A generic "no"?

[Josh-J]

Now I'm in Beijing I constantly get people trying to sell me water, maps, mao watches, etc. etc. and pretending to be tour guides. Not everyone says these things in english. This has made me think, how do I say I don't want whatever they're selling, when I might not be sure what word they used when offering it? If they say "你想不想..." I can just say "不想" but otherwise I don't know what to say (of course I can just shake my head or walk away but I'd like to know) - so can you just say bu xiang or bu yao no matter what?

Cheers

[gougou]

so can you just say bu xiang or bu yao no matter what?

No, you can't. Through laborious hours of self-experiments, I was able to find out that when talking to these people, 不要 as well as 不想 both seem to mean: "Please tell me more about your product. And be so nice to grab my sleeve while doing so."

Please allow for more time until I find out how to actually tell them "No".

[Craig]

The two best i've found to get them to move onto another person is saying “我不要，谢谢” I think the politeness throws them off and they give up. Also, depending on what they are selling "我已经有了。" Works very well as who really needs dozens of watches.

[mr.stinky]

well, you can try the bu yao/bu xiang route, for all the good it'll do you. the best

method, after a couple tries of politeness, and once they finally grab your sleeve,

is to grab them by the collar and say in a low voice close to their face (don't breath

in when you do this!) bu f*** yao. ting bu f*** dong? as you slam them gently

against any convenient vertical surface.

[dalaowai]

Long ago I learnt a word that seems to be only used in spoken Chinese, which is often used in these kinds of situations. There is unfortunately no hanzi, however let me describe how to say a firm "NO!" when being harassed.

Gather the mucus in the back of your throat and amass a wad while making a loud, clear horking sound. Gently expulse the "no" beside their shoe; at which point they will understand that you do not want to purchase their product.

It is said that in ancient Chinese civilization, there was an unwritten rule that you'd get a gob smack in the face if you continued harassing the said individual.

[MarkKang]

you can always add on a firm "zou3kai1", which means get away or back off.

[mr.stinky]

what about "gun3kai1" ?

[Yuchi]

LOL maybe if you want them to call their gang of friends to beat you up.

[梅克立]

You could say 不用 instead of 不要, I heard it was more polite.

[Josh-J]

Haha alright, so I can say 不要 but it won't help

Fortunately the most I've had so far was someone following me on a peddle-trailer thing (what are they called?) trying to sell me water.

Thanks

[md1101]

last time i was in shanghai near the xiangyang markets with everyone hassling me id say 'bu yao' and of course that just seemed to be an invitation to continue bugging me.

BUT then i said "我真的不要“ and the guy goes 'oh。。。 真的不要' and walks away. it actually happened with a few guys... boy was i surprised.. could that be the special sentence thats required?

maybe they thought i was joking every other time.

anyway try it and see if it works.

[gougou]

BUT then i said "我真的不要“ and the guy goes 'oh。。。 真的不要' and walks away.

I found as well that for some of the hawkers, once they realize you are not the average tourist who acquired his "boo yow" from a column in the Lonely Planet, they tend to let you go easier (probably because they see their profit margin rapidly shrinking)

Others, however, seem to be chronically unable to hear the sound "bu". So if you tell them "bu yao, zhen de bu yao.", it is not hard to predict their reaction.

I found what works best is to completely ignore them (even though it's not the most friendly approach): don't talk to them, don't look at them, don't slow down. Unless at the time you happen to be the only tourist climbing Simatai, you'll be left alone very quickly.

[Josh-J]

Interesting, I'll give it a try - actually I'm in Shanghai now so I can even try in the same place

[semantic nuance]

Well, how about trying the reverse method? When someone comes to you selling things you really don't want, just tell him/her: 謝謝! 我已經買了. (Thanks. I already bought it.)

[roddy]

Yeah, I've been known to do that if I've got time to kill and they're annoying me - pay great attention to everything they've got, praise it to the heavens and when they ask you to name a price say no need, I've got six at home.

I find the best approach (on the rare occasions I'm walking around Tiananmen or the Houhai / Beihai north gate area) is a preemptive shake of the head when they make initial eye contact. But half the problem is that they don't even expect to make a sale, they're just relieving boredom. Following me around saying 'Hello sir, postcard?' is probably 10 times more interesting than just standing around watching me walk past (although both activities are popular Beijing pasttimes)

Roddy

[Lu]

When I tried 'Wo yijing youle' they suggested I'd buy another one as a gift for friends. So I went back to saying Bu yao and then walking on and ignoring them. That usually worked.

[dalaowai]

At xiangyang market in Shanghai, the new "cool" thing amongst hawkers is to touch foreigner's arms while harassing.

Solution: If anyone touches my arm, I start lovingly petting their arms. Let me tell you, no Chinese man will stick around to have their arm being stroked softly.