Chinese tourists

_Brian

corner back 2 wrote: »

We just had a very surreal experience with some Chinese tourists while on holiday in the US. We were wheeling our 14 month old little girl in her stroller and their reaction to her was unbelievable. They were taking photos of her without asking permission and calling over friends to look at her. At first we didnt mind and she was smiling back but then there was a group of older chinese women and their reaction was bordering on hysteria. They wanted their photos taken with her again without asking and at this stage we became a bit unnerved and left. Can anyone explain their reaction. The only thing I could find online was that big eyes are a sign of beauty in China and many people do remark about my daughter's eyes but we have never experienced a reaction like this before.

Just a cultural difference..
As another poster said this isnt unusual at all in China.

When Irish people "people watch" we do it in a sort of sly way, staying back and sneaking a look, whispering to each other. The Chinese on the other hand just walk up to whomever they want to watch and stand there and stare, they will talk amongst themselves, point at what your doing and then walk off when their curiosity is satisfied.
I stopped one day and took off my rucksack to fix some stuff and get a drink for one of our kids. When I looked up there were maybe 15-20 people in a ring around looking at what I was doing and chatting amongst themselves, then they just wandered off, bit intimidating at first but it means nothing..

whisky_galore

silverfeather wrote: »

Bull**** post is bull****. I have found Chinese people to be super polite and very friendly. Go home OP.

Go out in the sticks in China as a westerner and you'll find being an object of extreme curiousity is par for the course. Dunno if you'd find that charming or annoying.

whisky_galore

murpho999 wrote: »

Hardly shocking that Chinese people prefer to eat Chinese food is it?

I'd say they find the dishes weird and poor quality though.

Like Americans' interpretations of 'Irish' food to us.

snotboogie

seamus wrote: »

To be fair, Chinese tourists have been building a bad reputation worldwide for being dirty and disrespectful. Like not understanding the concept of queueing and just rushing things all at once, or carving their initials into 3,500-year-old artifacts.
That's not to say that everyone else is perfect, but it's a bit much to make some hipsterish proclamations about old colonialism, when even the Chinese government themselves have admitted an issue with their tourists' conduct overseas.

I've a friend who spent two years living in China, probably a "small" town of million like others have mentioned. One of the only foreigners around, 6'2" beanpole, Irish white and bright red hair & beard. Found himself being followed in the streets most days by groups of schoolchildren.
Was celebrated like a rock star at the local pub for being able to drink 6 pints in a single sitting. Even the barflies couldn't match him. He also managed to drink it dry of Guinness one week (they must have only got stock in every few weeks or something). We've always found this funny because at home he's notorious for getting pissed on the fumes and heading home locked after 4 pints.

He's right though, Hong Kong is one of the most racist cities in the world and locals have an appalling attitude towards mainlanders. What's even worse is watching idiot westerners join in. The recent protests in Hong Kong were a great example of the local contempt to mainlanders rather than the CCP, who were causing the issue in the first place. Their big viral video was an attractive student pleading to the "international community" to support them, when the only support that would actually help them would be across the border in Shenzhen. Getting or even appealing to get the Chinese population on side would have scared the **** out of Xi Jinping and the party but they were too proud to ask for mainlanders help, instead they continued to view the Chinese people and the CCP as the same thing and allowed Xi to sit on his ass and do nothing while he watched the protests peter out to nothing without really conceding anything.

folamh

corner back 2 wrote: »

We just had a very surreal experience with some Chinese tourists while on holiday in the US. We were wheeling our 14 month old little girl in her stroller and their reaction to her was unbelievable. They were taking photos of her without asking permission and calling over friends to look at her. At first we didnt mind and she was smiling back but then there was a group of older chinese women and their reaction was bordering on hysteria. They wanted their photos taken with her again without asking and at this stage we became a bit unnerved and left. Can anyone explain their reaction. The only thing I could find online was that big eyes are a sign of beauty in China and many people do remark about my daughter's eyes but we have never experienced a reaction like this before.

I have a couple of friends who have lived in China and they've all experienced this, especially from rural folk. One of my friends was walking by a schoolyard and all the kids ran to the fence all excited to see her and asked to touch her long red hair lmao. Another friend who was teaching in a city said that people would always stare and point at her in the street, and on two occasions people asked if they could take a picture with her.

The_B_Man

Alun wrote: »

That reminds me of when I was in China back in the 80's, and my wife and I took a rickshaw ride in Beijing. The driver was fascinated by my hairy legs as I had shorts on, and at the end of the trip wanted to stroke them :eek: If that wasn't bad enough he then called over all his fellow rickshaw drivers as well. Time to beat a hasty retreat!!

