pretenders and burn outs

"Sugelan" is not "Yingguo".

This confuses everyone, and then they ask about Taiwan. 

My ex was welsh and she used to have to tell students that she was English because no one had heard of Wales.

The Chinese men are very familiar with a sports team from my home state, so I can use them as an instant ice-breaker.

Please emphasize the "a" part. For Texas, they know the Rockets and maybe the Spurs and Mavs. They don't have a clue about the Stars, Rangers, Astros or Texans. Same for California. LakersLakersLakersLakersLakersLakersLakersLakers. and there might be another sports team in the state, not sure. I'd faint if a student ever told me he cheers for the Los Angeles Kings instead of the Sacramento Kings. I'd pay for a kid to dress up in Raiders gear

That's likely because the only televised American sport in China, afaik is NBA.

Funny, among themselves, Chinese seem very dedicated to their home provinces.  I've got a friend who's with some sort of Hunan-ren businessmen's association in Guangdong.

Funny, among themselves, Chinese seem very dedicated to their home provinces.

Of course and I'm quite dedicated to my province too. However the Chinese don't expect everybody else to know their provinces. They don't travel to other countries and introduce themselves as being from Anhui etc.

It's not about how closely you relate to your area, it's how much sense it will make to the person you are talking to.