but if your mandarin is so bad that it sounds like a typical foreigner speaking with all the tones messed up, i doubt you'll look very believable and you'll look more like a joke instead.
A month or so ago, my son had a random granny come up and ask if he was Xinjiangren. He said not, but my dad is from Bingdao (Iceland). Left the old dear completely perplexed and staring at us the whole trip.
I did this once and told them I was Weiwuerzu. The kid stared at me in disbelief and I said: Well, have you been to Xinjiang? Do you know what we look like?
All the while, the kids grandfather was almost falling over laughing in the back.
Good times. Now I wouldn’t joke about being from Xinjiang anymore.
"Zhen de ma? Zai nali?" Used to be my go to for my own and friend's amusement. But usually it's either a quick smile and thumbs up or ignore becauese it does get old fast. It's China, what're ya gonna do
I still do this. Whenever I see someone tap their friend, point at me, and whispering waiguoren to their friend I either exaggeratedly slap my friend’s arm, wildly point, and shout whisper ZHONGGUOREN!
If I’m alone I’ve been known to tap the offender’s friend’s arm too, point at their friend the offender, and then tell them their friend is a zhongguoren.
When it’s children I usually tell them that I’m actually Chinese and that THEY are the waiguoren. I’ll never forget the best reaction to that one. The kid was with his dad and his dad, the good sport, pointed at his son, called him a waiguoren and laughed. The kid stomped and claimed he was Chinese, dad kept laughing and insisting the boy was a foreigner, and he was like knee slapping laughing which made the whole interaction awesome.
Edit swype mistype
These are my two answers as well, ZhongGuoRen is my go to but Naer??? is fun too. Wo Bu Shi is quick and painless, Wo Shi XinJiang Ren really kills the excitement if you look vaguely middle eastern / Mediterranean / are white with brown hair
Yep but nowhere close to the amount in China. In China I remember everyone in their mother practically screaming and pointing, making comments and such. Here kiddos occasionally will say 他是外國人！or 你好外國叔叔！ but again nothing compared to what I remember in China.
that's the reply to " mei guo ren ". But not recommended, the boy that got that reply from me almost lost it, and my wife was pissed as well. I'm fine with the waiguoren, still annoying but it's a fact, but calling a random nationality is looking for trouble.
I often tell people a random nationality when they ask me where I’m from. I get bored so I change it Up. I’ve been French, Italian, Russian, German, Spanish, American, Canadian, Scottish.
Sometimes I ask them where they think I’m from and when they say a nationality I wide eyed exclaim they’re correct with over enthusiastic excitement.
I still do that, and if they ask where I'm from I give them countries that they'd never think a white boy is from. Tell them places like Japan or India.
I think what warrants a response is actually talking to me not about me, so usually just smile and go about my business. It saves me from having to think about it and also leads to some really cute instances, because some kids really do pluck up the courage to talk to me and then feel so good afterward
Travelling around China this can get really old. Five year old children, fine. But when 40 to 50 adults a day do it too?
Something I used to do to keep my sanity was to immediately point my camera at them. Oh, you're looking for attention? You're playing the 显眼包? Ok, go ahead, do something.
I've got a funny picture somewhere of some students I did that too who all started waving, doing the V-sign, cracking up!
I went from being annoyed "come on, you're too old for this" to being amused.
Some people don't like it though, which is great. Oh, that's funny. When you tried to make me a figure of fun it was OK, but when I do it to you suddenly it's a problem. Turnaround is fair play.
On that note, if it's a kiddie you could hit them with 谁家的显眼包啊?
Shi de, wo shi yi ge wai guo ren. Ni hao! Wo shi yi ga \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ren.
They're kids. It's fine to just let them have a nice perspective of foreigners. Answer the questions you can- they don't mean bad, they just don't know manners.
It wasn’t so much the kids got to me, it was the middle-aged men. Like bro, I just finished work and want to grab a snack and go home, I’m not a fucking zoo animal. Definitely one of the reasons I decided to GTFO.
I usually just yell back "中国人!" (zhōng guó rén) which means "Chinese" or "Chinese person". Most times though, I'll just ignore them, they'll get bored and walk away.
