China can be a funny place sometimes… Expats can seemingly get away with behavior here that would normally get them in trouble in their home countries (*cough* public drunkenness *cough*), while getting in major trouble for what most countries would view as minor offenses. So what small things can cause big trouble in China? Read on for some of the more innocent "infractions" that can cause expats time, money, or just a good old fashioned grilling.
1) Having any sort of mark on your Chinese visa
Chinese authorities take their visas seriously. Very, very seriously. So they don't like thinking that perhaps other people don't take their visas quite as seriously as they do. Case in point: A friend of mine (let's call him "John") was filling out some forms at a bank that required his Chinese visa number. When a bank teller was pointing out some information he had forgotten to include, she circled, with a pen, the last number on his visa. When John went to apply for a new Chinese work visa a few months later, it was denied. Why? The authorities told John that he had disrespected China by marking on his visa. Luckily, John was told that he could remedy the situation by writing a personal letter to the Chinese consulate, apologizing for his disrespect and basically begging to be given permission to stay here. Done and done.
2) Speaking English in front of police officers
This one I learned the hard way when I first moved to China. A few days after arriving, my husband and I went with his Chinese coworker (let's call her "Jane") to the local police station in order to register our address. Jane spoke English fairy well, so she was helping to translate everything the police officer was saying about what documents we needed, etc. After a four-hour ordeal of being told we needed one form, only to be told after we produced that form that we actually needed a different form (you know how it goes…), we were all getting a bit fed up – including Jane.
Finally, my husband signed the last form we needed in order to finish the registration process. After signing it, the officer told Jane that he'd signed it about three inches above where he actually needed to sign it, so the officer would have to print out a new form and have him sign it in the proper place. Jane looked at us and told us what the officer had said, then added "Stupid policies." Well, apparently the officers knew just enough English to recognize the word "stupid" and assumed Jane was calling the officer stupid. The three of us watched in horror as the officer tore up every single piece of paper we had just spent hours producing and signing, all the while screaming that "that woman" (meaning Jane) was never allowed to set foot in that police station again, and that if my husband and I wanted our registration process completed, we would have to come in again with a new translator to start the process all over again. Jane immediately burst into tears and started screaming back at the officer, which predictably ended with her talking to the police chief and the security tape footage being reviewed. So yeah, don't think you're safe speaking English in front of police officers – most know just enough to cause problems.
3) Trying to spend currency with "offensive" writing on it
Just keep in mind that the definition of "offensive" differs drastically in China from other countries. This happened to a friend of mine (let's call her Julia) who was paid in cash by her company. As it happened, in order to pay her six months' worth of rent, she had to charge her bank account with some of her earnings. She went to the bank clerk and handed over her card and a fat load of 100 RMB bills. The clerk fingered the bills, blinked, and suddenly went stone-faced. Julia was told to wait a moment, after which three equally stone-faced policemen showed up and took her to the police station.
Julia was taken in and questioned (in English – again, don't underestimate police officers' language skills) for three hours about who she was, what she did in China, whether she liked China, and many other pleasantries. Unsurprisingly, Julia was at this point very distressed, and interrupted the unending question-stream by asking what she'd done and whether she should contact her consulate. The officers replied politely it would be best not to, as she wasn't in any trouble. All they wanted to know, they explained, was why every single one of her money bills had the name of a certain, shall we say, disreputable political/philosophical movement – one starting with an F and ending with a G and banned in China – written all over them. Julia's complete ignorance of the Chinese language proved her saving grace, and she was released with only a warning to be more careful in the future.
Though foreigners will probably be given a little leeway, considering that many don't know the meaning of those Chinese characters (hell, most expats can't even write their names in Chinese characters, never mind the name of an underground philosophical movement), it's nevertheless best to be extra careful if you find any sort of writing on your currency.
