Originally Posted by
mcgahat
Take a look at any society that starts seeing a growth in any particular group of people etc in an area that did not have that group of people before and you will this same thing. There is always of course prejudice involved as well which can always come into play as well. I do not believe that people feeling threatened by the infiltration of a group of people as prejudiced in itself.
In Shanghai with my wife (then gf) and was surprised at how many people shouted things in Chinese at us (obviously not saying hello), not a ton but enough. I am white and she is Thai. If you are going to be prejudiced (aka ignorant) at least know the difference between Thai and Chinese. My Chinese friends in Shanghai said things are different now but we see no reason to go back there ever again.
My wife is Chinese and I am not. We go to China all the time, to see friends and family, and also to travel around and see the country. Except for one single incident in Guangzhou ten or twelve years ago (someone, thinking my wife didn't understand Cantonese, wondered aloud how we wound up together), we have not experienced anything remotely like you've described -- no prejudice, no hostility and only, at most, some polite curiosity on rare occasions. I'm not saying I doubt your experience, I'm merely saying it is atypical and certainly nothing I've ever encountered in the 17 years I've been traveling around China (probably totaling more than a year of time "on the ground" there).