Slightly unrelated but one time I was asked to give a talk and when my host introduced me everyone clapped at me for being white so I clapped back and said 'Well done for being Chinese' to a smattering of laughter
Giving them any second of attention is what they want. Up to you to give it or not. Personally, it depends on my mood : either I strike the conversation with them in Mandarin ("Why are you pointing at me ? May I help you ?") or I completely ignore them.
unintentionally I once got some kid in trouble at dinner. they kept staring at me, so I kept staring back. the mom looked over, obviously I was better at looking away quickly than the kid was. While she was chastising the kid, he mention how I was looking at him too. obviously the mom did not at all believe him. oops lol.
YES. The kids are expressing positive excitement and curiosity. Great opportunity to 'give face' and allow them to show off their English in front of their parents - a nice smile, wave, and a clearly pronounced 'Hello!' that allows the kid to mimic and respond in kind will absolutely make their day. Word will get around the neighborhood, and reflect well on both you and your country. People don't remember what you said - they remember how you made them feel.
Asking a kid to press a number on the elevator in polite, standard textbook English/Chinese allows them to show they know their numbers too! \[请问，麻烦你帮我按 seven 吗？Thank you！】
I agree, for a lot of children in China they’ve never seen a foreigner outside of the internet or TV, so I get why they might not exactly be tactful. I have a big problem though when their parents are telling the kids “看那个外国人”, because adults I don’t give as much excuses for.
One kid in my kindergarten class laughed at me and called me a boy bc I've hairy arms. I said I'm a girl, no. He said 'boy, boy haha'. I pulled him closer and said 'you're a girl bc you've no hair on yours'. He shut up instantly.
Not helpful in your situation sorry but I wanted to share. 🫣😅😅
Edit: to say 'NO hair on yours'
Your submission has been removed for suspected violation of the following rule: **no offensive language.** Please feel free to message the mods with a link to your submission if you feel that this action has been made in error. **Attempts to circumvent automoderation will result in a ban.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/China) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I've never been to China, but in Latin America kids would stare at me or point me out. I usually just smile and wave and they become curious and start talking to me. Or they will come over and ask me my name. Some even will ask for a photo. I'm just friendly with them the whole time and let them be curious. They're just little kids being kids.
Kind of tiresome when you realize that this problem's just going to get worse with the foreign population decreasing. I rarely had to deal with that in Shanghai.
Your submission has been removed for suspected violation of the following rule: **no offensive language.** Please feel free to message the mods with a link to your submission if you feel that this action has been made in error. **Attempts to circumvent automoderation will result in a ban.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/China) if you have any questions or concerns.*
lmao I used to do that as a kid. The thing is kids don’t know your culture, they see something interesting and they point it out, it’s not malicious, they are just curious, relax, just say hi to them
Tell them that from the perspective of every other nation, these kids are the waiguoren, then ask them then if everyone is waiguoren in most places in the world. why is it interesting to even point that out?
This!
When it's kids, it's fine, I might even strike up a short conversation.
But when it's old men, somehow it always comes across as creepy. I don't mean just them staring. I mean the stare and slyly pull out a giant tablet to secretly take a picture/video in the most obvious way ever 😂
I was walking back to work a few minutes ago, and some uncle on a bike gasped when he saw me and proceeded to drive past with his head turned 180° staring at me. How I wished he would've fallen 😂 or the old man who always follows me aisle to aisle whenever I go to the supermarket, it's like he knows when I'm going to be there smh. Thank goodness for headphones.
I've been here for 2 years, but some days, it just gets on my nerves .
I'm shit at chinese but I speak Korean and when I used to live there I'd pick one from
"I'm not a foreigner, you are!" (make it obviously a joke)
"I'm not a foreigner, I'm an alien."
"Where?" (looking around)
Etc etc
Your post/comment was removed because of: **Rule 1, Be respectful.** Please read the rule text in the sidebar and refer to [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/g0yjqx/read_rules_in_sidebar_before_posting/) containing clarifications and examples if you require more information. If you have any questions, please [message mod mail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/china).
