Ways That Are Dark

For ages, the funniest joke in China has been whenever you see a foreigner, to mispronounce the word “hello” and fall into peals of laughter. (The mispronunciation varies according to education but is always unintentional.) The joke never tires because white people in China will hear it countless times every day. Regrettably, foreign visitors with darker skin may be used to a more offensive greeting.

The International Herald Tribune article As Olympic Games approach, Chinese are urged to be ‘civilized’ brings up the issue of manners. It’s an old and somewhat irrelevant topic for many Chinese. Irrelevant because while the majority of people know that certain aspects of their behavior are offensive to visitors from other countries, very few people are interested in changing their ways. From the Tribune article:

At every turn I hear cries of “lao wai.”

The words constitute a slightly uncouth slang for foreigner. Literally, they mean “old outsider.”

Quite often, these murmurings are accompanied by a mocking, sing-song uttering of the English greeting “hello.” The tone is unmistakable, and it is not friendly. This is not to say that it is hostile, either, rather it is said in a way that suggests that foreigners are not merely an object of novelty here, which should certainly no longer be the case by now, but also of slight ridicule.

Any foreigner who has spent a few years in China will understand what the author is talking about. While intended as a slight insult and joke at your expense, it amounts to little more than an irritation. The cries of “lao wai” tend to come out as an exclamation of surprise. The “hello” and girlish laughter is always deliberate and meant as ridicule. It may seem to the casual visitor that the locals are being friendly, but it is really a kind of low-class behavior that has led to many foreigners saying “good-bye” to China forever.