general impression

[Guest akira]

just got back from a trip from hongkong (my first trip to china) and to put it nicely most of the locals were not friendly, i dare say they were kinda rude. rudeness is something that happens regardless of nationality or place, but when i talk to relatives/friends who've had more travel experience with china they always point out how impolite and rough the chinese are, and they have matching stories to go with it. is this just a hastily drawn stereotype or its something i should expect like the french being known to be snobbish?

[Quest]

HK is a very busy and crowded city. I think that helped train some of the rude people. They are also very racist, if you do not look like a local and you are not White, they don't treat you well. Also, are you Filipino? There are many Filipinos taking jobs as house maids in HK to the degree that Filipino and housemaid become synonymous. If you do not like HK, then I suggest that you avoid it. Try other places in China, many are friendly.

[Ian_Lee]

Quest:

Please define what you mean that Hong Kong is "racist".

Do you see Hong Kong has the type of racial riot like those happened in Cincinnati or Los Angeles?

Do you see Hong Kong has the kind of beating up Japanese students in college dorms as happened in Xian?

In fact, HK provides a conducive environment for every ethnic group to succeed.

For instance, the China Light and Power Company -- one of the territory's two electricity companies -- is owned by the Kadoorie Family. They are Jews whom migrated from Iraq at the end of the 19th century.

The Hyatt Hotel on the golden strip of Nathan Road in Kowloon is owned by the Harilelas family. They are Sindhis from northwestern India that moved to Hong Kong after the subcontinent partition in 1948.

Moreover, the most consumed beer in Hong Kong is San Miguel -- the Filipino brewery that had set up factory in HK for decades.

So is Mainland China less racist than Hong Kong?

If some Uighur or Tibetans can have the same opportunities to own some key business in Mainland like what Jews, Indians and Filipinos do in Hong Kong, then I would agree!

[pazu]

oh Ian, come on, let's face the truth and stop being so defensive!

I agree with Quest and Akira, Hong Kongers can be quite rude and racist. Don't ask me for a definition.

[Ian_Lee]

Pazu:

If you mean "hidden" racist, I have to agree with you that HKers, like any other people in the world, can be racist too due to bigotism.

(Even I have to admit so since I have preference for Japanese>westerners>local as tenant for my leased apartment in Hong Kong.)

But there is no law that denies equal opportunities for various ethnic groups in HK as contrasted to policies like those implemented in many SE Asian countries, i.e. bumipatra policy that favors Malay group in Malaysia.

In fact, local NGOs in HK are strongly urging the government to enact anti-racial discrimination legislation.

Regarding rudeness, try visit NYC. I couldn't stand the New Yorkers' rudeness and have sworn never to go back!

[pazu]

You know one thing that I hate to see on the internet debating forum, is that some people try to compare their problems with other bigger problems, then let theirs sound fine to them. This is indeed quite an altitude common amongst Chinese people...

When you talk about the human rights in China, some Chinese would say, "oh, how about America?" Other people's behavior can never make an excuse.

[Quest]

Ian_Lee:

I hope you understand that I am not trying to attack HK, I love HK.

You asked for an explanation on HK racism, and I thought I did define HK racism in my last post. If any of the things I said was wrong, you can point it out. I was certainly not painting a rosy picture for mainland China. People in the Mainland also look down on people from other countries, or even other provinces, towns and cities. However, I am sure there are friendly people, friendly towns and cities in China. If Akira doesn't like HK, you cannot make him like it by denying what he experienced. so, I suggested that he try somewhere else. If all the places he visits disappoint him, then we must really have problems, and we can do our best to bring the problems to public attention.

[skylee]

Dear friends, HK people are rude to local people too. Show them that you have money, then they may or may not treat you better.

As to being racist, I am not sure HK people are worse than other people on average. But I think that many do have prejudice against people of dark skin.

[pazu]

But I must say a word here about the friendliness of Hong Kong people too~~ Do you know I'm from Hong Kong too?

I've seen quite a lot of Ziyouxing these days and most tourists from mainland China I met, told me how friendly the Hong Kong Tongbao Camrades are; the HK police are helpful while their counterparts in mainland China would just refuse to give any help; and I heard comments from them about how high the 素質 QUALITY of Hong Kong people, good manner~

"Oh I think Hong Kong is such a romantic place!" === said 女子十二樂坊~!

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今時今日咁o既服務態度係唔得o架喇!

[Quest]

Yes, to be fair, everyone's experience is different. I've been to HK six times, and I enjoyed my trips. But tourist shoppers beware, you can get deals for a price many times lower than the tag price. 免得被人开天杀价。

[芳芳]

its something i should expect like the french being known to be snobbish?

Non mais de quoi??

What?

...

Just kidding, it's just to show off the other cliche about french: they are suceptibles as much as they are supposed to be snobbish hehehe...

Well, I have no experience of Hong Kong, but if I refere to what I felt in the other places of China (Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'An for the bigf cities), I have to admit that the chinese people are rather rude as they are in crowd...but this is understandable, as far as they have to deal with miling inm big crowds everydays...I recognise the first moment I was in China, I was angry (in fact as angry as when I go to Paris and that people bump into me without saying any sorry and even give me a bad look) because of the rudiness and the unpoliteness of people around, but as soon as you are with a group of reasonnable size, people are vry pleasant and eager to help you as soon as they see you look embarrassed.

