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"Helloooooo….."
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aimei –

Mandarinstudent, I know that I have it great living here in China. My boyfriend and I have a great
place with an even greater private bathroom (probably even better than a nice living quarters if
you ask me!) Not even a block from our place, there are literally mini shanty towns that the
migrant workers who are currently tearing up the streets around our place day and night live….I
see tons of ppl digging through trash and begging here, and pretty much everybody lives FAR worse
than we do. So yes, I know I’m VERY lucky. When I first came to China three months ago I was
shocked by the way the Chinese lived….I was raised in a very comfortable middle class household
(translation, I was pretty damn spoiled!) and I was totally unprepared to see this kind of
poverty. I hated China at first but I got used to it, and even grew to like it a lot, and even
better I gained an invaluable understanding of just how lucky we really are in the Western world.
That being said, I still feel quite saddened when I am singled out because I am white. Knowing how
lucky I am doesn’t help when I can’t walk down the street without being greated with a chorus of
"Helloooos！”while a crowd laughs in my face and points. I STILL feel humilated, even though I
know how great I have it in compared to these people, in terms of both standard of living, and in
comparision to the people who engage in this kind of behavior, education. But even this doesn’t
change the fact that it hurts, and that they are doing this because I a laowai, and outsider,
different….I want to participate in this culture, and to be sure 95% of the people here are
wonderful. It’s just those few that make me feel horrible about myself from time to time….and
yes, I do like my forty kuai Starbucks fraps…..helps little rich spoiled me get through the "bad
China days."

Oh an Imron, thanks for the wayback machine! Forgot how much I LOVE talktalkChina! Btw can anyone
tell me how to quote? I must be retarded because I can’t figure it out!

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imron –

Quote:

Btw can anyone tell me how to quote? I must be retarded because I can’t figure it out!

When replying to a message, the 7th icon from the right (in between the picture and the # sign)
there’s a button that looks like a talk bubble. Click that and two big quote tags will appear
[QUOTE ] [ /QUOTE] Anything you put between these tags will be quoted.

md1101 –

i’ve been ignoring this thread a bit because there’s always a little too much generalising during
china bitching sessions (though not intentionally im sure).

but, aimei, i very much agree with your last comment. i think they sum things up quite nicely
indeed.

Quote:

Personally I’d put the cut-off line at puberty + 2 years. It’s a case of being old enough, not
educated enough, to know better. Incidentally, are people below the cut-off line allowed to spit
and litter?

c’mon, roddy, get off your high horse.

Lu –

So, considering wushijiao’s comment, would it help if next time a migrant worker shouts HELLOOOO,
the foreigner walks over and has a chat in Mandarin with this worker and his friends? Worker feels
treated like a human being, sees foreigner as less weird, and next time the Hello! might actually
be intended as a greeting.

Aimei, if it’s always the same people shouting hellooo at you, maybe you could try this? If not,
there’s really not much you can do about it except either ignore it or (shout something back and)
laugh about it, and enjoy yourself the rest of the time.

gougou –

Quote:

would it help if next time a migrant worker shouts HELLOOOO, the foreigner walks over and has a
chat in Mandarin with this worker and his friends?

I’ve tried that a few times, with little success. Mostly, the helloer was so embarassed by the
helloee’s attention that no conversation was possible.

Having said that, I have spoken to many non-helloing members of the scum of society (that is,
everybody who does not drive an Audi) and most people have been delighted to speak to a foreigner,
and sincerely interested. I remember a bus ride of three hours were the young woman next to me
would turn her head every 20 seconds, smile at me and tell me how incredible it was that she was
talking to a foreigner…

imron –

Quote:

the scum of society (that is, everybody who does not drive an Audi)

Haha, are you sure you don’t have that round the wrong way?

aimei – Chinese language – "Helloooooo….." - 

Lu, usually it’s just random people doing this to me, at least as far as I can tell. One time this
guy (who I now think was some kind of black cab driver) started literally jumping up and down and
screaming "HELLO!!" at us, trying to get our attention. Well it was just plain rude so I yelled
and waved back "NI HAO!!" which was quite a feet for me since I’m pretty shy…. His friends then
all started laughing hysterically at him and he shut up, go me! And yeah I do ignore it 99.9% if
the time, it’s not like I can change 1.3 billion people’s behavior anyway. Just sometimes it gets
a little "old", *sigh….*

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"Helloooooo….."
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aimei –

