Dude, don't touch my fruit

One thing I've liked greatly about Chinese people are that they are very open and upfront about their curiosities. I first noticed this when going places with my colleagues that if you are interesting to look at, people will look at you and, when I say look, I really mean Stare! When I would enter a restaurant, some people would begin to stare, others while others continue eating their food. However, when I start speaking English, then heads start to pop up and eyes swivel my way. This happens in the train and just about everywhere I go. Its great for kicks as you sort of become a mini-celebrity! Now by staring, I don't mean it in a rude way, people won't grimace, point or scowl, they will just politely stare at you in an interested way. If this happens, be flattered! This may happen more where I am in Tianjin and there are not many foreigners compared with Beijing or Shanghai. In Beijing, I didn't notice this happening quite as much.

I notice that the locals like to stare at me more than other foreigners and I think I have an inkling about why judging from the questions they ask my colleagues. (Note: Some people will talk to you or your Chinese counterpart and ask about you which shows that they are interested in you and not staring at an animal at the zoo). The common questions are "Where is he from?" or "What minority group is he?". The staring may be greater for me as locals are not sure if I am a foreigner or one of the minority groups in China. There are some minority groups along the Russian border who are mixed just like me, hence it is a good guess that Chinese guess that I am from that area (Hopefully you can add some more information on these minority groups Michael!). Seems like I'm just a walking Rubik's cube that the locals try to solve by staring!


Now onto the experience for the title of this article. I bought some fruit from Tesco's just the other day and was standing in the checkout line.

Sidenote:
[The fruit I bought is a Chinese delicacy called Mangosteen and is seen in the picture to the right (Image credit:http://www.foodsubs.com/ Fruittroex.html). To eat this fruit, you squeeze the hard other shell until it cracks and you pull it away to reveal a fruit inside that looks like soft garlic and is the sweetest thing you've ever tasted in your life!]

Two 20something men behind me started to stare not at me for a change but at the fruit I had in a bag and had placed on the checkout counter. I was surprised when the staring evolved to them actually starting to poke my fruit, talk about it and pull the bag closer to them so that they could look at the price tag. I didn't mind it really, I just found the "touching" experience interesting. Fortunately, I was not buying any underwear or other personal items for them to start poking and picking up as well!

Also, thought this may not apply to China, if someone wants to get by you, they will usually provide you with a gentle nudge with their hand or shoulder. If this happens don't take it as rude, you're just in the way! This happens to me all the time at work, at the grocery store and many other places. The upside is, you can do it too as I have discovered and nobody seems to mind. This works for me as it is far easier for me to give someone a gentle nudge out of the way than to try and ask them politely in Chinese and answer and risk facing any questions they may decide to ask of me!