That actually reminded me of a Korean friend of mine a few years ago. After a few pints, he admitted he was fascinated by my hairy legs and wanted to stroke them. Me, being a good few pints in, allowed him to have a stroke and he was only delighted with himself.

Wacker The Attacker

Maybe they were going to put her in a trio

Egginacup

Yurt! wrote: »

I was on a train in rural China (and I'm talking the absolute sticks in West China) . Train ride was about 5 hours to get where I was going. Word got through there was a whitey on the train. About half an hour in there was a queue of auld lads wanting to have a look at me giving me food, drinking shots and buying me beer. Was blotto leaving the train. I had pictures of my family I as a bookmark which got taken and passed around the train. No sense of space or privacy as someone else mentioned. The Chinese in general are fantastic people.

You see that sounds like heaven to me. As a Leo I like to be made a fuss over. And I like free beer too.

suicide_circus

So it's kosher for chinese school girls to follow me around and take photos but not vice versa?

Ayls

I agree with others who have been to China. When I was there I always had a "bodyguard" with me, not because it was dangerous but because I would be mobbed (which did get quite unsettling) He was in plain clothes but a former bodyguard to government officials and I don't know how but they all knew this and would keep a certain distance from me but on the occasion he left my side (to collect car) I was literally swamped in, within a very short time the street became blocked and traffic stopped with drivers getting out to join in the crowd. It was quite surreal, to bring a town to a stand still. I never felt they meant any harm but in some rural places you have to remember they haven't even seen images of westerners on TV or media so I must have been quite surreal to them. One old man did make me laugh he was literally looking at me then back up at the sky then back at me again lol His eyes popping out of his head !

Supercell

OP be thankful they aren't relatives or they would have grabbed the child (screaming or not) and passed it amongst the villagers to have closeup look!
I remember when visiting my wife's hometown village a couple of years ago that my then 1 year old son kept falling asleep in his pram all the time, I realised afterwards that he must have figured it was the only way to shut all the crowds of people around him staring and trying to grab him for a cuddle. He got used to it after a few days and actually seemed to enjoy the attention but in the beginning it was quite a culture shock to say the least for both of us!
I stared at them too, stuff like hanging the washing off the power lines seemed perfectly natural behaviour there

arayess

murpho999 wrote: »

Hardly shocking that Chinese people prefer to eat Chinese food is it?

I'd say they find the dishes weird and poor quality though.

I've never been to china but I do know one thing , jimmy chungs isn't chinese food.

So it does look odd that they'd go abroad and eat some bastard version of their own cuisine.

ScumLord

Something like this happened to me in Galway. I was standing outside Zhivagos smoking a fag waiting for a friend to come out of the shop. This one came over and stood beside me and the friend started taking pictures. I thought they wanted pictures of zhivagos so I stepped out of the way and she shuffled over to me again.

clever user name wrote: »

There's no privacy in China. What I mean by that is there is no such thing as "I just want be left alone". Friends and family do everything together. I had random people knocking on my door just to say hello and come in for a cup of tea. Everything knows everything about everyone. Even though they can be quite shy, if you start to talking to them some of the first questions they will ask you is how old you are? Are you married? No!! Why not?

Sounds pretty familiar. They should do an exchange with the wesht of Ireland.

seamus wrote: »

I've a friend who spent two years living in China, probably a "small" town of million like others have mentioned. One of the only foreigners around, 6'2" beanpole, Irish white and bright red hair & beard. Found himself being followed in the streets most days by groups of schoolchildren.

That would just freak me out.

Adyx

ScumLord wrote: »

Something like this happened to me in Galway. I was standing outside Zhivagos smoking a fag waiting for a friend to come out of the shop. This one came over and stood beside me and the friend started taking pictures. I thought they wanted pictures of zhivagos so I stepped out of the way and she shuffled over to me again.

Galway people are pretty weird like that.

Lollipops23

My folks visited me here a few months back (Ontario) and I had to explain to my Ma that Eskimo is a derogatory term here. Took her a while to catch on, but she still lost her freakin mind every time she spotted a Native person in public. Thankfully she'd calmed down by the time she saw a Native couple with their baby in a coffee shop or I'm certain she'd have made as big a fuss as the Chinese did over OP's daughter.

Nodin

suicide_circus wrote: »

So it's kosher for chinese school girls to follow me around and take photos but not vice versa?

....you weren't listening to the Judge at all, were ye?