Seriously, why do Chinese find this so hilarious? Everytime I am in a place where I am probably
the only white person, (which includes the place I live) I have this yelled at me, and after
living here for three months now I’m pretty damn sure this isn’t some kind of polite greeting.
When I let the ppl know that I don’t appreciate this they just laugh and point….why can’t I just
participate in this culture without having my whiteness thrown in my face at every turn? Also when
my boyfriend and I are at the supermarket whatever checkout girl who happens to be there finds it
nessecary to say, "Wo shou hua nimen ting dong ma"? like were some kind of idiots, then proceeds
to giggle with her friend when I inform her that yes, "women ting dong." But getting back to
"Hellooooo…." thing, I usually am greeted with this at least a couple times a day, but I have
only been called a "laowai" once, which is what I usually hear foreigners in China complaining
about being harassed with. Can anyone give any insight into this Hello thing and why Chinese feel
the need to say it so much with complete indifference to any offense taken? Sorry I am really
complaining here but some days I really reach my limit with China……

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C_Smith85 –

http://www.talktalkchina.com/

Everything u ever need to vent about is covered here. it closed down recently but would sill make
for interesting reading when u need to let off stteam.

good luck

imron –

@c_smith85 I was going to say the exact same thing. When the cycle of funk has got you down, TTC
was the perfect place to go to release some steam. And now all we are left with is the google
cache and the wayback machine.

@aimei the post you are looking for is this one… You Say Ha Luo’r, I Say Piss Off

If any of the D’s are reading, won’t you at least consider putting the archives back up?

Hero Doug –

China has A LOT of racism still, (and no one said other countries don’t) and after reading that
archive page I easily spotted a few Chinese people on there who simply don’t know the tone and
implication of the way hello is said. This is the problem when the Chinese start to defend
something they simply don’t understand, and the racisim get’s ignored.

In Canada I say hello every day to so many people, but I say it like a human not like some retard
on the Price is Right.

I think the proof is in the pudding. Remember the fiesty foreigner in Beijing. Many Chinese called
out that guy and denounced him publicly, and even harrased him so much he had to change his phone
number. The fact that Chinese defend this hello behaviour shows they simply can’t put themselves
in the shoes of others and thus can’t comphrend it, otherwise it’d also be denounced.

There’s a huge difference between Hello, and HHHHEEEEEELLLLLLOOOOOOO

aimei –

Thanks for the link to the Hellor piss off on TTC. I have been on that blog a few times before
when I need to rant about China. I think what that guy was saying before about how the "Hellos"
are innocent is crap. If they genuinely wanted to say hi to me, why do 99.9% of them turn, back to
their friends, laugh, and point and me and my bf afterwards?? The only ppl that I think really
just want to greet you are little kids! I also agree with you Hero that there is a lot of racism
here in China, (not saying that the US is excluded from that of course though.) I think it comes
from a unwillingness to understand any other culture that is different from China’s, since from
what I have seen here it seems like they take it as a given that Chinese culture is superior. Any
thoughts?

liuzhou –

Ignore it and get on with your life. There is nothing you can do about it.

aimei –

I realize that there is nothing I can do about it, but I was just curious as to why they behave
this way…..

imron –

Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes can sometimes be a difficult thing to do, regardless of
nationality. The Helloooo thing (and while we’re at it, the laowai thing), is very difficult to
see when it’s not directed at you, especially as these are words which aren’t negative by nature
(which is not to say that they can’t be used in a negative way, just that the words themselves
don’t contain this meaning). Even if they see it happen a few times, a Chinese person might still
not think anything of it or see any problem with it.

In fact I have a Chinese friend who used to argue with me all the time that I was overreacting,
that nothing was meant by it, that people were just being friendly etc. It wasn’t until I visited
his hometown which was a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, where the calls of helloooo, laowai,
and the stares came in such a constant stream that he actually realised and saw for himself what
it was like, and decided that perhaps after all, my viewpoint had some merit. In fact, it got to a
point where he was so embarrassed by it, that he decided it would be better if perhaps we went
back home and stayed indoors.

As for why they do it, well, for some it’s curiosity, others genuinely intend to be friendly, and
others do it for the same reason they might make barking noises when they see a dog – because they
get a kick out of provoking some sort of reaction.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say this is racism. It’s just that unfortunately, when someone calls
out hello, they don’t realise that they are perhaps the 10th (or 100th) person to do so that day,
and that the joke has already worn pretty thin.

