So, this evening (9/2/12) I went with Donald and Jia to get a massage. I've been to the place once before, and it was a pretty relaxed situation. Thinking it probably wouldn't be too crowded and I could just jump in, they only made two reservations for the evening. Today, we got there around 10pm (they close at 12am and open at 8am) and it was actually quite crowded... some of the employees (jokingly?) told Jia that since there probably wouldn't be enough time, maybe she should let the two foreigners go and she could just come back tomorrow. That set the stage for tension.
Slightly distracted by my phone, I looked up to see Jia and another customer arguing heatedly. She insisted that, no, they weren't giving preferential treatment to foreigners, they had made a reservation. She showed him her phone, which he quite vocally had no interest in. It got even more heated when Donald stood up and told the man (in English) to watch his mouth. When Donald started speaking Chinese, the man tonelessly exclaimed "Wo ting bu dong," like a foreigner... His wife kept hushing him to no avail, and he was just... really embarrassing. The employees ushered each to their massage beds, but the man kept screaming slurs, claiming Jia was just some Chinese wife, this and that bullshit. I asked, "Is this an example of thin face?" Most certainly it was...
It was such an unpleasant situation to be in. We did get a huge discount for our troubles, which shows me some glimmer of empathy/a conscience within the Chinese-Laowai dynamic... But I do wish the man had been kicked out instead. It's not really my place to ask for so much, though. The Chinese version of a moral panic is really, truly frightening as a foreigner. Here's some other stuff that's been going on in Chengdu:
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August 2012
I have noticed a significant change in China recently. When I first came here I felt welcomed. I can't ever remember feeling in danger or unwanted, but recently that has changed. The other day I was riding my bike in the countryside and a man in a small Chinese brand SUV gave me the finger for no reason; I was riding on the very side of the road, near the curb and there was no other traffic on a 4 lane road. When I got home I didn't think much about it until I came across an article on BeijingCream.com that was about a man from Holland near the Sanliutun Soho building in Beijing who had left work with a Chinese co-worker one night recently and was attacked by four random men who told him to "Go the f&*$ home" as they ran away after beating him. Then I was reading another article, I forget which website it was on, that showed a picture of a group of Chinese at the recent Anti-Japanese demonstration in Chengdu holding up a sign that said something to the extant of "we don't care if there are a few Chinese graves as long as we kill every Japanese." I know this may just be a few people. I have many Chinese friends who are amazing people and would never act in the ways stated above, but I can't help but feel China is changing and not for the better. What are your thoughts?
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August 2012
I think if I speak the reality as my way, this post will be deleted. Don't forget where is here... damn, even the freedom for talking is still far away.
Actually, as a Chinese, I don't agree what they did, and most mistake is from GOV. They just move people's focus to some place else, as the name of "country love", do something really bad.
China still need a long way to walk...
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August 2012
let me preface my response by saying that there are countless things that i love about china and chinese people. that being said, i do feel like it's changed. when i first came to chengdu in 2004 i got stared at with curiosity and even interest. it was strange, but didn't bother me. now i feel like i always get scowls and judgmental looks. what makes me most uncomfortable is that i don't even know what i did to garner this kind of hostile attitude.
a few months ago my 4yo son was surrounded by local children in mcdonald's while they laughed and pointed and gleefully yelled, "laowai! laowai! laowai!" this was a shock and very upsetting to both of us. the same day, believe it or not, when my son took a toy out of the hands of another little boy in the line at wal-mart, his mom went ballistic, even though i immediately intervened, made him give the toy back and say he was sorry. she yelled for several minutes on end, getting in my and my companion's faces and shaking her hand at us and even at my son as if she was about to hit one of us. she was yelling about us being foreigners in sichuanhua and a crowd formed and while i was angry, it wasn't until some men nearby started yelling at us and cursing us for being foreigners that i got scared. not knowing what else to do, i called the police and had them escort us to a taxi as my husband wasn't with us and i just did not feel safe with my son and 20yo relative leaving the store unaccompanied.
i just do not know what to do. more and more i feel like it might be time to move on, but for various reasons, that's not going to be possible for my family for another three years or so. this would have been unimaginable for me to say just three years ago as there are so many things about my life here that i love so much. it makes me sad and depressed and i've been pondering the ramifications of all this for some time.
i think that the main reasons for an increase in this kind of xenophobic behavior are this: inflation is painful for everyone, competition for jobs is increasing, social welfare is a mess to say the least, and the gap between the rich and poor is widening at a frightening rate. add to all this an inability to publicly air grievances, or have them addressed, and laowai scapegoats become easy targets.
just my two cents; i'd be very interested hear others' thoughts and experiences.
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