Egginacup

murpho999 wrote: »

Hardly shocking that Chinese people prefer to eat Chinese food is it?

I'd say they find the dishes weird and poor quality though.

Actually the gear you'd get in a Western Chinese restaurant is nothing like what they're used to but a lot of the places have the "real" menu for Chinese people. No fucking chicken balls in flourescent goop on that menu.

Nodin

Egginacup wrote: »

Actually the gear you'd get in a Western Chinese restaurant is nothing like what they're used to but a lot of the places have the "real" menu for Chinese people. No fucking chicken balls in flourescent goop on that menu.

Chicken feet. What the jaysus is there to eat on chicken feet I've no idea, but its a "favourite" by all accounts.

partyguinness

Digressing slightly, my wife and I went to Cambodia on our Honeymoon. Now she is milk bottle white.

The locals and Japanese tourists just stared at her constantly. I mean they would just blatantly stare. Our Cambodian tour guide said that they were looking and talking about her pale skin.

Pale skin is a big thing in Asia- you will see ads for skin whitening products.

Back in Cambodia as we sweated and melted around the jungle ruins, Japanese tourists were covered from head to toe and carried umbrellas- so they would not catch the sun.

By all accounts, having a tan/colouring is a sign of poverty i.e. you work outdoors in the fields.

Think about it- Japanese people are dark but they purposefully stay out of the sun to stay as white as can be and you very very rarely see a tanned/dark Japanese women.

Magico Gonzalez

I read somewhere, a NY Times travel article about Chinese tourism I think, that the Chinese have a network of restaurants catering to the Chinese expat community and Chinese tourists in the major cities (in terms of their expat pop. and tourism), they are usually in basements or hidden from site, the ones they referred to (somewhere in Europe i'm sure) were basements with no windows, nothing in the local language all in Chinese. Food was 100% authentic. The tour guides ushered them in, sat them down and got them fed up then wheeled them out to continue with the tour. Like a school dinner almost.

According to this article they predominantly spent money on luxury goods and very little on traditional tourism (restaurants, pubs, tours etc) as they were catered for by Chinese expats (food and drink) and their own tour company for travel guides. Likely local companies hire them buses and coaches I guess.

stoneill

Blonde hair.
Chinese love blonde hair on babies and kids.
They think its lather rubbery.

partyguinness

Magico Gonzalez wrote: »

I read somewhere, a NY Times travel article about Chinese tourism I think, that the Chinese have a network of restaurants catering to the Chinese expat community and Chinese tourists in the major cities (in terms of their expat pop. and tourism), they are usually in basements or hidden from site, the ones they referred to (somewhere in Europe i'm sure) were basements with no windows, nothing in the local language all in Chinese. Food was 100% authentic. The tour guides ushered them in, sat them down and got them fed up then wheeled them out to continue with the tour. Like a school dinner almost.

According to this article they predominantly spent money on luxury goods and very little on traditional tourism (restaurants, pubs, tours etc) as they were catered for by Chinese expats (food and drink) and their own tour company for travel guides. Likely local companies hire them buses and coaches I guess.

Living in the UK, you will find outlet centres with the likes of Burberry, Mulberry etc etc and shopping malls rammed with Chinese tourists.

Just back from Cornwall which is a traditional tourist destination in the UK- I can safely say I did not see a single Chinese person among all the tourist. They go shopping in London.

I can't remember who I had this conversation with but the Chinese tourists are well able to get the same luxery items in China but it is more 'prestigious' to buy in Europe so it's a lot of one man upmanship going on.

snotboogie

partyguinness wrote: »

Living in the UK, you will find outlet centres with the likes of Burberry, Mulberry etc etc and shopping malls rammed with Chinese tourists.

Just back from Cornwall which is a traditional tourist destination in the UK- I can safely say I did not see a single Chinese person among all the tourist. They go shopping in London.

I can't remember who I had this conversation with but the Chinese tourists are well able to get the same luxery items in China but it is more 'prestigious' to buy in Europe so it's a lot of one man upmanship going on.

It's nothing to do with the prestige of buying in Europe lol. It's because Chinese taxes on foreign luxury goods are sky high, even if the products are manufactured in China. Chinese tourists will go for the traditional tourist reasons, especially sightseeing, but shop a lot more than other countries because the products are so much cheaper in Europe or the US than they are in China.

clever user name

Ayls wrote: »

When I was there I always had a "bodyguard" with me, not because it was dangerous but because I would be mobbed

This!!!