In a similar vein, I’m a reasonably tall person (192cm – or about 6’3" for those that don’t do
metric) and even in the west, when I meet someone for the first time I’ll get comments about being
tall (like I didn’t know that already!). Often what one person sees as a novel and fresh comment,
is something that is old and tiring for the person the comment is being directed at.

aimei –

You make some good points Imron. In fact my Chinese friend responded with something pretty
similiar when I questioned her about this phenomenon….she basically said that it may be the
first time that some of these ppl have seen a foreigner and that they are so curious that it’s
almost like they can’t help themselves from saying something and laughing about it with their
friends and forget that this might actually be offensive…..this actually makes a lot of sense
because we’ve only had this happen to us in areas not frequented by others, and by construction
workers. Also you’re right they could also just be trying to provoke you for cheap "joke," and
don’t realize how thin it wears when you hear some many ppl do it everyday. I was very good about
ignoring it for the first two months but today I just reached my breaking point and havd to vent
to some other laowai (thanks for listening!!) At least they didn’t get their reaction out of me
though….

Hero Doug –

Quote:

Ignore it and get on with your life. There is nothing you can do about it.

Wow, just bend over and take it eh? You know of course no one is going to stop subtle racism or
annoyances, but you can give one person such an uncomfortable, enlightening, or embarrasing
experience that they’ll think twice before doing it again.

As I mentioned above with the Beijing bike thrower, do you think he’s going to throw someone’s
bike in public again without giving it a second thought? I doubt it. I know I give some things
second thought’s after some experiences.

And racisim is becoming a very broad word nowadays. It means the belief that one race is superior
to another, but with such a belief it could lead to unfavourable actions to a race one might see
as inferior.

So I’ll rephrase it to "acting differently towards someone who is noticeably a different race
towards in an annoying/demening way".

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Lu –

Quote:

I yelled and waved back "NI HAO!!"

This sounds like a very good approach. Go you indeed
Seriously, I understand how you feel, it can get very annoying sometimes, especially if you get it
every day and not just occasionally. But don’t let it get to you too much, don’t let it spoil your
time in China. Good luck!

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Hero Doug –

I see the posts are starting to distort the point of an genuine hello and a hellllloooo from a
jackass.

I agree with everyone else when saying that if someone say’s hello approaching me, or is genuine
then why not say hello back.

EDIT: Throughout writing this post I think I have a better insight into the Hello Factor.

It’s done (Well the kind of hello that annoys me) like a kid in Canada. Kids just wait until their
like 50ft away, and at the top of their lungs yell something to piss you off, and run away. A 10
year old in Canada knows better then that, but a 25 or 30 year old person here has less maturity
in that reguard.

So, yes I’m summing it up to a lack of maturity and intelligence, and that’ll make it so much more
tolerable. At least I’ll be able to walk away knowing their a stupid F\/<|<

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gougou –

Quote:

btw does anyone know if talktalk china is only accessable from comps in foreigners apartments?

As mentioned in the third post of this thread, they shut down.

heifeng –

Do you guys only get "hellooooed"

Here’s what I usually hear when I walk by people
高个儿
俄罗斯 …DA! (followed by other stuff I don’t understand…)
heloooo
laowai

Without a doubt, I am in many many peoples photos. I don’t even mind the touristy photos that
much, but I really hate people using their cell phones to ‘secretly’ take photos….that’s even
worse!!

aimei –

Yes we only get helloed and also the occassional "Wo shou hua ni ting dong ma"?? And yeah it
doesn’t really bother me if people ask politely for the pics either, just when they try to do it
without my knowledge. I know many of the people who be sneaky about it have never seen a
foreigner, but I can’t help but feel like I’m some sort of zoo exhibit.

Guoguo, now that the site is taken down is there gonna be an archive, do you know? I’m depressed
that was a great blog….

imron –

I think it’s unlikely that the archives will be put back up, but you can still access many of the
older posts using the google cache, or the wayback machine

mandarinstudent –

Ive already said it in the "laowai" thread, but here is my take on the whole thing:

http://whocares-frank.spaces.live.co…522D!179.entry

imron –

Well, it’s good to know that you’ve found nothing in China to complain about except the other
foreigners.

I have one question though, if the person yelling Heeelllooooo is some rich guy in an Audi, and
obviously far better off than me, am I allowed to complain then?

The thing is, everyone needs to vent steam sometimes, and this doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t
realise or appreciate that most of the time you’re being treated very well by the people around
you. Also, not everyone complaining about these things is an English teacher who’s just come to
China for the ride. Even people who’ve been in China for a long time, and who have a good
understanding of Chinese language and culture, and who otherwise have a deep affinity with China,
find this stuff annoying/frustrating, and every now and then need to vent.