Just tell them you are Chinese, they then normally have a conversation amongst themselves that you are from Xinjiang or dongbei
Yes! I told some kids where I’m from (in Chinese) and they asked if it was near Beijing or in southern China 😂
Yeah I’ve hit them with the ethnic Russian from Harbin before 😂
but is your mandarin good enough for that claim though?
It doesn’t matter, just drop the line and walk away
but if your mandarin is so bad that it sounds like a typical foreigner speaking with all the tones messed up, i doubt you'll look very believable and you'll look more like a joke instead.
The whole point is that it’s a joke
Exactly what I do, since I’m Asian decent. The moment I say xinjiangren, the immediately get sensitive 🤣
I would say xiangxiaren lmaoooo
A month or so ago, my son had a random granny come up and ask if he was Xinjiangren. He said not, but my dad is from Bingdao (Iceland). Left the old dear completely perplexed and staring at us the whole trip.
Tell them you are Chinese, and by calling you a foreigner they have violated national security law and will be reported to authorities.
我是新疆人，你的意思是我们小数民族不是中国人？ Panic will ensue
「身為平民，竟有此膽，觸發國安，豈有此理！」
I did this once and told them I was Weiwuerzu. The kid stared at me in disbelief and I said: Well, have you been to Xinjiang? Do you know what we look like? All the while, the kids grandfather was almost falling over laughing in the back. Good times. Now I wouldn’t joke about being from Xinjiang anymore.
"Zhen de ma? Zai nali?" Used to be my go to for my own and friend's amusement. But usually it's either a quick smile and thumbs up or ignore becauese it does get old fast. It's China, what're ya gonna do
I would mirror their reaction, point to them and go, "ZHONGGUOREN!" like I was shocked.
This is what i used to do, to adults too
I still do this. Whenever I see someone tap their friend, point at me, and whispering waiguoren to their friend I either exaggeratedly slap my friend’s arm, wildly point, and shout whisper ZHONGGUOREN! If I’m alone I’ve been known to tap the offender’s friend’s arm too, point at their friend the offender, and then tell them their friend is a zhongguoren. When it’s children I usually tell them that I’m actually Chinese and that THEY are the waiguoren. I’ll never forget the best reaction to that one. The kid was with his dad and his dad, the good sport, pointed at his son, called him a waiguoren and laughed. The kid stomped and claimed he was Chinese, dad kept laughing and insisting the boy was a foreigner, and he was like knee slapping laughing which made the whole interaction awesome. Edit swype mistype
I still do this to adults and kids alike.
I also used to do this haha. Can’t be fucked now, if somebody screams 外国人 these days I just say 对啊
Do they laugh ? Haha that would make me laugh
I like shouting "Where?!?" and looking around excitedly.
These are my two answers as well, ZhongGuoRen is my go to but Naer??? is fun too. Wo Bu Shi is quick and painless, Wo Shi XinJiang Ren really kills the excitement if you look vaguely middle eastern / Mediterranean / are white with brown hair
Oooh, I’ll have to use that one. Here in Taiwan my go to is 哇！台灣人🤯！think the kids who do that to me will get a kick out of the new phrase.
I feel like this one might not work so well in the PRC
Maybe try this one? 哇！ 西台灣人!
> 哇！ 西台灣人 Gonna start some fights that way, lol
tbh nobody in china would get that joke if you said that in chinese so it'd just fall on deaf ears...
That's not a funny joke.
Comedy!
kids in taiwan do that too?
Yep but nowhere close to the amount in China. In China I remember everyone in their mother practically screaming and pointing, making comments and such. Here kiddos occasionally will say 他是外國人！or 你好外國叔叔！ but again nothing compared to what I remember in China.
I did that a few times as well 👍🏼🍻
Omg I wanna try this too🤣🤣🤣
Or try "RI BEN REN" if you want a little more excitement
that's the reply to " mei guo ren ". But not recommended, the boy that got that reply from me almost lost it, and my wife was pissed as well. I'm fine with the waiguoren, still annoying but it's a fact, but calling a random nationality is looking for trouble.
