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Hero Doug -

Just came across this article, wondering if I could have some feedback from others about it.

http://asia.elliottback.com/archives...ren-vs-laowai/

I've personally never come across the term myself, I always hear waiguoren.

I've been told it's a very contexual word like Nigger (Not to offend anyone). It can be extremly
rude, or not, depending on how, and mainly who uses it.



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dalaowai -

I think that foreigners in China are very sensitive to the term "laowai", especially when the
laowai is living in a rural area.

I remember living in rural Zhejiang and feeling very discriminated against on a daily basis. To
add insult to injury, in most cases where I was being discriminated, the term laowai flew about
quite freely.

I no longer feel offended by the term, as I will quite bluntly refer to those individuals as
"xiangxiaren" or "waidiren".

But yeah, a lot of foreigners hate the use of this term, as it's often used to stereotype or
discriminate against non-asian foreigners.










xichg -

i am wondering which is worse, being call 'laowai' in china and being called 'alien' in the states.










Qcash3 -

When I was in China I never heard the term Laowai, but then again I didn't know what it was at the
time so I probably didn't pay attention to it. In my case, the locals were so shocked to see a
black American , that they spent their breath wondering aloud if I was really from America or
Africa, and forgot to throw LaoWai out there . Since I am going back in a few weeks I will keep my
ears open for the term, but I don't think it will bother me too much.










daxia -

I live in Southern China and I guess the people here are especially rude. Being called LaoWai is
nothing. 鬼老 is allot worse and I hear it everyday.

Allthough, I have started to reply with "东亚病夫" which the Chinese DON'T like to be called.
This has almost gotten me into 3 fights recently, and it's not very smart to start a fight on the
street in China because you can be sure that the chinese guy you are fighting with will have 20
friends nearby that will help him.










roddy -



Quote:

i am wondering which is worse, being call 'laowai' in china and being called 'alien' in the states.

Or indeed in China. Did you have a point?

I've heard laowai used with nothing but respect, and waiguoren used with a mouthful of contempt.
As far as I'm concerned it's the attitude of the speaker that counts. Neither, for me, are loaded
terms. The use of 外国朋友 though . . .










woliveri -

I hear LaoWai all the time here in Shanghai and it doesn't bother me a bit. In fact, when I hear
it I sometimes just reply back in Chinese, "wo bu shi laowai, wo shi zhongguo ren" with a smile
and be on my way.

What pisses me off way, way more than being called Laowai is people cutting in front of me while
I'm politely waiting in line. For that I've nearly been ready to confront someone.

But I don't and just put it with it realizing that it's done to everyone here regardless of race.

So for the most part, I'm getting over the line cutting now too (I think).










gato -

老 (Lao)-something is usually used as a term of endearment, such as in 老张、老李 (or at
worst as a kind of joke, i.e. referring to Mao Zedong as 老毛). I agree it's a bit xenophobic to
focus on the 外, but then 外国人 is no better in that regard.

A really derogatory term would be something like 鬼子, or 小日本 which is often used against
the Japanese.










Long Zhiren -

There are derogatory terms as mentioned before.

However, the 老 terms aren't exactly derogatory, more endearing as said before. If you think that
老外 is a problem, you need to address all of these other informal terms (they're all used like
tongue-in-cheek nicknames):
老头 old guy
老婆 wife (I rib my wife with this all the time.)
老公 husband (My wife ribs me all the time with this.)
老白 white guy
老黑 black guy
老黃 yellow guy
老中 Chinese guy
老大 oldest sibling
老幼 youngest sibling
米老鼠 Mickey Mouse
唐老鸭 Donald Duck

Exept for the wife term, I've only encountered these terms applying to males. Females don't get
老...

Now if you replace 老 with 肥, 豬, etc then you've got problems... Then, once the 蛋 words
start showing up, you've got more problems.










bhchao -

Laowai is used commonplace in the states where there is a mixing of Asian and Caucasian residents.
I hear it used often in the presence of the latter, with no negative effect.

大佬粗 used to be a compliment during the Mao Zedong era. Of course that could be less so today.












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