Just because you’re socially/financially better off, or being treated better than the people
around you, doesn’t mean you lose the right to complain.

mandarinstudent –

Quote:

Just because you’re socially/financially better off, or being treated better than the people
around you, doesn’t mean you lose the right to complain.

Actually, in this situation I think you do lose the right because you came of your own volition.

Quote:

I have one question though, if the person yelling Heeelllooooo is some rich guy in an Audi, and
obviously far better off than me, am I allowed to complain then?

Everyone knows it isn’t the people in Audis that are doing the rude things. 90% of the time (of
course, not ALL of the time, but most)it is the poor, uneducated countryside people that make up
75-80% of the Chinese population that are being "rude".

Quote:

Well, it’s good to know that you’ve found nothing in China to complain about except the other
foreigners.

Of course I think there are things to complain about in China. I just think I have lost any right
to complain because:
1. I can leave at any time.
2. I am sucking money out of the Chinese economy.
3. I am SO much better off than the average Chinese person just beacause of my white skin. I
realize that my money-making white skin is also going to incite racism. That is the tradeoff.

I’m from the US and it always irritated the hell out of me when my foreign friends who were there
to make money (either to send back home or to save up and return to their country as a rich
man/woman) bitched about the US. The US is good enough to take money from, but so terrible to live
in? The same thing can be said about foreigners in China. I just don’t want to be one of those
people.

roddy –

You might have lost your right to complain – personally I’d say you haven’t, but if you want to
give it up, ok. But there are plenty of people putting money in to the Chinese economy, or who are
relying on more than the color of their skin to make a living – foreign students, and pretty much
anyone with a job except perhaps the very bottom layer of the English teaching sector, for example.

imron –

Quote:

Actually, in this situation I think you do lose the right because you came of your own volition.

Quote:

I just think I have lost any right to complain because:
1. I can leave at any time.
2. I am sucking money out of the Chinese economy.

So does a Chinese person immigrating to Australia/US/UK lose the right to complain about
racism/poor treatment/things they don’t like because they came of their own volition, are going
there because they can earn more money/have a better life than in China, and can return more or
less anytime they want?

And how about those foreigners that maybe didn’t come to China completely of their own volition
(maybe they are married to/are the child of someone who got shipped out here by their company). Is
it more ok for them to complain about behaviour they dislike, than it is for me? Where do you
start to draw the lines of who can and can’t complain, or is nobody living in a foreign country
allowed to complain about things they don’t like?

I can understand your point about how people need to be more appreciative of what they have, and
realise how lucky they are, but *many* of the foreigners in China do realise this. Yes there are
also many who come here to leech off society, but not everyone is like that, and sometimes venting
about it to other people who know/understand what you’re going through can be a healthy way to
keep sane, rather than keeping all that rage bottled up inside, until one day you finally snap.
Also, there’s a difference between the occasional gripe/vent, and constant bitching and moaning.

I just don’t think it’s as black and white as you’re trying to make out that it should be.

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Page 2 of 6 &lt; 1 2 34 &gt; &raquo;

mpallard –

I honestly think the people who yell HEEELLOOOOO at foreigners think they’re the only ones who
have thought of doing this.

I agree it’s really anoying but I don’t know what one could do about it. Usually I just do my best
to ignore them.

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wushijiao –

I think, in addition to what imron said, people from rural areas, and the such, just have never
imagined themselves using English as a language of communication. If you have ever taught in rural
areas, I’m sure you will have noticed that the first student to say something to the foreign
teacher in English usually recieves a huge round of laughter.

Another example, when I taught in Beijing, I had a really cool driver who would drive me around
from school to school. He was a chatter, and so I got a chance to practice my Chinese all day
long. Anyway, when we’d go to a specific restaurant for lunch, we’d go to sit down at the table,
and he would tell the staff something like, "他也在教我外语(….wait for it….):
Khalllloooo! Moshi! Moshi!!!"

The staff would almost hurt themselves laughing everytime.

So, the "Helllloooo" is a laugh at our expense, but we have to admit, in its our circumstances, it
is a pretty damn funny joke.

I just see the "hello", "laowai" and the staring as the flip side of being praised for even saying
the most simple Chinese, which is probably more encouraging than the "helllooo" is annoying. Both
stem for the fact that some Chinese people have absolutely no experience talking to foreigners.