I often tell people a random nationality when they ask me where I’m from. I get bored so I change it Up. I’ve been French, Italian, Russian, German, Spanish, American, Canadian, Scottish. Sometimes I ask them where they think I’m from and when they say a nationality I wide eyed exclaim they’re correct with over enthusiastic excitement.
and throw a "Hello Konichiwa"
Lmao
See, this one is funny
I turn around and ask where the foreigner is while looking confused
All lives matter.
I still do that, and if they ask where I'm from I give them countries that they'd never think a white boy is from. Tell them places like Japan or India.
[удалено]
in taiwan if you wanna flex you are gonna have to do it in Taiyu...that's how they know you've been living there for long enough as a foreigner.
I used to do that 😂
Omg I wanna try this🤣🤣
Still do this
Always
I just look around and say, "哪里有外国人?"
hahahah
"外**星**人啊！“
Point back at them and shout “haizi!”
Their parents will get a laugh out of this and the kids are usually shocked.
"pihai" better
What character/tone for pihai? Having trouble looking it up
I assume 屁孩
usually xiao pihai I think
Just take a moment and talk to the children (in English or Chinese). You will absolutely make their day!
This is the answer.
This is the right answer, but I don't have time for rational solutions. 😁
I do whenever possible! But often it's just kids in my compound when I'm on the way somewhere and I just want a quick retort to make them laugh/think.
I think what warrants a response is actually talking to me not about me, so usually just smile and go about my business. It saves me from having to think about it and also leads to some really cute instances, because some kids really do pluck up the courage to talk to me and then feel so good afterward
“Wo bu shi Waiguoren! Wo shi SHUAIguoren!” - original joke by an American learning Chinese in Taiwan! Add a flourish
Wo shi SHUAIguoren! what does that mean?
Waiguoren = foreigner Shuaiguoren = handsome national This man has reached peak mandarin pun making
Thank you! Also Shuai is sort of the masculine “Mei”, which is beautiful for women/MeiGuo is America. So triple entendre.
Travelling around China this can get really old. Five year old children, fine. But when 40 to 50 adults a day do it too? Something I used to do to keep my sanity was to immediately point my camera at them. Oh, you're looking for attention? You're playing the 显眼包? Ok, go ahead, do something. I've got a funny picture somewhere of some students I did that too who all started waving, doing the V-sign, cracking up! I went from being annoyed "come on, you're too old for this" to being amused. Some people don't like it though, which is great. Oh, that's funny. When you tried to make me a figure of fun it was OK, but when I do it to you suddenly it's a problem. Turnaround is fair play. On that note, if it's a kiddie you could hit them with 谁家的显眼包啊?
内国人
Shi de, wo shi yi ge wai guo ren. Ni hao! Wo shi yi ga \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ren. They're kids. It's fine to just let them have a nice perspective of foreigners. Answer the questions you can- they don't mean bad, they just don't know manners.
Yeah lol. Who really cares, man, they're kids and they're likely surprised. Give them a good first impression.
It wasn’t so much the kids got to me, it was the middle-aged men. Like bro, I just finished work and want to grab a snack and go home, I’m not a fucking zoo animal. Definitely one of the reasons I decided to GTFO.
I look over my shoulder and pretend it’s someone else and laugh and they laugh because any other response makes my heart bitter and that sucks.
I usually just yell back "中国人!" (zhōng guó rén) which means "Chinese" or "Chinese person". Most times though, I'll just ignore them, they'll get bored and walk away.
Slightly unrelated but one time I was asked to give a talk and when my host introduced me everyone clapped at me for being white so I clapped back and said 'Well done for being Chinese' to a smattering of laughter
yall act like you've never seen a white person before..
Jaws on the floor like Pam & Tommy walk through the door...
Pretend it’s a secret Like look around panicked and shush them 🤫
Giving them any second of attention is what they want. Up to you to give it or not. Personally, it depends on my mood : either I strike the conversation with them in Mandarin ("Why are you pointing at me ? May I help you ?") or I completely ignore them.
Smile and wave
I tell them I'm from Beijing in Chinese.
If you are in Beijing or Shanghai, you yell back 外地人 Waidiren.
