The Celebrity Effect: Being a White Foreigner in China

As I walk down the street, heads turn. A woman coming out of a shop does a double take. A group of older men, resting in the shade, openly stare – and keep staring. A student riding a bicycle is so distracted he nearly causes an accident. A mother nudges her kindergartener, saying, “Look, a foreigner! Practice your English. Say ‘Hello!’” The child looks up at me, entranced, silent. “‘Helloooooooo!’” coaxes Mom unsuccessfully. A man waiting for the bus casually lifts his phone – I know he’s taking a photo.

Strangers come up to me and offer teaching or modeling jobs. Sometimes someone is gutsy enough to ask to take a photo with me, instead of just sneakily doing it. Whispers of “So tall!” and “So white!” echo as I make my way through the mall or to a table in a restaurant.

It’s just a normal day as a foreigner in China.

And I am not exaggerating. There are certain places where it’s heightened, such as tourist spots crowded with people from all over the country, and new neighborhoods that aren’t acclimated to me yet. There are also places where it’s rare, such as a university campus with a large foreign student population, and the business districts of major cities like Beijing or Shanghai. But it happens, on average, constantly.

The Celebrity Effect, as I’ve come to call it, is somewhat more understandable when you know some numbers about the most populous country on Earth. Over 90% of the people here are the same ethnicity: Han Chinese. There are just under 600,000 foreign residents (according to the most recent census in 2010), which is approximately 0.0005% of the population. While I have plenty of foreign coworkers and friends in my current city, overall, I am essentially a mythical creature in China.

But unicorn or not, Americans do not stare or photograph on the level of Chinese people. There’s a huge cultural difference. It’s acceptable here to stare at someone who is exceptionally buff, fat, beautiful, light, dark, different. If that person is foreign, and thus probably doesn’t understand Chinese, it’s also acceptable to comment and share your opinion on what you see. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take much Chinese language ability to pick up on the fact that everyone around you thinks you’re overweight or the correct / undesirable skin tone.

I get the “too tall” comment quite a bit since I’m 5’ 10” (177cm). One time it was said by a middle-aged man to another while the three of us were waiting for the elevator. A glance and a small smile showed him I understood. He then awkwardly launched into a commentary on how some Chinese people are also tall, being tall is beautiful, did you know that up north Chinese people are also very tall? I had a good laugh about it afterwards.

There are some other cultural factors that are related. Chinese people are much more comfortable with their bodies and talking about appearance. When Chinese friends say “You’ve gained weight” or “You have a zit!” it’s meant to show they care about your health. (Health is, after all, one of the most important Chinese values.) Americans generally view statements about appearance as personal opinions, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” while Chinese see it as stating facts about their bodies. Your face is big or it isn’t. Your legs are long or they aren’t. No need to get offended by someone just saying the truth.

Anyways, being a foreign unicorn was kind of fun, initially. I really did feel like a celebrity the first few weeks. Then it’s occasionally disturbing… Then annoying… And at this point, it’s all old news. You might not notice the Celebrity Effect if you only visit for a short time or are chaperoned by hosts. But stay a while, go out by yourself, and it will find you. Nowadays I can tune it out easily. Listening to music with headphones helps. I throw the peace sign to the sneaky photographers and gasp “A foreigner!! Where??” to the kids. When I frequent the same areas, eventually things calm down a bit as locals acclimate to me.

It’s hardest when the comments are negative, whether they’re meant in a negative way or not. Sometimes, when I see parents and grandparents pointing me out to their little ones, teaching them to verbally recognize my otherness, I feel like the main attraction at the zoo. No matter how flattering someone is, I’m not going to accept a job offer on the street from a stranger who approached me based on my appearance.

It’s too simplistic for me to tack all this onto the ills of Chinese culture. In reality, people all over the world recognize those who are not normal. Maybe in America we only glance and whisper instead of outright stare and comment, but we still do it. We are all surprised and reactive towards those who look and speak differently from us. Human beings are still getting used to each other.

I’ve learned so much more from being a minority in Asia than I ever did as part of the majority back home. I’ve learned how to empathize with those who are underrepresented, stereotyped, idolized or shunned. My skin is a bit thicker. I can let things slide – my culture may say I’m average, yours might say I’m fantastical. Other’s ideas don’t define me. The Celebrity Effect is just a detail of my life.