Being stared at in Beijing?

[Igor Antunov]

Of all the places we went to in the mainland, Beijingers seemed most curious at me and my sister. Why are beijingers so nosy?

[roddy]

I'd wager the people doing the staring were, like you, tourists. Anyone who lives in Beijing is bored to death of foreigners, it's the folk visiting from smaller cities that stare.

[Igor Antunov]

True, probably migrant workers.

To be honest, I found myself staring at westerners too! They just seemed so out of place when I'd walk past a tall european looking guy in the middle of beijing, so I wonder what the hell is he doing here, lol.

So I can understand where many chinese are coming from.

[Kenny同志]

I stare at foreigners too, but pretty girls only and not for long. I guess it might be because they found you and your sister pretty.

[OneEye]

Every few months we get a new round of foreigners in Taipei, and you can always spot them. Slackjawed, bewildered, like a deer in headlights, just like I was when I first came here.

[jbradfor]

I'm going for Kenny's theory. [Post a picture of your sister! ] I don't think anyone stared at me in Beijing, but who notices a pudgy slightly balding middle-aged man?

[大肚男]

Do you look different that your "average" foreigner?

The first time I went to Beijing, me and a Colombian friend would get stared at a lot, we figured that it is because we are two brown kids in a group of white folk

Some people even asked to take pictures with us, the only one in our group who got more photo requests was a really really blonde girl. But probably more than half of these requests were from Chinese tourists, rather than Beijingers.

[Daniw de Leon]

We once went to Shenyang with an Austrian blonde guy and an Italian brunette girl. I, being a generic blend of Southeast Asian/East Asian didn't get any notice at all, for obvious reasons. Our blonde member got the most stares and photo ops to the chagrin of the Italian. It's nice I can blend in but sometimes I envy them because they naturally have more interactions with the natives.

[WangYuHong]

I thought it was weird the first time I went to Beijing in 2001...

I got stared at, people asked to take pictures with me...

Then I got used to it a little, and thought it was actually kinda cool (like being a mini celebrity)

Now when I go there nobody looks twice at me anymore...

*sigh*

[Eranee]

I agree with Igor. It's usually migrant workers, and tourists that do most of the staring.

[歐博思]

You think Beijing is bad then take a trip to Badaling Great Wall during May day when you are a tall blonde boy with curly hair

[Igor Antunov]

I do suspect most of the chaps that asked us for photos with them were indeed chinese tourists from other towns.

Also, on two occasions (both in shanghai) we caught chinese guys with cameras taking stealth photos of us, mainly my sister. Naughty naughty, she's only 15!

But It's all understandable. I look forward to being stared at again this coming june/july.

[Meng Lelan]

That happened to my three kids too. Staring and stealth photos. Got to the point where one of my kids would complain of a stealth photographer and I would strike a kungfu pose to block their view from the camera, problem solved.

[歐博思]

Meng Lelan that is awesome haha. In Shanghai I noticed people taking a picture of me taking a friends picture, so I nonchalantly flashed them a "V" while taking a picture. heee-ya!

we caught chinese guys with cameras taking stealth photos of us, mainly my sister. Naughty naughty, she's only 15!

A lot of Chinese girls look really young. Maybe they couldn't tell the difference haha

[muirm]

I've found my wife gets way more stares than me. She is mixed (Chinese and white), and I think Chinese people take a really good stare to try to figure out exactly what the deal is with her. And when I say a good stare, I mean often a solid 10 seconds (which is a really long stare if you think about it). My wife is completely oblivious of course, but I notice them all the time. I stare back at them trying to catch their eye and make them feel awkward, but I don't think it works.

[fanglu]

we caught chinese guys with cameras taking stealth photos of us, mainly my sister. Naughty naughty, she's only 15!

What is it with western people and paranoia about people taking photos of children? It doesn't hurt them, as far as I can tell. People need to be a bit less precious.

[jbradfor]

What is it with western people and paranoia about people taking photos of children?

I've even seen signs in playgrounds saying that photography is not allowed!!

In this case though, I think Igor assumed they were taking pictures because they though she was attractive. 15-year-olds are "not supposed" to be attractive in that way, if you know what I mean.

But what's up with taking pictures of strangers like that? Do people really every look at them again? "Oh yeah, here's this 老外 I saw on the street, take a look!" I've have numerous strangers take a picture of our daughter (most asked), I assumed because she's mixed (it's always been in Asia). I thought it was really weird. It didn't bother me, but I always wonder what people do with those pictures. I'm hoping most of them said "what was I thinking?" and then erased them. Or once I was at Badaling with a bunch of other people on a tour, and we all lined up for a group photo of us (of course!!). This young woman saw us, a bunch of white faces all lined up, and took our pictures. Why?

[gato]

Maybe it's 街拍, sometimes with permission, sometimes not.

[Meng Lelan]

What is it with western people and paranoia about people taking photos of children? It doesn't hurt them, as far as I can tell.

Privacy and safety concerns. In the US, generally you are not supposed to photograph children or publicly display children's photos without parental consent.

[Igor Antunov]

Maybe it's 街拍, sometimes with permission, sometimes not.

So that's where the photos end up.

I'm from Australia, we don't really mind.