China is without a doubt the safest place I have ever lived. The absolute worst thing you would have to worry about is petty theft (pickpockets), and that is only in the big cities (and not too common). I was cycling to the shop one night and got stopped by a couple of locals who invited me to join them for dinner. Got hammered drunk on rice wine and couldn't cycle so just left my bike against a pole (no lock) in the middle of the city and got a taxi. Went back the next evening and it was still there :pac::pac:

In 2 years I never once saw anyone get arrested. Rarely even seen a police officers apart from the traffic ones.

Nodin

partyguinness wrote: »

Digressing slightly, my wife and I went to Cambodia on our Honeymoon. Now she is milk bottle white.

The locals and Japanese tourists just stared at her constantly. I mean they would just blatantly stare. Our Cambodian tour guide said that they were looking and talking about her pale skin.

Pale skin is a big thing in Asia- you will see ads for skin whitening products.

Back in Cambodia as we sweated and melted around the jungle ruins, Japanese tourists were covered from head to toe and carried umbrellas- so they would not catch the sun.

By all accounts, having a tan/colouring is a sign of poverty i.e. you work outdoors in the fields.

Think about it- Japanese people are dark but they purposefully stay out of the sun to stay as white as can be and you very very rarely see a tanned/dark Japanese women.

India is the same by all accounts, with the added stigma of darker skin being associated with lower castes.

Grayson

partyguinness wrote: »

Digressing slightly, my wife and I went to Cambodia on our Honeymoon. Now she is milk bottle white.

The locals and Japanese tourists just stared at her constantly. I mean they would just blatantly stare. Our Cambodian tour guide said that they were looking and talking about her pale skin.

Pale skin is a big thing in Asia- you will see ads for skin whitening products.

Back in Cambodia as we sweated and melted around the jungle ruins, Japanese tourists were covered from head to toe and carried umbrellas- so they would not catch the sun.

By all accounts, having a tan/colouring is a sign of poverty i.e. you work outdoors in the fields.

Think about it- Japanese people are dark but they purposefully stay out of the sun to stay as white as can be and you very very rarely see a tanned/dark Japanese women.

In Vietnam women cover up completely to avoid the sun. Long sleeves, hats and face masks. Not a bit of skin showing.

I had multiple people comment on my nose. Nothing special about my nose but it's not small and flat like a lot of Asian ones.

Grayson

Magico Gonzalez wrote: »

According to this article they predominantly spent money on luxury goods and very little on traditional tourism (restaurants, pubs, tours etc) as they were catered for by Chinese expats (food and drink) and their own tour company for travel guides. Likely local companies hire them buses and coaches I guess.

I went to Boots in Thailand (yep, boots the pharmacy are in Thailand). I got stuck in a queue behind a chinese woman who spent close to €200 on cosmetics.

Depraved

Depraved wrote: »

I was at a Burger Machine outlet this morning (in a very non-touristy area of The Philippines) and a 3 year old boy came up to me and tried to climb up on to my lap. His mother didn't seem bothered in the slightest. I'm still getting used to things like this. It's not unusual for strangers to come up and start talking to me and touching my arms (the pale skin is very attractive to them).

As above...personal space & privacy are non existent. I've even had a guest enter my home and then proceed to cook themselves a meal without even asking whilst I was in the C.R (bathroom).

I only spent 2 weeks in China whilst working, and I had similar reactions & behaviour.

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

What the fuk. Did they at least share?

No. It was just some noodles though. 6.75 peso a packet (13 cents). They'll also examine anything that isn't stored away...like utility bills on the table, or a passport etc. They don't mean anything by it, and wouldn't blink if you did the same in their home. People who haven't traveled outside Europe/US would be quite shocked by the different cultures. Things we take for granted as 'normal' can be very different elsewhere.

Depraved

suicide_circus wrote: »

So it's kosher for chinese school girls to follow me around and take photos but not vice versa?

For what I've seen, nobody is bothered either way. Now, I don't go around taking pictures of kids, but I've had parents ask me to stand with, or even hold their kid whilst a photo is taken.

The whole 'stranger danger' thing is almost like an alien concept to them. They really don't see any danger at all. I'd go so far as to say that many are absolutely naive to the risks.

jank

Depraved wrote: »

For what I've seen, nobody is bothered either way. Now, I don't go around taking pictures of kids, but I've had parents ask me to stand with, or even hold their kid whilst a photo is taken.

The whole 'stranger danger' thing is almost like an alien concept to them. They really don't see any danger at all. I'd go so far as to say that many are absolutely naive to the risks.

Maybe they aren't conditioned to fear every moving object like us in the west?
Then again, if you break the law in places like that the expect swift justice.