Yesterday, my girlfriend and I visited Shanghai Disneyland. While we were waiting in line, two foreigners with children kept cutting in front of others. Surprisingly, many people let them through without saying anything. It wasn’t until a father, also with his child, stood up to them and scolded them that the situation changed. The staff eventually allowed the Chinese father to go ahead in the line, but those two foreigners still smiled and tried to follow the staff to skip ahead. My girlfriend and I were both furious. She confronted them, saying that if they were in China, they should follow the rules here or leave. However, they just smiled and ignored her, acting as if nothing was wrong.
As a foreigner myself, I felt it wasn’t my place to call them out. But what upset me even more was that no one else around us supported my girlfriend or the father who spoke up.
Since the implementation of the visa-free policy, there seems to be an increasing number of foreigners coming to China. Many of my friends who have visited genuinely like China and appreciate its culture. However, they’ve also commented on how unusually generous and accommodating Chinese people are toward foreigners—offering free food, drinks, and general hospitality. While I know that this kindness stems from the cultural value of politeness and the idea of treating foreigners as friends, I’ve also noticed a growing number of disrespectful foreigners who do not show the same courtesy in return.
As China continues to open its doors to the world, I hope it can make it clear to visitors that this is China, and they are welcome here only if they come with respect for the local people and their culture.
