As for silk etc, I'd recommend shopping with Chinese friends as they tend to have an eye for quality, and thus can be of great help in buying nice artifacts at a decent price.

Good single malt whisky is also surprisingly hard to find. That situation may change, however.

But the last expansion sentence reads:

你可以用我的。
You can buy the cheap one. 1 (You can buy the cheap one.

When it should be "You can use mine."

Of course we'd like to say "You can buy the cheap one" too! ;D

I like laowai and wouldn't find it offensive [and liked Jenny's comment about it sometimes being endearing],but like all words the feeling behind it is going to be what is important.

I agree with Ken's strategy for the markets.The night markets in Taiwan were fascinating.You wouldn't want to watch "yes man" and walk out under the influence in to the markets.

I love the way ping 乒 and pang 乓 [from pingpong] are the same except for the mirroring of the bottom of the character.The characters somehow look appropriate.

If you're a foreigner like me who was conditioned from childhood to refuse politely with a smile and a 'no, thank you', you'll find that they'll jog along aside you for a block or two trying every variation of the patter.

Just ignoring them doesn't always work either, in my experience. I can't forget one particularly persistent fellow who trailed me for at least 100 yards, unable to believe that I didn't want something! Finally he played his trump card: "How about a girl? Direct to your hotel room? Big breasts!" Unable to keep silent any longer I chuckled with both embarrassment and scorn, (how dare he assume that foreigners required such attributes!) "I'm not joking with you" was his response, with palms spread wide and a foxy grin, as I tried once more to make my getaway!

great story. but its ok to be rude,well according to my gf anyway, she just tells them to 滚 if they dont respond to polite refusals. i must admit its catchy and a lot of fun;-p

Oh, 对了 (duìle) on the subject of those 5RMB DVDs! Down here in provincial Guangdong I'd got used to paying the extortionate (j/k!) 25RMB for the best quality knock-offs, and even then one always seems to end up taking them back to the shop (about 3 or 4 times out of 10) when they won't play or freeze half-way through! Shanghai friends laughed at me paying such prices! So I did buy a few of the cheapos in the end, (not from the aforesaid pesterers though, but a charming lady in a 饺子 (jiǎozi) shop who had a few on display behind the counter!) Ah, what disappointment when I got them home and was almost deafened by the static on the soundtrack and driven crazy by the picture endlessly switching from colour to black and white! Most of them ended up in the bin.

中国也和其他国家一样，有好人有坏人，有懂礼貌的人也有粗鲁的人。有时为生计所迫，有些人为了挣钱也顾不上什么礼仪脸面了。

Laowai is not offensive at all.What I can tell you is that Chinese would add an "老" before the words to indicate that they are experienced practitioners,for example,老工人,老师傅, usually they are the elderly.The opposite word would be "小",小工人,小师傅,means green hand.I cannot tell what exactly the usage of 老 here in 老外

is ,but partly it's a way of expressing respect.

I am a Shanghainese and I have witnessed the similar situations at least 50 times what you metioned.......Definitely,in western countries,an appropriate and effective way to refuse is a polite"No,thank you"with a smile.But here it often doesn't work.The reason is simple:they are trained to make money,and it's the top priority for them,therefore they won't easily give up.The big secret is what I am going to tell you:In Chinese culture,smile sometimes means acquiescence.For example,a Chinese boy asks a Chinese girl if she would like to be his girlfriend.Rather than say something directly,the girl prefer to smile and a pink flush spread over her cheeks...That's the Chinese way of saying "yes"!!!!!!!!

So,next time,just show your anger to them and they will be intimidated.

I am looking for a language exchanger,my plan is simple and clear.The best way to acquire a foreign language is to speak it as much as possible,preferably with a native speaker.We will select one theme,for instance,Shanghai's famous pedestrian street,then you prepare as much Chinese information as you can,Of course I will do the English part.when we meet,we can talk like friends and I will try my very best in improving your intonation,pronunciation,sentence-making,etc...if you are interested in this,please contact me at jiangcheng1985112@hotmail.com

I figure it depends on your age,if you are a young boy who come to China with your parents and go to a local school to study with Chinese peers,probably they will say:"看呐,新来了个小老外"(Look,this new guy is a little foreigner"

I hope my explanation would be helpful.

老老老外

This problem is much easier than you think. Local people would just call you “澳洲老头”, hehe.

... all these people keen to learn chinese...and that could not survive 1 day in china..

Don't feel bad about your faux-pax - just read on, this is an entertaining thread! You'll find useful tips for your own survival. :)