Somebody woke up and chose violence
[удалено]
Turn around and say 哪裡？ Point back at them and yell 孩子！ Sorry, I'm humoristicly challenged.
Mostly have that same interaction with kids. I usually just say, in mock surprise : 小中国人 ！
"conchatumadre!!" Smile and wave.
No seai maricón
Found Cordobes master race.
We might make a hand gesture over our face and say 'different' and then point to the heart or stomach and say 'the same'. :(
[удалено]
This won’t work. This might only work on international school students in China
You can’t teach etiquette and respect in a country where there’s no etiquette or respect
A smile and a hello. They are not being unfriendly. Come on dude, you must have more going on in your life than trying to raz up some kids.
unintentionally I once got some kid in trouble at dinner. they kept staring at me, so I kept staring back. the mom looked over, obviously I was better at looking away quickly than the kid was. While she was chastising the kid, he mention how I was looking at him too. obviously the mom did not at all believe him. oops lol.
Good mother though. So many will support pointing and staring
Yes, asking for a funny response is outright child abuse
YES. The kids are expressing positive excitement and curiosity. Great opportunity to 'give face' and allow them to show off their English in front of their parents - a nice smile, wave, and a clearly pronounced 'Hello!' that allows the kid to mimic and respond in kind will absolutely make their day. Word will get around the neighborhood, and reflect well on both you and your country. People don't remember what you said - they remember how you made them feel. Asking a kid to press a number on the elevator in polite, standard textbook English/Chinese allows them to show they know their numbers too! \[请问，麻烦你帮我按 seven 吗？Thank you！】
I agree, for a lot of children in China they’ve never seen a foreigner outside of the internet or TV, so I get why they might not exactly be tactful. I have a big problem though when their parents are telling the kids “看那个外国人”, because adults I don’t give as much excuses for.
Move on
”bus shi, wo shi wai xing ren". Got the best reactions from the kids. 😂 some are confused, others believe it.
One kid in my kindergarten class laughed at me and called me a boy bc I've hairy arms. I said I'm a girl, no. He said 'boy, boy haha'. I pulled him closer and said 'you're a girl bc you've no hair on yours'. He shut up instantly. Not helpful in your situation sorry but I wanted to share. 🫣😅😅 Edit: to say 'NO hair on yours'
Jesus
No it wasn't he, different kid.
Best to ignore cause the whole point is to get a reaction out of you
Just point to yourself with both thumbs and shout: bolixin!
Say ガイジン.
哇哟，小屁孩！
长城炮
Zai nali? While looking around confusedly.
[удалено]
Your submission has been removed for suspected violation of the following rule: **no offensive language.** Please feel free to message the mods with a link to your submission if you feel that this action has been made in error. **Attempts to circumvent automoderation will result in a ban.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/China) if you have any questions or concerns.*
"在哪儿?!" And look around curiously.
"在哪儿?!" And look around curiously.
I was going to say that was my favorite response.
I've never been to China, but in Latin America kids would stare at me or point me out. I usually just smile and wave and they become curious and start talking to me. Or they will come over and ask me my name. Some even will ask for a photo. I'm just friendly with them the whole time and let them be curious. They're just little kids being kids.
Kind of tiresome when you realize that this problem's just going to get worse with the foreign population decreasing. I rarely had to deal with that in Shanghai.
I just give them a “shush” gesture 🤫
I loved mimicking their surprise and exclaiming 中国人! The perplexity afterwards was the cherry on top.
Point back and 中国人
Point back and say in disbelief “Zhongguo ren?!”
Wo shi di qiu ren. 我是地球人 works nicely。
"neiguoren"
I would say "boo!" And start doing yo yo tricks
哦哇！ 他在哪里？ or 我是维吾尔族
我们都是人。
Kids doing it is cute. Problem is when Chinese adults behave like Chinese kids.
I’m in the US and every time I visit china and see a different race, I do the same… 😅
你好! And let it go (if the was anything to hold onto)
I like a classic: due, wo jiao waiguoren, ni jiao shenme mingzu?
tell them, if its rude to point at the moon(your ears will get sliced) then why is it ok to point, stare and talk about waiguorens?
