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Q: Most unfriendly city you've been to in China?
Most people I've met in various cities in China have been pretty friendly as a whole in my book. Of course, the longer you stay in one place the more the cracks start to develop, and I've found that generally on the street in Beijing people aren't particularly a happy bunch.
I recently paid a trip to Shanghai during the Dragon Boat Festival, and had heard all these tales about the snobby Shanghainese etc etc. I was pleasantly surprised, as I heard a lot more "pleases" and thank yous" in shops and restaurants etc. Of course, I was only there for 3 days so my judgment can't be wholly accurate. What other opinions do you have of Shanghai, and what is the most unfriendly city you've been to in China?
Generally speaking, I prefer northern Chinese to southern Chinese. Whilst I can't say it applies to everyone, I find a lot of unfriendliness, racism and ethnocentric attitude amongst coastal Shandong people.
darkstar1:
Wouldn't that count as northern China though? In my experience it's the southerners that are less so...but I suppose such statements are equally judgemental haha
Kaiwen:
Yes, Shandong is technically classed as northern China but I particularly refer to North Easterners (DongBeiRen) when stating a kind of friendliness and acceptance. They tend to be uncultured and loud (even by Chinese standards) but still retain a degree of friendliness with it. I find Coastal Shandong people exceptional particularly those in and around Qingdao Development Zone and Huangdao. Obviously, it can't be said for all of them but there is a certain distinct undercurrent of unfriendliness amongst some of the locals in my opinion. Southern Chinese are a distinct cross sections of attitudes. Some of them are extremely friendly, others distinctly unaccepting of outsiders. But generally speaking, Dongbei people get my vote for friendliness.
nicholasba:
northern chinese includes both shandong and henan and usually dongbei people are not really classified as Beifangren, but just as Dongbeiren
Definitely Beijing, especially taxi drivers and waiters. The "I'm a foreigner so treat me special" treatment doesn't apply in Beijing anymore. And it's probably not even a foreigner thing. I don't think they say hello, thank you or good bye to anyone. Even the people working at the ticket counter of subway stations slam change down and don't say a word. I will say this though, the customs officers at Beijing capital airport are some of the friendliest airport staff I've met, unlike the power-hungry, condescending customs officers in the UK and US.
i travel most of the time in Hunan and nearest province like Wuhan. people are most friendly.
i think Guangzhou Definitely , the most unfriendly city in china. full of liars...and rude guangdong people.
Hulk:
I'm with Xpat.John.
Changsha -- or at the very least, somewhere inside hunan -- is probably where satan will have his throne in the future. The seat of the beast and all that. There's NO WAY IN HELL that Changsha isn't full of liars and rude cheaters... you must be a troll / living under a rock.
Wuhan is not a province. It's a city of hellfire, but probably not quite THE LAKE OF FIRE.
Guangdong people have always been kind to me, granted I've only been there maybe 3 or 4 times... the food sucks, though. Guangdong people seem to be pretty serious.
EDIT: New policy: I'm downvoting anyone who likes Hunan / Changsha.
I'd have to say (and I know you'd disagree Kaiwen) that Harbin was a negative experience for me. I thought the taxi drivers were quite rude and I met one local on the train who wouldn't stop talking about how foreigners bully China all the time. Still, they were only a few individuals but I'd never had it that bad in other places in China.
Kaiwen:
I won't disagree with you because it is such a subjective topic. Each person is going to have their own different views and experiences. It depends on many factors such as the situations that people have found themselves in and which people in particular that they have had interactions with. This is certainly one question where there cannot be any definite right or wrong answers.
Suzhou. I hated that place.
Hulk:
Suzhou in Anhui province is pretty much asstastic. Did you go there, or to Jiangsu province?
Robk:
Suzhou is a beautiful city (mainly the smaller villages tht surround it)... but the people... yeesh.
I'm going with BJ. Hands down! I've been to several other places, but BJ was the worst of it. Game places customer service horrible! People cutting in line at fast food chains and at the movie theater. People shoving to get on the bus and the subway. Taxi drivers refusing to give you a ride. Illegal black cabs that won't consider taking you unless you are from China. The list goes on!
He he, I said: "list"! (
!