4) Hitting on a Chinese person
With all the foreigners you see walking hand in hand with Chinese partners (I'm going to go ahead and be stereotypical here and cite the much more common example of expat men with Chinese women), you would think that this sort of relationship must be openly accepted here in China. Alas, not everyone is as open and tolerant of interracial pairings – especially the young Chinese men who are "losing their women" to foreigners. This can, and does, result in foreign men sometimes getting the bejeezus kicked out of them by a mob of disgruntled scorned lovers, as was the case with a friend of mine (let's call him "Jim") after a recent trip to a nightclub. He said he had been talking to (ie: flirting with) a Chinese girl all night and walked out with her towards a taxi. As he was about to get in, he was yanked out by a group of four Chinese men who then proceeded to punch and kick him. While the Chinese girl stood screaming, my friend managed to tear himself away and ran for his life. He managed to lose them and is able to (now) laugh about the story, but it's a good reminder to be on your guard – especially if you're into Chinese girls.
Related links
7 Tips on How to Prepare for a Health Emergency in China
7 Most Underrated Health Hazards in China
5 Things You Shouldn't Skimp On in China
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Keywords: safety in China visa problems China small things big trouble China police in China common problems in China
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yeah, what a useless article. "Chinese authorities take their visas seriously. Very, very seriously."
oh really, they do??? Have you ever been in any other country where you require a visa? OMG....
It's so nice when Americans for the first time in their life get out of their home country and tell others what to do...
Sep 17, 2012 00:31 Report Abuse
Ho hum... More anecdotal humdrum...
Re Point 2, I have NEVER had a problem registering my China home address in my second tier city. In fact, when I do pipe up in English at the police station, the police officers in charge, beam and show off the little English they know. Ha ha. A few years back during the rego process, a female police office even hit on me, giving me her phone number to hook up later. Suffice to say, I did not follow up, but that is another story...
The point is this: everyone has a different experience at the police station and to issue a sensationalist warning as does the author of the commentary above, is both uninformed and irresponsible. Fellow readers, take it with a grain of salt.
Second, with regard to Point 4: I have a Chinese girlfriend and neither I nor she nor we have ever experienced the sort of xenophobic, violent backlash behaviour that the commentator purports her pal Jim experienced. We are accepted, RESPECTED and befriended in the neighborhood by our Chinese neighbors. We have never been the victims of admonition, scorn, insult or bodily harm perpetrated by any person in this country...
In conclusion, a misleading, sensationalist commentary published in what is China's equivalent of Craigslists Rants and Raves. The above commentary is NOT journalism, but pap and dribble.
Sep 15, 2012 03:51 Report Abuse
foreigners think chinese man scary. say i enough. sometimes foreigners go to club. club is like whore house. i like they get hit by car.
Sep 14, 2012 21:35 Report Abuse
Love you whoever you are...im not chinese neither am i black lol..but u laid it out in the simplest way ..well done.
Sep 14, 2012 10:28 Report Abuse
I agree, melanie! Blackfoot probably has raped somebody in prison, and the fact that afro-american youths sometimes act poorly is reason enough for Chinese youths to act like shitheads.
No wait, the opposite of that. Arguments based on ad homonems and moral equivalencies just make the writer look like an idiot.
Sep 14, 2012 21:03 Report Abuse
I believe that these sorts of things probably happen all the time. That police and mid-level bureaucrats like to throw their weight around isn't exactly news to anyone. I know that it's happened to me, both in China and in my home country. I've received and spent currency that has had Chinese stamped on it. It simply didn't occur to me to ask the shop keeper to give me a new note, and I'm sure that the lion's share of Chinese people don't ask for a new one when it happens to them. And on the last point, tens of millions of Chinese men are all but assured to die single as a result of the gender imbalance, and I'm sure that makes it much more difficult for every Chinese man to find a suitable partner. They have my sympathy, but I'm sure it does get under their skin when they see a foreigner with a local woman.
