hello laowei

Despite what you may have heard not all Chinese people speak English, especially not outside the major cities.

Most Chinese people know how to say "hello" and if they are brave, they will say it to your face, followed by giggling of the school girl type.  For example,  a grown man says "hello!" then "hehehehe". On your average afternoon out, you might get 3 to 5 "hello"s. Alas, many people are not so brave, so instead all you hear is "wai guo ren" or "laowei", both meaning foreigner.

Yes, being white attracts a great deal of attention. Mostly it results in people staring, unabashedly. It takes some getting used to. In America, if someone was staring at you, you'd think it was rude. Also, you might think something was wrong- something in my teeth? a kick me sign on my back? What the hell is so interesting??? But not to worry, they like to stare just because you're different. And it is not meant to be rude. Most days, I'll indulge them in a hello or a quick hi and a smile.

But, I'm not always in the best of moods. And if you thought staring was annoying, worse yet is when people take your picture- without asking. Don't get me wrong, sometimes people will ask. If a little kid comes up to ask for a photo, I don't usually say no. However, I am not always so indulgent. When a twenty-something adult male was making a video of my friends and I in the Nanjing Massacre Museum- without asking, I was straight up angry! In this particular case, not only was it rude to me, it totally disrespected the sanctity of the museum, which honors the loss of hundreds of thousands of Chinese people at the start of WWII.

Not to say that I'm not guilty of trying to take pictures of Chinese people, but at least I try and do it with some subtlety and in more appropriate situations. There is one picture I've been trying to capture since I came to China- and that is a Chinese baby butt. Let me explain! Most, probably 95%, of chinese babies do not wear diapers, at least when the weather is above 50 degrees. Instead, they are dressed in split pants, so when nature calls, their mothers can squat them down on the nearest sidewalk to do their business. (An aside- Be careful where you walk! That puddle is not water!) Chinese babies really are adorable, and I think their butts sticking out of their pants are the funniest and cutest things ever. It's especially funny when the mother is holding the baby with her arm under the butt, so you just see a little bit of cheek. Anyway, I haven't captured a butt on film yet. I just cannot go up and just snap a picture without asking and my many stealth attempts to get a picture without the parents noticing have been unsuccessful.

I hope to eventually share a picture with you, but if you want to see what I'm talking about, just google image "chinese baby split pants". I promise you will not be disappointed.