Changchun and Wuhan
Me and friends were yelled at by every single taxi driver
#1: Changsha, Hunan, Lake of Eternal Fire and Brimstone, China
#2: Anything in Hunan except a certain county-level city.
#3: Wuhan, Hubei, China
Wuhan is like Changsha Lite. After being in Changsha, Wuhan seems like paradise. You ever wonder why Hunan represents the worst in China in my eyes? Well, it did spawn Mao didn't it?
Go to Lijiang ( 丽江市) and you will be there. Rip-off and cheaters everywhere.
Xining. It's in Qinghai, where there are a lot of areas forbidden to foreigners (Nuclear industry, uranium mining, yada yada). On one end, the guesthouses staffs were paranoid about me being a spy. On the other end, she was saying that 'us Chinese have to protect our secrets', in Mandarin, assuming that I could not understand. So that's how the secrets are kept 
That, and obviously, forbidden here, forbidden there, it gets old quickly. I understand the restrictions, but gave me a not very good taste of the place.
I have good memories of Hefei people.
Not a fan of any of the big cities, everybody is just too busy to give a shit. They just want your money.
Samm11:
Agreed. However I don't feel the opposite in big cities back home.
I've been all over China and Hefei is, by far, the most unfriendly and godforsaken city in the country. The level of ignorance and ethnocentrism that exists there is staggering.
Hengyang, Hunan. wow,,, that was the place I was trying to refer to when that guy asked why Chinese feel life is to be endured not enjoyed. Well, go spend some time in Hengyang. Strangest thing that has ever happened to me in China happened to me there. Understand I have been here 6+ years (10+ SE/East Asia) and 98% of that time on my own, away from Western peeps. I mean I have seen/lived it before. But walking down a back alley in Hengyang one night,, pool-playing alleys, I passed a table and the males (can't say 'Men') broke into the most drawn-out peal of laughter. The thing is,,,, I swear on my Mother, it was EXACTLY the sound one hears when they show monkeys screeching on NatGeo. Blew my Friggin' Mind !!
diverdude1:
Well, I am a primate and it is no secret. I have only become more aware of the close, undeniable connection (common evolutionary pathway) as I spend more time in China. The mongoloid never sought to deny the common heritage, as I feel the caucasoid did. This intrigues me.
These are simple questions to answer from a genetic perspective—humans share more DNA with lemurs, monkeys and apes than they do with other mammals. Genetic research of the last few decades suggests that humans and all living primates evolved from a common ancestor that split from the rest of the mammals at least 65 million years ago. But even before DNA analyses, scientists knew humans belong in the primate order. Carl Linnaeus classified humans with monkeys, apes and other primates in his 18th-century taxonomic system. Even the ancient Greeks recognized similarities between people and primates. Today, anthropologists recognize several physical and behavioral traits that tie humans to primates.
Read more: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/hominids/2012/10/why-are-humans-primates/#ixzz2n7ebTiOK
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter
I was thinking about taking a trip last summer and was using Wikitravel as a guide and was looking up various cities I have never been to. The only one that had an advisory about the people was Harbin. Basically it is a mix of Dongbei Chinese, Russians and Koreans! It was stated that the local Chinese men do not like it when the white guy hits on a local girl, because they equate all whites with being Russians. Mix in the Koreans, who are also racist, xenophobic and just assholes, and it can imagine it to be a volatile mix.
Basically the advisory stated that foreigners should avoid the bar scene, and don't tangle with anyone.
Chongqing for chinese. Rude and they think the are awsome. Wuhan was just rude in a piss of the sreer while staring at you kinda way. For foreigners... beijing. The wont look another foreigner in the eye. Just ignore you. But it coulda been my crotchless pants i was rockin....
Suprised at the guangdong comment. The cantonese have been the most polite and friendliest by far.
Taiyuan is like a distopia after a nuclear war. The sky was cloudy as hell even when it was sunny... and the city looked like it was dying...
They people seemed like brain damaged cattle and yelled at each other constantly. STAY OUT OF TAI YUAN, SHANXI province. I have been to many cities and that is the ONLY city I can't stand.
Even the Chinese people here say they hate it... even the people from Tai yuan hate it!
