Let me tell you how you know that the video game Bright Memory: Infinite was made in China. It’s not the lettering, or the landscapes, or the architecture, or anything else that Westerners associate with the country.

No, it’s this screenshot:

Courtesy of the author

That little cartoon animal doll — which bobbles its head and even pulls some anime swirly eyes if you drive badly enough — is the most Chinese thing I’ve ever seen. I could fill a short book with descriptions of the…