I’m an Asian who is currently in a long term relationship with an Asian who shares my Asian ethnicity (not saying what ethnicity exactly to maintain privacy).

In the past, I have attempted interracial dating and have quickly found that it did not work for me. The lack of shared cultural background and values meant that we struggled to find common ground to build a relationship on. Furthermore, I really didn’t like having to explain my culture to them (even if they didn’t mind explaining their culture to me), as I feel like I already have to do that all the time as an Asian diaspora. There were also some conversations that I just couldn’t have with them - even if my partner was amazing and open minded - and it limited how much intimacy I could have with them. With my current partner for instance, we frequently talk about Asian diaspora community politics and power dynamics and systemic racism and how it affects us personally and how we can support each other through it, which really reinforced our bond - something I can’t do with non Asian partners. There were also many issues with everyday lifestyle preferences - like food choices, my involvement with my local Asian community (and how it’s hard to share this aspect of me with them), which holidays to celebrate, etc.

I wonder what others experiences have been in interracial dating. I know many people do it successfully!

For context I’m an Asian who was born and raised in the west.