish ourselves in most cases. If there were 10 Koreans, 10 Japanese and 10 Chinese people in the same room randomly, I can match their nationalities pretty well even without hearing their languages.(Roughly 80%) This is possible by observing their appearance, facial expressions, outfits and makeup. Let me tell you the brief general impressions on each ethnic groups. 1. Koreans Most Koreans are descendants of Northern Asians. Koreans generally have smaller eyes without double eyelid with higher cheekbones and noses. Koreans are generally taller than Southern Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese. (Actually, South Koreans are the tallest in Asia!) 2. Japanese Japanese generally have larger eyes. Their behavior is different as well. They are more reserved and avoid physical contact. 3. Chinese China is a huge country and it is not a single-ethnic (ethnically homogeneous) country as they are in Korea and Japan. Northern Chinese and Southern Chinese, for example, look quite different and although Putonghua (Standard Mandarin) exists as the universal language in China, there are countless local Chinese dialects which are not mutually intelligible. Southern Chinese are often shorter than Northern Chinese and they have larger eyes and darker skin colors. Southern Chinese look more like Southeast Asians. 4. Vietnamese Vietnamese people are noticeably different from Koreans, Japanese and Northern Chinese because they are Southeast Asians. They are generally shorter and darker with larger eyes. 5. Filipinos Filipinos are even more variable than the others mentioned above. Though they resemble Vietnamese to some extent, some are even darker skinned to the point where they're mistaken for African(-American)s, and that's the unmixed version. Speaking of mixed, due to Spanish rule, you often find more Eurasians among them than in any other country. They are also the most culturally Western of all Asians, though they are also the token Latin Asians along with East Timorese, and older Filipinos see the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans much as many uninformed Westerners do. Another murky subject is Hawaii--where the Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino (and those are just the largest groups) frequently mix with the native Hawaiians, so it is quite possible that one person will have four ethnicities in their biological makeup. Worse is that Hawaii and the Philippines descend from similar cultures (Hawaii is Polynesian, the Philippines are Malaysian, both branches of the Austronesian family) and have a strong sense of cultural/national pride, adding yet another Berserk Button if someone gets it wrong. Surnames are another clue; if it's Trinh or Nguyen they're probably Vietnamese, if it's Gwak or Baek they're probably Korean, etc. Good luck if their last name is Lee, though. Filipinos often have surnames of Spanish origin, but Hawaiian and Tagalog surnames frequently sound similar. The whole name's structure varies by country. Chinese and Korean people usually have three one-syllable names (The two given names in Chinese are usually joined together when written in English), while Japanese people have two names, each name almost always having at least two syllables. Stereotypically, Western given names can be a clue to family history - second-generation immigrants, the first to be born in the US/Canada/UK/Australia etc. are associated with "old-sounding" names, i.e. names that were common among adults at the time they were born, while third-generation and more are as likely as not to have a name that was a trendy baby name when they were born. Remember, though, this is a stereotype so tread carefully. A handy reference is Cedarseed's Guide to Human Types, which is a drawing tutorial, but is useful in illustrating the difference between people from different parts of the world. Another useful visual reference is this Postnational Monitor blog post.
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