| Do you have such encounters, foreign friends? | |
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| Jun 26, 2008 04:13 |   |
 | In the early days, the number of foreigners in China was very small. Very often, the foreigners who walked in the street were stared at by the Chinese nationals. The foreigners were thought to be the objects of an intense but benign curiosity. In the recent years, the number of foreigners in China has increased by leaps and bounds as China goes international. Well, several days ago, when I met 6 foreign friends (4 from USA, 2 from New Zealand) in Chongqing, they talked to me that they were followed by groups of Beijing people who nudged their their friends beside them and point at the foreign friends as if the foreigners were aliens who had just walked out of an UFO from another planet. I was shocked after hearing the news. My stereotype about Beijingners and Shanghainese is that they are supposed to be open and be used to foreigners’ presense since they live in China’s most cosmopolitan cities. I couldn’t know how to explaine the embarrassing situation. The foreign friends were humorous and said to me: “perhaps the crowds of your countrymen want to have a glimpse of our “round blue eyes” and “big noses”, as well as our hairs on the arms”. I said nothing but presented a gentle smile. In other Chinese cities, especially the small cities, most of the Chinese residents there have never seen a Westerner and they would stare at foreign guests. To the astonishment of me, that kind of curiosity also occurs in Beijing and Shanghai. Do you have such encounters, foreign friends? When you wall in the street, does someone approach you and ask: “may I practise my English with you?” How do they address you? |
| Jun 26, 2008 09:25 | #1 |
| I have never had such an experience in China. As you described it, it is similar to the behavior of hoodlums in the USA looking for a fight; I guess China is becoming westernized :-( |
| Jun 26, 2008 09:45 | #2 |
| The only such encounters I have enjoyed were with little children. I have a big moustache so I stand out even more. I have had kids approach me and ask if I was American. When I reply "Yes." they usually run back to their friends giggling. Often they jump at the chance to practice their English. Last Summer Our family went by Train from Beijing to Urumqi (Monday afternoon to Thursday morning) and in our car (Soft seats) I had plenty of opportunity to help students. Their parents encouraged the talks. In Xinjiang there are a lot of caucasian looking Uhigars and Russian businessmen so I did not get the attention I did in other parts of China. If older kids followed me and made rude remarks, I would be worried. That has not happened to me though. |
| Jun 26, 2008 09:55 | #3 |
| I live in Chongqing and yes it happens all the time. Some people and especially young children are often very vocal and loud about pointing out that they have had the great fortune of spotting a Weiguoren or Lao Wei. I find that the transient workers, those who have come into the city from rural areas and may never have seen a foreigner before are likely to stare the most but are not rude about it. How did these 6 foreigners know that the people staring where from Beijing????? To be honest I find that the worst offenders at this practice of starring at and/or photographing a foreigner are domestic Chinese tourists. When I am travelling in China, especially in peak holiday times and come across small groups of independent travellers and the groups following the flag waving guides, I and my friends are often the target of camera lenses and other sometimes quite rude behaviour . I've been tempted to grab and smash a camera now and then but as yet have not done so. |
| Jun 26, 2008 21:27 | #4 |
| Hohoho! Did I ever? I can understand if the Chinese would stare at tall, blue-eyed blonde foreigners. They look very different from the Chinese, after all. What amuses me is that I was stared at in Beijing cosmopolitan city even though I have almost the same skin color, same black eyes, same black hair as any Chinese girl would have. The only difference is that I have bigger eyes. Even though there were times when I got mistaken for a Chinese, I still got stared at. Most of the time, they are content staring from afar, I’m thinking out of curiosity and that was it. Maybe I was dressed differently, who knows? However, on one occasion, I was with my Chinese friend waiting to ride a subway, when my friend started acting weird, like he was uneasy. When I turned around, I saw this Chinese guy two feet behind me scrutinizing me from head to toe. He didn’t even notice (or probably didn’t cared) that I was already looking at him because he was too busy scrutinizing me. O_o I don’t know how long he was doing that but I was floored at the boldness. It felt weird at first but it doesn’t bother me now. Heck, I was stared at (and followed) in Hongkong, too. It’s just part of the whole experience. Don’t get embarrassed about it, Leonardo. I know my friend felt the same way so I