A Westerner In China

I got tapped on the shoulder after entering the shop. As I turned around, I was wondering if it was an assistant- but no, it was a fellow Westerner! She launched very enthusiastically in to asking where I was from and what I was doing in China. I, being a cynic, was wondering if she was going to try to sell me something. But actually she had stopped me because she's not seen any other Western people since she moved to Huadu from Australia. And that was three months ago...

When she told me this I actually was not surprised. I'm sure the inner city has more of a cultural mix, whereas within the district I reside, nearly everyone is Chinese. Don't misjudge my feelings, I am not shocked that I am surrounded by Chinese people when I am living in China, but I can't lie that being a minority takes some getting used to.

Before I arriving, my employer informed me that the Guangzhou based school is a great place to be and that I'd be housed near my place of work. While the latter was true, and my apartment is a short walk from school, we are situated nearly 30 miles outside of the city! Due to the scale of China, the area I live is technically classed as Guangzhou, but as I compared a picture taken by my house and a photo of Guangzhou on the Internet, I can tell that  distance counts for something.

'Guangzhou' and the real Guangzhou.
Guess which one I live in?

In my daily life I do gain a lot of attention for not being Chinese. Children from the nearby secondary school often eye me as I pass them, sometimes saying hi, with others just staring as if I am some sort of mutant. They don't do it in a rude way- they simply don't see anyone around here that is not Chinese. On previous travels I've never stood out so obviously- a European travelling his own continent will usually blend in fairly well.

On other occasions, people shout "Lau-why!" at me, which means 'foreigner'. Rather than using this word to greet me, they simply yell it, as an announcement to everyone else in the area.

"Ai-yah! Lau-why! Lau-why!"

I don't appreciate having someone shout that out on first sight, but what can you do? Its apparently not seen as rude by Chinese people so I have to do my best to see it the same way, since I'm in their country.

Once, a man on a bike just said "HA!" loudly in my girlfriend's face as he rode by. A sort of drive-by dismissal which neither she nor I could do anything in response to.

China is not alone in this treatment of Westerners, I've heard of similar things happening to travellers visiting India. A girl told me about her being grabbed in the street, having her white skin poked and fair hair stroked. The frequency of such occurrences I don't know, but at least I don't have to worry about such annoyances where I live.

                     "Take a picture it'll last longer!"

There are, of course, days when I am feeling less tolerant and have had enough of being watched. Its on these days I'll ponder sourly: 'Why don't you just take a picture, it'll last longer'. But be careful what you wish for. After genuinely having a complete stranger ask to have a picture of me (communicated through gestures rather than words), I've ceased such morose thoughts.

In fact, I have actually witnessed people pretending to take a selfie, with the ulterior motive of snapping me in the background. Or was I just being vain, the celebrity of being western going to my head? Perhaps, but in this instance, the snappers kept looking over their shoulders, directly at me, and giggling. They also re-positioned every time I moved, so that I remained in the shot. Thus I conclude, this time at least, my vanity was not masking my understanding of the situation.

With several months of backpacking experience in Europe, the luxury of people speaking at least a little English was taken for granted. I can't remember having been abroad where so few people are of one race and only speak their own language.

Maybe I was living in a bit of a travel fantasyland before?

In order to have a successful time, you will find ways to make things work for you. When going out for dinner, I favour restaurants where there are pictures of the food in the menu. This is much better than perusing a book full of symbols as I don't know enough and would be totally lost. I mean I know the ones for mountain and tree but there aren't many good foods called that.

The wall menu is very useful!
I am able to say the names for a few dishes now, 
but at least I can point to new stuff if I want to try it

Thankfully a place around the corner has pictures of the food they serve, displayed on the walls. I just point to the dish I want and so its pretty easy. They first time Holly and I went to eat there we followed this ordering procedure, and it went well. But the presence of foreigners being around was so intriguing that some of the employees gathered around to watch us eat. They didn't to it subtly either. I wasn't the ideal meal out experience.

After many meals there we are now greeted like regulars and we're treated with patience. They often give me a fork with the chopsticks so I can choose how to eat. I do appreciate this because I can use chopsticks, but a fork is so much easier. I call this act the 'pity fork', which apparently only I find funny.

There, of course, are other positive reactions the Chinese have to someone who so obviously can't speak the language. I've had people help weigh my groceries when I've not been able to find the correct symbol for carrot, for example. A shop proprietor was excited to see a 'lau why' and offered me cigarettes for free (!?) which I politely declined. I did buy some other things  though and he wrote the amount due on a calculator and showed it to me. This was some quick thinking on his part.

And last week a Chinese lady who spoke English (which is a rare find in these parts) invited me to her house for dinner. That's a whole other story that you can read about here.

Couldn't decide which caption I prefer- you be the judge.
1. Usually I don't put my address on the Internet,
but at this point, I could use some Western company.

 or 2. As if I need the address to the lake so much that
its in my wallet at all times.

As for taxi journeys, if I attempt to speak Chinese to taxi drivers they don't often understand that I am saying. My solution to this is a pre-written list and can just point to my destination. There's a catch 22 here as this does also set me up as a target for taxi drivers- I may as well have lau why written on my face. Sadly and very frustratingly, as I am foreign, taxi drivers try to rip me off on the regular, asking for double the price and ignoring the meter. If I say no and point to the taxi meter, they'll drive away in most cases. It baffles me that they would rather forfeit a normal fare if they can't negotiate an inflated one.

I like to think that now, after having been here for 4 months, I am used to being in an area where I am a minority. Being stared at does not bother me too much, and I try to grit my teeth about taxi fares.

Its just a part of being here, Its a strange place to live and it tests you daily, but its ok and I'm going to be there for the next six months, So I better not complain.

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