Point out that these things happen isn't anti-China or anti-Chinese, but shitting on people that these things do happen too because you don't like their job, or because you've made a set of assumptions about who they are as people makes you an ass.
Sep 13, 2012 09:03 Report Abuse
Some of you people that reply here are just so niave, you think a negative comment comes from a Chinese person!
You are complete idiots and don't know how to debate at all and yet you think you are educated enough to write on this forum
Look at your lexicon and how you reply to comments, most of you suck big time!! Blow that
Sep 13, 2012 06:27 Report Abuse
Act like an asshole and you'll have plenty of sh_t to deal with. I've been here for years and none of that stuff has happened to me. I watch my surroundings, read the signs and signals of people, and treat them with respect, even when they're acting like monkeys. But I did the same thing in the U.S. where in actually I had far more troubles with morons than I've had here in China. There are monkeys everywhere. It doesn't mean I need to be one of them. Your actions and behavior will reflect in peoples' reactions to you. Some of them have never seen what we call 'civilized behavior'. I take it as an opportunity to educate and enlighten. You can't criticize someone into having good behavior. Or you can simply tell them all to f@#k off. See if that works. ha
Sep 13, 2012 06:21 Report Abuse
Dude, are you living in Xinjiang or somewhere else really far away from civilization? This article is rubbish, seriously, It is hard to believe you are even talking about China. I never had any problem doing any of that, how long have you been in China? Where exactly in China are you talking about? Are you fluent in Mandarin?
Sep 13, 2012 03:22 Report Abuse
I totally agree with you. I have strong reasons to believe that over 80% of foreigners in China are poorly educated people who think of themselves as better simply because they make more than the average person and because they have a western face.... but in reality most of foreigners in China are poor assholes who should go back to their own countries instead of giving the rest of us a bad name.
Sep 13, 2012 03:30 Report Abuse
I totally agree. Doesn't this fool know that being an American automatically renders her opinions invalid. We all know that police officers and mid level bureaucrats, especially Chinese ones, would never, ever throw their weight around or act petty in any way at all. And based on personal experience I can tell you that young Chinese men love watching foreigners date or marry Chinese woman. After all, its very easy for a Chinese man to find a spouse given how plentiful their women are. And its not even like having a family is important to them. I'm sure that Chinese parents have a very laid back attitude when it comes to seeing their children get married or produce grand children. Its just disgusting to watch this woman imply that these people might be something other than a race of enlighten philosopher kings when she's clearly no better than a shaved chimp herself. But then people like her should just stick to their own kind, shouldn't they. After all, as David Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Andrea Merkel have all observed, multiculturalism has failed. These opinions obvious demonstrate a distinguished and worldly outlook and we should all aspire to be more like you!
Sep 14, 2012 21:25 Report Abuse
I think that little rich bitches from first world countries who've never done a hard day's work in their lives shouldn't disrespect the teaching profession in this manner. Many of us Africans are exceptionally proud of our jobs as teachers and earn far more here in China than we'd be able too in our countries. So take your fat wallet and small **** and go sit in the corner while this teacher takes your wife and pride from a ride...LOL
Sep 14, 2012 23:14 Report Abuse
Ha ha. The stern reaction you suggest in your comment rendered by a police officer in the US would more than likely be a bullet to the head or 30 to the chest, arms and legs since most cops back home can't aim worth beans, at least where I come from down south. No finger wagging school marms among the Austin City Police Department. Trigger happy folk... Glad I'm in China...
Sep 15, 2012 04:11 Report Abuse
So Rebuttall you are that stupid you would let someone mark your passport with a pen? Sorry, you are such an idiot, you deserve what you get from the PSB or whatever country you visit!!
BTW you must be a Sepo and about 28 years old, Ha Ha Ha
Sep 13, 2012 01:45 Report Abuse
I agree with you. I am getting fed up with these racist, nationalistic and stupid Chinese people, especially the lazy and vain younger women.
Sep 18, 2012 01:08 Report Abuse
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