"Eh! Laowai!"

If you spend some time in China, you will hear this word rather frequently.

On entering a restaurant or walking the streets, Chinese people will very often alert their friends that there are some ‘loawai’ about (that means you!), which is often accompanied by a pointed finger in your direction and a giggle.

Their intention is well meant and not derogatory, although for many foreigners this is usually taken slightly offensively and is definitely tiring to hear. In fact, the polite term that they should use is 'Wàiguó rén'. Even better is 'Wàiguó péngyǒu' which means foreign friend. But anyway, chances are you'll hear laowai. It's not meant offensively at all but some foreigners living in China do take offence to it as it's a slang expression. That said, I do know of other languages that have slang terms for outsiders so, by the ilk, laowai is simply the Chinese version of this type of term. After some time, it can become quite annoying, especially if you end up living in China.

Do not take it to heart. If you smile back and say ‘Ni Hao’ (hello) they’ll friendlily smile back to you. Better still, for some humour (and it shows they’ve been rumbled) if you hear them say ‘laowai’ you can point to yourself and call yourself a ‘Shì de, wǒ shì laowai’ ('Yes, I'm a foreigner') loud enough that they can hear you. It's a comical way of turning the tables. But usually best to adapt to the term and just accept that it's their common way of saying foreigner without any offence intended - which is the important thing, right?

Turning the tables or acknowledging their comments usually raises a laugh and gets the locals blushing – and they may even then invite you to sit with them as they'll assume you can speak more Chinese. They adore this kind of banter and because they suspected you couldn’t speak a word of Chinese, so it’s a sudden and light-hearted surprise. Just remember not to joke in any way that could lose their face!