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Q: Ever fall victim to the 'they all look alike' syndrome?
Had a woman in Yangshuo once, laugh in surprise that i'd turned up to her restaurant for the fourth time that week, though in actual fact i'd never been there before. I smiled and said "No worries, we foreigners all look the same." It's happened a bunch of times actually. Even had one Chinese girl mistake me for someone who was a friend of hers. Again i'd never met the girl. Works both ways though, i've found myself stumped a number of times when some stranger's walked up and said, "Hi (ahem) mArtiAn, how are you?" only to find that I haven't a clue who they are. Really embarrassing. One time I even made that mistake with a friend's wife. Even gave her a bit of a dirty look at first 'cause I thought she was just gawping. Really 'really' embarrassing. And now i've done it again this morning with a neighbour who I see all the time. Really friendly bloke who's always smiling. Turns out he works in the library and I chatted with him about work and bla bla bla for about three minutes while I was getting a book, then he comes out with (in Chinese) "Maybe i'll speak to your wife about my kid joining your classes" to which I, slightly abruptly, said "How'd 'you' know my wife?" only to see his face drop as he explained he lived next door and i've seen him about 100 times since I moved in. Now I feel like a real turd. Oh well.........I guess turds happen.
You make this mistake much, or get it made about you?
Yeah i am mistaken for Brad Pitt daily or was that Charlie Sheen ?
Come to think of it
Mr Bean sounds about right
I do it all the time. Ill be walking and someone will say " Hi Mike" and i confusingly say it back and hurry on only for my wife to call me a moron and that this is the blah blah blah.
I cant watch Chinese movies, Im always like " Is this guy the good guy or the bad guy"?
My wife watches the stupid damn , Where are we going dad? 爸爸去那儿? And I still have no idea which is which. So I feel your pain.
But on the other half of your question. Perhaps I have a memorable face because I havent experienced people not recognizing me. I can go to a random store or drink shop once, and the 2nd time ill go they seem to have remembered my order, and love to show me that they know it. But I have heard many Chinese say that we all look the same.
nicholasba:
jeez feel ur pain mate. My gf is doing the same, always watching that idiotic show...
mike695ca:
haha well, she might not have told you, but its finished now. We are free. On to the next!
mike695ca:
Yeah.... um..... I kinda like that show...... except when they sing and dance. Dont chinese feel shame??? And then foreigners come on and it makes me uncomfortable hahaha.
By the way, interesting story about that show.. Either its all crap, or they dont screen very well.
Like 2 years ago I was working for a large chinese company in HR and they asked me to do some interviews for foreigners for a position. Anyways this guy comes and hes nice enough, but no experience, he wasnt even a teacher, he was like studying kung fu and working in a bar in Foshan.... So im like sorry dude, this position is way too professional. Id like to help but ...whatever... like 6 months later im reading sports on my ipad and my girl is watching the show and he comes on! Im like..wait a minute I know that dude.... where is he??? no way! Im like, listen to me woman... this guy is from foshan and he studies kung fu! Anyways I was right, but the point is... it was all crap. The girls were like i dont trust foreigners and they party too much.. Anyways he denied it, and in his video thing he was all like, oh i never drink ( he works in a bar) I never go to bars, i like to read ( HE WORKS IN A BAR) and my job is a manager of an import/ export company ( HE WORKS IN A BAR!!!!! ) anyways, the show was kinda ruined for me after that
mike695ca:
Cuz I only watch the most realistic chinese language match making shows.
Side note- the girls didnt buy it, he went home alone. ( Dont act like you all werent asking yourselves that!)
nicholasba:
well yeah, if you know the guy before or if is some chinese-speaking foreigner, besides a slightly uncomfortable feeling to see a kind of tv-zoo is not the worst but there's this about this 50/60yo "wise man" traveling around china to mediate dysfunctional couples or families, i guess the name of this show is something like Qiantang laoniangjiu
钱塘老娘舅 which is sometimes rather interesting.
mike695ca:
hahaha ive never heard of it, ill check it out. I saw this one dude that did that for girl, like a medicine shaman kinda guy. And he told this chick that her vagina had a demon so she let him nail her to rid herself of the evil spirits... turns out he didnt work in that shop. the police are still looking.....
nicholasba:
hahaa lmfao, plz find the name of that show, i need moarr shit like that to get through these holidays
nicholasba:
would be cool to make a show like that. Incredible stupid or absurd solutions for rather easy problems...or maybe they already air that (you know somekinda truman show..)
mike695ca:
Oh god no, I do NOT need another show like that, I get enough adsurd solutions to dumb questions from my wife. No more please!
umm you cant eat ice cream this week because why?
Oh you body has fire , thats why you have a pimple, i got it.
Ok, so we need to drive 2 hours to go to your hometown to buy a turtle or a fish and release it in a lake?
Sooooo your telling me that we need to get married not when we choose but when your dads old man friends tell us is a good day? got it..
oh and we need to hurry up and have a baby because a snake baby is better than a horse baby?