never even mentioned it. I know it’s just a curiosity thing and yea, we find it amusing, probably just as amusing as the Chinese finds us. Us foreigners are also curious about the Chinese. We just have a different way of showing it, like going to China to mingle with the locals, for example. Another thing is that, many, if not majority of Beijing and Shanghai residents are immigrant workers from other smaller cities, which could explain why. I never got approached with ‘May I practice English with you’, probably because I am not white (there’s a stereotype that only or all whites can speak English) but I consider it a blessing because I have heard of nightmare stories about those trying to ‘practice their English’. Some would try to talk to me in Chinese but almost always it’s because they’re trying to sell something to me. |
| Jun 27, 2008 10:31 | #5 |
| I did get some strange looks when I was in Yeuyang City, but not in Shanghai where they are more used to seeing westerners. My previous visit in 2006 in Beijing people shouted hey English ( I was wearing my England football shirt ) which amused me. Alan |
| Jun 27, 2008 12:57 | #6 |
| Hehe, She´s, You are "lookalike" with big eyes. It´s as simple as that. No wonder they did stare at You. When I was on my first trip to Nanning, I saw only three european people there within 10 days. I also noticed people were staring at me. One Saturday we went to a bookstore. It was full of people. For me it was not impossible to loose my Lao Po, because I could see over all people there. You see, I am tall, in China anyway. I also am blonde and blue eyed. In many places people have come to talk with me. Often it is no easy for me to understand their English. One time in a bank an old man came to me and surprised me. He talked almost perfect English, his pronouncing was extremely good. We had quite a long talk until my turn came. He was very curious and asked a lot of questions, so I did not have a possibility to ask about his English. Carlos |
| Jun 27, 2008 23:57 | #7 |
| I think being tall contributes to the number of stares that I get. I live pretty far from the major cities, though, so I think it's more understandable than in Beijing or Shanghai. Surprisingly, since I've lived here for the past two years, I've either gotten used to the stares and therefore don't notice it anymore, or people have just become accustomed to seeing me around and actually have stopped caring. Either way, good for me. Jabarootoo, I agree that my worst experiences are when I am traveling around different places and bump into Chinese tourist. I get a strange feeling that this must be what it's like to be a celebrity - people yelling hi to you long after they've passed by, slyly passing their camera phone around as if to capture the "scenery" yet somehow pausing when they get to where I and my American wife are standing, or just walking beside me obviously eavesdropping on my English conversation with my wife. I try not to get annoyed - and I usually don't - but it was definitely unnerving when I first arrived here in China. |
| Jun 29, 2008 22:40 | #8 |
| GUESTANDY | I had the same encounter last year. When I visited Xi'an, the locals near the Bell Tower stared at me. The Chinese tourists used their cameras to film me. I felt anoyed that I was treated like a backdrop. |
| Jun 30, 2008 20:16 | #9 |
| >>How did these 6 foreigners know that the people staring where from Beijing?????<< Jaba, the 6 foreign friends talked to me about their encounters in Beijing-their first stop in China. Perhaps, you are right for questioning if they are the local Beijingers, but the foreign friends just thought that the people staring at them were from Beijing. They might be some tourists from other Chinese cities. Well, I thought the foreign friends said it based on their experience or judgement of the "offenders'" appearances. |
| Jul 1, 2008 08:31 | #10 |
| GUESTBRETT | I just got back from a 22 day trip where most of my time was spent in Chongqing. I did notice the occasional stare. One girl even had the nerve to yell foreigners while I was walking with my friend who is born and bred Chongqinese! He didn't even realize what she said at first until I started laughing, because it was more of an insult to him than to me...Some locals even stopped in their tracks and did a complete 360 just to keep staring. But, I'm not one to get riled up over these practices, because I just stare back. I was more offended when people would cut in line even when you were obviously right there!!! You see, I was traveling alone as in I was the only American. But, my friends were all students at my University at were just home for the summer so I came to visit them. We were in the shopping mall coming off an elevator and this group of girls called me cute in mandarin, but I obviously didn't catch it because my mandarin is very poor. But all my friends did since I was not alone and in the middle of our group. Did they expect me to be alone and not understand? |
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