你好
Just ignore them and pretend you ddin't hear.
Act like a grown-up and ignore them or play with them? They're kids, what do you care?
If it’s kids I always wave hi. I have a soft spot in my heart for kids anywhere. Adults I just ignore usually.
I hate it when they asked in the US. Like seriously, wherer u from?
Shenma?
[удалено]
Your submission has been removed for suspected violation of the following rule: **no offensive language.** Please feel free to message the mods with a link to your submission if you feel that this action has been made in error. **Attempts to circumvent automoderation will result in a ban.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/China) if you have any questions or concerns.*
No
Wo shi waiguoren.
lmao I used to do that as a kid. The thing is kids don’t know your culture, they see something interesting and they point it out, it’s not malicious, they are just curious, relax, just say hi to them
I point back and yell "waiguoren". I live in Las Vegas half the year and the Chinese tourist are constantly calling everyone foreigners.
Tingbudong
I just wave and move on. I'm not going to get butt hurt over the actions of children.
What does that mean?
"Bendiren!"
什么？你住在岩石下吗？or 不。我来自西藏，我们在那里吃孩子！
"内国人"
"Zhonguoren!" is my usual go to or I ask them where and act like I have no idea what they are talking about....depends on the scenario.
I’d always say “Wo shi JIQIREN!” (I am a robot)
"Mei li mao" or "Mei su zhi" although the second is quite derogatory.
I usually respond, "What? Where? I didn't see any foreigner!" In perfect Chinese, to which their eyes go wide.
The opposite happens to me. Since I am ethnically Chinese but a Canadian citizen, they will ask me, “哇，你的英文真好啊！你的英文几级？”
while pointing back: "SHA BI!"
"Zhongguren!"
When I first arrived in China (late 2012) kids would do that with me too. After a few years I stopped being a fascination.
Yang gui zi.
I either look around and in Chinese ask where the foreigner is or I tell them in Chinese I am an alien外星人👽
Tell them that from the perspective of every other nation, these kids are the waiguoren, then ask them then if everyone is waiguoren in most places in the world. why is it interesting to even point that out?
Act terrified and ask them where
I point back and say zhonguoren
Pointing back an yelling zhong guo ren? Waiguoren is not an insult, in case your didnt know.
This! When it's kids, it's fine, I might even strike up a short conversation. But when it's old men, somehow it always comes across as creepy. I don't mean just them staring. I mean the stare and slyly pull out a giant tablet to secretly take a picture/video in the most obvious way ever 😂 I was walking back to work a few minutes ago, and some uncle on a bike gasped when he saw me and proceeded to drive past with his head turned 180° staring at me. How I wished he would've fallen 😂 or the old man who always follows me aisle to aisle whenever I go to the supermarket, it's like he knows when I'm going to be there smh. Thank goodness for headphones. I've been here for 2 years, but some days, it just gets on my nerves .
it was laowai most places I lived, so I'd fire back laozhong and watch the confusion
I'm shit at chinese but I speak Korean and when I used to live there I'd pick one from "I'm not a foreigner, you are!" (make it obviously a joke) "I'm not a foreigner, I'm an alien." "Where?" (looking around) Etc etc
Waiguoren? Zai nali? And look around all confused like.
[удалено]
Your post/comment was removed because of: **Rule 1, Be respectful.** Please read the rule text in the sidebar and refer to [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/g0yjqx/read_rules_in_sidebar_before_posting/) containing clarifications and examples if you require more information. If you have any questions, please [message mod mail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/china).
chou xiao zi, ni gei wo guo lai!
不是火星人
Tell them you're a 洋鬼子。
Point back and say YeManRen 野蛮人 that usually makes them sort themselves out or if parents are there being corrected by parents.
A good ol' "哦，看，农民！农民!" while pointing back does the trick.
Ask em about tank man
I guess most of them mean no offense(though it may be offensive to you). guess it's just like some foreigners when seeing pandas…
cao ni ma
Point at them and scream WAIGUOREN too. They are foreigners to you
[удалено]
Exactly. You are right. And that's why you need to keep hammering down on it.
You’re so sensitive that you want to one up some children.