Hero Doug –

I don’t see the joke. :

aimei –

I am getting to understand after three months of being here that the Chinese are an extremely
isolated ppl that have pretty much zero experience or understanding of outside cultures, so can we
say that this attitude prevents them from seeing why the "laowai" or "helloooo" behavior is rude
and unwelcome?…..I did a great job the first month of ignoring it even while I felt pretty hurt
when they would point and laugh at me like I was some kind of monkey in a cage. But then after
hearing it for the hundreth thousandth time I started to glare and even tell them that this was
not appreciated, this did not make the slightest impression on them. I mean even if they are
incapable of understanding why this is rude (which I believe they are), wouldn’t they at least
stop the behavior just for the very fact that it is clearly upsetting someone….sometimes I
really don’t "get" the Chinese.

mrtoga –

I always get the irritating "hello" thing from high-school boys and drunk men (and occasionally
taxi-drivers, but I forgive them because most of them are bonkers anyway).

Most Chinese are embarassed by this kind of behaviour and wouldn’t do it themselves. When young
lads do it I equate it with kids in England being a bit "lary", except in England they would be
more likely to moon people from passing cars or something – amusing for the participants but just
embarassing for everyone else.

When drunk middle-aged guys do it that is more pathetic. But at least it gives me a warning that I
am likely to get dragged into a tedious conversation about America’s hegemony
(美国，就是霸道注意） or the honesty of the Chinese
people （中国人非常实在）. Or a rant about the Japanese. So I actually rather
appreciate this "hello" and adapt my generally friendly attitude as necessary……

gougou –

I think trying to link this behavior to a certain part of the Chinese culture is pointless. I had
a Japanese friend in France complain to me that she people would shout "ni hao" after her pretty
much on a daily basis.

adrianlondon –

I like random strangers sticking a hand in the air, fingers apart and saying "hellloooooooo!" to
me as I walk past. I’m usually completely ignored when walking around London, so I like the
attention.

I even enjoyed going to Xiangshan on National Day and having out-of-towners wanting to have their
photo taken with me. I’d always grab them back and get my friend to take another photo using my
camera.

I always wonder what happens when they show these photos to their friends. I have an excuse – I
can say "see that strange Chinese lad clinging to me? For some reason, he wanted a picture taken
with me, what a laugh!" but what excuse to they have? When their friend asked "do you know that
bloke?" they must surely reply "no, not got a clue who he is, but wow, he’s white!!". Eh? Oh well.

I usually respond to "hellllloooooo!" by sticking my hand in the air and saying "kneeeee
haaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuu" in a similarly silly accent. Once, slightly worse for alcohol, I pre-empted
their hello’s by just picking some random guy and doing my "knee hauu" thing. They’re probably
posting complaints on laowai-forums.com as I type.

roddy –

Quote:

I always wonder what happens when they show these photos to their friends. I have an excuse – I
can say "see that strange Chinese lad clinging to me? For some reason, he wanted a picture taken
with me, what a laugh!" but what excuse to they have? When their friend asked "do you know that
bloke?" they must surely reply "no, not got a clue who he is, but wow, he’s white!!". Eh? Oh well.

A friend of mine got really annoyed at me once when she showed me her photos from a trip to
Beijing and I couldn’t stop laughing – there was at least an entire roll of shots of ‘me and
random foreigners’, and the looks on some of those people’s faces was hilarious.

liuzhou –

I was grabbed (quite roughly) by a total stranger the other day and forced to pose. He was Korean.

This all reminds me of when I was a student in London (longer ago than I want to consider) and we
regularly amused ourselves by picking on Japanese tourists, following them around and making sure
we were somewhere in the background of every picture they took. They never noticed us, but we had
great fun imagining their reactions when they got home, developed the pictures and found these
strangers in every picture. (What we never considered was that they think we all look the same and
probably never noticed anyway!)

The benefits of higher education!

aimei –

Yeah I’ve had quite a few ppl ask for my photo at the major tourist sites, and that doesn’t bother
me…..those ppl just seem genuinely curious and I will talk to them for a bit too and they get
pretty excited. I was just annoyed but the "hello" thing because I can’t stand rudeness and after
three months the "joke" was getting pretty old.

btw does anyone know if talktalk china is only accessable from comps in foreigners apartments? At
our old place my bf and I could get on any site we wanted pretty much, but now we are living
somewhere else that doesn’t have net so I have to go this net cafe and I can’t get on here…..too
bad that was an awesome blog.

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