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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: Are foreigners welcome in China?
No, everyone on this site is just really good at sneaking into a country that doesn't treat us like rock stars.
By 99% of the people. The other 1% can be pretty vocal though.
Often times, we are spoiled rotten. It is very easy to let it go to ones head if we are not careful.
As long as you conduct yourself properly then you are welcomed. Pretty warmly usually. Kchur hit it on the head. You will pass thousands of people everyday who have no bad feelings towards foreigners but if you're in China for a good length of time then you're likely to encounter one of the xenophobes.
Even the Chinese people on here who are known to say some racist things every now and then would probably be very polite if they met a foreigner face to face. All of the negative experiences I've had were with older people, mostly men. And it was always when I'm walking with my girl. That being said, the nicest people I've ever met here were the old folks.
China is the same as all countries, Some nice people some not so nice.
I have not had any major problems, so yes I am made welcome or as welcome as tourists/foreigners are made anywhere else.
If anything the general kindness of people in China puts my own country to shame sometimes
especily when traveling with small children
i guess they are more polite than the ones we have in western
accept it or not, westerners dont like foreigners in their country (and they have some rights about it)
chinese people are so kind as far as i faced
smile, and dont cause a problem. respect. try to learn their culture
thats all
I imagine that much of their hospitality is for face. I don't speak good Chinese, so I don't know what they say behind my back, but my girlfriend has often noticed resentment from some Chinese men, probably because we take their women. I can't blame them for that, but it's partially their fault. If they knew how to take care and respect their women, they wouldn't be running to the foreigners so heavily. All in all, the Chinese at least make a front of being welcoming.
It depends on what you do for a living and what people you are dealing with.
My company buys a lot of Chinese product for export, so yes, I feel very welcome here (from the companies we deal with) as we are giving them jobs and money.
Do I feel welcome walking down the street or going to a restaurant with my Chinese gf? Not with the constant death stares I get from the local men.
Although I have always had a sneaking suspicion that they treat you great in front of you, but talk shit in Chinese behind your back.
This is why I am currently starting to learn Mandarin.
DaqingDevil:
Is it worth the angst to learn the language to find out what they are saying about you? I know that's not the main reason you're probably learning but whatever phobia of mine they are feeding with stares it's gonna get a whole lot worse when I hear the comments!!
thedude:
Learning mandarin for me is more about business and personal. I already for the most part know what people are saying based on the words I do know, and the context and gestures during the conversation. Sometimes I stun my hosts when I respond to conversation in English and they look at me stunned and say...."how do you know what we talk about?" You don't need to understand the words in order to understand the intention. But I would like to know the language not so much to talk but to listen. In business they will stretch you as far as they think they can get away with, and knowing the language will give me more power here. And yes Njord, I would react like you if I heard what some of the things I have suspected they are saying are true or worse....but only with a verbal thrashing. And of course my gf speaks about at a 4th grade level in English, so this is another factor.
I'm welcome. Ok, well to many on the street I'm a curiosity, from the way they stare at me. But I made a real friend the first few weeks I was here. I've been making more friends since then, since we share hobbies. There are a lot of younger Chinese who are tired of all the crap too, they just want to have real friends. It may be more difficult to find real ones as a foreigner, but it is possible. Well, maybe the real reason they are nice to me is because they think I am pretty. Also, I am always polite and say 谢谢. It always puts a smile on their faces, whether it's the older ladies working at the cafeteria or the cashier at the bakery. Or maybe I'm just lucky, I don't know.
I know the things they say about me while I am standing in front of them. Words are only 20% of communication, but they don't know that. In fact, they know very little about anything, especially when it comes to dealing with people.
Which is why I don't care if I am welcome or not. I make more money than the people criticising me. I sleep with more of their women than they ever will. I enjoy a lifestyle they can not even imagine, because they have no imagination. I have traveled to places they don't believe are real. If they are friendly to me, I return the courtesy. If they are not, I am passive and dismissive, but rarely angry.
They behave the way they do because they are uneducated, and unfulfilled in life. I am here because I received an invitation letter from a Chinese company, and another from the Chinese Government. They are here because they have no choice. I can pack up and leave at anytime, and go anywhere in the world I like. Most of them can't, and never will.
I have my circle of friends in China, and friends around the world to talk to on Skype and social media. I am comfortable with my life, and the life I have lived. Their words, and their actions, are of little consequence to me.