[Quest]

I agree with 芳芳. Chinese people are very enthusiastic and friendly towards friends and family, but they could be very rude towards strangers.

[芳芳]

I'm not sure it's really only directed against strangers, or maybe is it against strangers who don't try to do any effort to do as local population. Of course there is a little time of necessary adaptation but it is worth to try.

[Eloise]

You know one thing that I hate to see on the internet debating forum, is that some people try to compare their problems with other bigger problems, then let theirs sound fine to them. This is indeed quite an altitude[/b'] common amongst Chinese people...

Attitude?

[tara]

wow, this topic is getting hot....sorry for rubbing salt into the wound.

it's a fact of life, rudeness and racism exists on every corner of the world map. i guess akira was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. no one's perfect just as is no country is perfect. akira, don't let a bad encounter ruin your holiday and perception of a country. there are rude people everywhere just as there are nice people everywhere. the world would be nicer place to live in if it was just like a puppet on strings and god could control every step of our behaviour, wouldn't it?

as Ian_Lee quoted " bumiputra policy that favors Malay group in Malaysia"....hey, I am from Malaysia and guess what IT'S SO TRUE. but does that discourage us Malaysian Chinese? No, it doesn't, if you look deeper into the reasons why such discrimination exist, well, it simply is because weaknesses exist. The bumiputra policy exists to protect and assist the less capable Malays. Malaysia is just a subtle example, look at Indonesia, and how the Indonesian Chinese are discriminated.

i dunno how many of you out there would agree with me, but it's kinda accepted as the "chinese culture" that CHINESE are such business-minded individuals so much so that TIME equals MONEY and from this it can be concluded that every second equals every cent.

Akira, if it can comfort you, let me tell you a rude experience I had in Indonesia. We all know the kinda of polictical and economic situation Indonesia is in at the moment - bus, taxi and becaks (alike trishaws) rule on the road, you would never expect them to give way to you even for a pedestrain crossing the road. they would honk and even shout at you. yup, my initial reaction was, how rude they are. but taking a deeper look, you would understand why, simply because TIMES are so bad for them, they are chasing for every second because every second means so much to them. being able to make an extra round of trip means they are able to feed their extra little ones at home.........and guess what, despite that i have revisted Indonesia many times and plan to go there again..........okay, it seems like i am diverting from the subject matter but the point is, we are expecting to be TREATED in a way that if it doesn't happen we take it as rudeness, but i think its not true or at least their intention was not to be rude? Can anyone else enlighten me?

[Guest akira]

ya, maybe i was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. considering it was the holiday season and the place was crawling with tourists. yup, i'm filipino (although sometimes i get mistaken for being chinese), and im aware that a lot of filipinos there work as housemaids and maybe that could be one of the reasons why.

there was this nice hk guy that helped me out when i got lost in causeway bay.at least its comforting to know that my hongkong experience might just be an isolated case. anyway it hasnt deterred me from going back (maybe in a less busy season) to hk or exploring the rest of china soon. just wanna clarify what was said here; so chinese are more friendly if you're in a group?

[芳芳]

Not really.

I would say chinese are more friendly if yo're not a individu lambda in a crowd.

Anyway, good luck when you'll go gack and 'hope you'll enjoy your trip!!!

[holyman]

i would say the hongkongers might probably be rude nowadays thou i didnt had a lot of bad encounters during my multiple visits in the past 10yrs. yeah, money is one thing that can change their opinions and attitude towards u, and staying in a 2000hkd/night hotel and a 60hkd dorm in chongking mansion does make a diff. there was also this incident i encountered: an old lady asked me how to get to the public utilities office to pay the bills when i was walking around zhonghuan area. she addressed me as a 'gor gor zai'(meaning a young lad or something like that) since i wasnt a local i didnt knew the way. so i told her in my slightly broken cantonese, i am sorry, i am not sure how to get there. i see that her face suddenly brighten up and she replied in a quick voice, its ok, its ok, u dont have to apologise. i guess she probably hadnt met anyone being polite to her or giving her some respect for a long time.

[pazu]

i would say the hongkongers might probably be rude nowadays thou i didnt had a lot of bad encounters during my multiple visits in the past 10yrs. yeah, money is one thing that can change their opinions and attitude towards u, and staying in a 2000hkd/night hotel and a 60hkd dorm in chongking mansion does make a diff. there was also this incident i encountered: an old lady asked me how to get to the public utilities office to pay the bills when i was walking around zhonghuan area. she addressed me as a 'gor gor zai'(meaning a young lad or something like that) since i wasnt a local i didnt knew the way. so i told her in my slightly broken cantonese, i am sorry, i am not sure how to get there. i see that her face suddenly brighten up and she replied in a quick voice, its ok, its ok, u dont have to apologise. i guess she probably hadnt met anyone being polite to her or giving her some respect for a long time.

strange conclusion.

[holyman]

maybe the flu got me head confused.... :D