The exotic “laowai”

A casual stroll through T Square before dinner;
Mao mausoleum in the background

Laowai, 老外), is a commonly-used term that in everyday spoken Chinese refers to Caucasians. It’s thought to be a neutral term, though early ex-pats in China thought it was meant to be derogatory. The government mouthpieces in China actually launched what I would call a PR campaign to educate readers on the correct usage and appease foreigners that it’s not meant as an insult in anyway.

Now, if you’re being called Gwailo (鬼佬), that could be a different story. Gwailo is a slang term for foreigners used by the Cantonese and has more historical connotation as deprecatory. Though, here too, it can depend on the speaker. Some may be using it as a synonym for laowai; others, if adding the adjective sei (死, meaning dead or damned) or as a prefix. seigwailo (死鬼佬), well, they may not be so nice.

Traveling as a laowai in Beijing generally has few negatives. In fact, some moments are downright comical. I’m sitting at the airport having just bypassed a long line of people waiting to show boarding passes at first check-in point. I queued up like a good traveler, and then for some inexplicable reason, the guard just waved me forward. This happened on my last visit too. No one fussed.

While going through security, something in my bag must have raised a question because a guard took it from the belt and asked (i think) “Who’s is this?” When I raised my hand, he just nodded, didn’t even look at it, and gave it to me. Odd.

While entering Tiananmen Square yesterday afternoon, I encountered security checks at entrances (not sure if this is normal practice or a special situation given many countries are taking precaution against Egypt-style uprisings), and was simply waved through. I even started to put my purse through the scanner and the guard just gave it back.

I’m not sure as to the causes of this.

a folk art display outside T Square for Spring Festival

A charming moment occurred when I was walking through the square. A Chinese tourist gripped my arm, smiled endearingly and gestured that she wanted me to pose for a picture with her small daughter. (I had heard similar stories from friends, Mother, so i knew this wasn’t some distracting ploy so they could rifle my pockets.) Kind of sweet.  

I’m keen to explore more of China and see how the attitudes toward foreigners changes.