I want a divorce
Actually happened to a friend of mine who's parents are Chinese but she was born in New Zealand. We walked into a tattoo parlour and the artist said she had done three tattoos on my friend before, but we were going for her to get her first.
My girlfriend has an identical twin sister. Can't get anymore confusing than that. Trust me...
Never had that happen to me but many Chinese look the same to me. I see women all the time that look like my GF. I was with a friend one night and thought another girl looked so much like her that I asked if they were sisters. No.
Literally had a student tell me she didn't watch Western movies before, because "you foreigners all look alike, so it's hard to tell who is who."
Physical resemblance is a fact of life. And we don't have to go to extreme cases like twins.
More than that, there is occupational resemblance. It is amazing how often this happens to me. When I am inside a hospital, be it to attend a health talk, visiting a friend who is sick, as a volunteer...etc. invariably nurses would mistaken me for a doctor. They would greet me with a smile and say, "on duty doctor?" and I, not wanting to correct/embarass them, saying they've made the kind of mistake that of all people, them is the last I expect to make. So, I am invariably caught embarrassed, not knowing what to say. If it is a ward, a nurse would pull my friend aside and ask, "your friend is a doctor, right?" No, I am NOT. The next occupation I often get mistaken for by members within that occupation is, a cop. The 'closest call' was a very attractive young lady officer who stopped the police van she was driving (I was hiking) in the middle of the road, smiled and asked, "sir, want a lift back to the station?" No, thanks! 
earthizen:
Physical resemblance. Here are three top actresses in China, spanning across one generation. At a distance, can you tell them apart with a casual look?
earthizen:
Haha, a guy, a relative of her who also was in the entertainment industry (something like a director, writer, can't remember exactly) told me he saw her when she was in the early stage of her acting career. He was sitting when she came in and stood in front of him. He said she had the best, biggest, most perfect breasts he ever seen in his life. Considering the number of "top notch" girls he must have met, it means you have pretty good taste, and sharp eyes, mate.
Shining_brow:
Given that I only see 2 actresses, I suggest that they all just blend into one another... :p
earthizen:
hahaha......rolling on the floor, very humorous.
ask anyone on earth, "want to bet a nice supper at a 5 star hotel over which is which with the two actresses at the top, at a distance of 20 ft, well lit condition?" hell, even at this distance, less than 2 ft, I fully admit that I have to reaalllllyyyy look hard to tell the difference!
Yeah i am mistaken for Brad Pitt daily or was that Charlie Sheen ?
Come to think of it
Mr Bean sounds about right
Where's Martian anyway? I'm thinking, he might run out of fuel at return to Earth.
icnif77:
If I tell you honestly, I'm not too picky!
I was at Super (big RT) this afternoon, which was mobbed. It's raining, cold and Sunday. I usually stay in, but fridge was empty, and I wasn't aware of the 'day of the week'. Finally, I got to the check-out line, and one very tall mom was trying to silence little boy with adult person's crying voice in my queue, standing 1/2 m away. I changed queue, exit Super, walked happily for 1.5km to my home, and opened my puter, and 'here I am'.
What better do you want? LOL
philbravery:
To bloody hot in Brisbane these days 
spent the day a shopping centre hiding in the aircon and free wifi while the kids played in the indoor playground 
Shining_brow:
Haven't you noticed? He's been making a movie about himself!!!
icnif77:
He got really pissed once, when I asked him 'when did he come back/return to Earth'.He was in Nanning, if I remember correct.
It's snowing here, -1*C. I hate snow!
I just luuuuuv it when Asians make such bold (and stupid) comments saying "all us westerns look alike". Are you fooking kiding me ! Jeez, think about it for a moment at the absurdity such comments are. Do I really need to state the obvious here people ? Generally, a lot of Asians have the same hair color, eye color and facial features. Koreans and main island japanese go a step further and have the same skin color, and roughly the same height (its funny to see foreigners towering over them in the crowds in the cities). Etc. i can go on and on here. Caucasian westerners have a broad range of hair and eye color, along with facial features, and skin variation.
earthizen:
There is a joke with the Koreans, called "three not-alike" making fun of their highly popular "hobby" of plastic (cosmetic) surgery, both guys and girls. The child, when born, looks nothing like 1. dad, 2. mom, 3. ________. Sorry, I didn't make the joke up, have yet to figure out what the 3rd is. Maybe you all can help me out.
Happened to me many times... in my defense... meeting people in China is extremely overwhelming sometimes... just too many people.
Many Chinese even agree with this and fake pretending to recognize people. They also forget their names and instead call them... beautiful lady, or big brother to try and sound warm and close to mask their lack of recollection.
In each photo, without the costumes, based on facial features only, can you tell these Korean guys and girls apart? They are all members of popular k-pop groups. The thing with young Koreans is, 1. cosmetic surgery is extremely popular 2. they have a "universal" standard of physical beauty.
