Comments on: Back to the Barbershop…A Haircut in Chinatown

By: Liuzhou Laowai

Liuzhou Laowai — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 10:51:51 +0000

“Additionally, hair washing and cutting in China is a field still dominated by men”

Not anywhere I have been in China. I’d say that the vast majority of hairdressers are staffed by women.

By: lei

lei — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 21:01:42 +0000

i was just there at Urban Roots today, got a haircut. w00t.

By: Katherine.Shen

Katherine.Shen — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 01:23:29 +0000

一直以来都很喜欢看小本老师的博客，写的很好也很中肯，小本老师是一个很特别很有思想的美国青年，跟我认识的很多美国人不一样。你是我大学四年里最喜欢的外国老师，至少我问过很多同学多是这样认为的。I always like reading Ben’s blog, your winged words,hit the right nail on the head,and very are meaningful and thoughtful. You are very different from most of the Americans i know. I am very proud to have such a teacher in the college, You are the one i like most among the other foreign teachers and most of my classmates keep the same idea as mine. Thank you Ben for your wonderful blog and welcome you to China again!

By: Jeffrey D

Jeffrey D — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 04:26:30 +0000

Personally my experience with speaking Chinese in the US is Chinese people just can’t believe it. I wouldn’t say people flip out, but it definitely catches people off guard, about the same as in Shanghai. I spoke it with some people who don’t speak English, parents of friends – they were really enthused about speaking da kine actually.

Actually I don’t use it often in the US, but I’ve seen it happen where people do flip the fuck out – notably Oakland’s excellent Yung Kee, where a white-guy construction worker loudly ordered in Cantonese. I think every single person in the restaurant stopped eating and just stared in disbelief…

On the other hand, in the US it’s mostly Cantonese that I hear, and almost always traditional characters that I see…

By: Benjamin Ross

Benjamin Ross — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:07:21 +0000

@ China Law Blog

I agree 100%, but I would also argue that a certain (possibly major) component of the notion of creating a better lives for their children is also based on money. Afterall, in China your children are, in effect, your social security.

By: China Law Blog

China Law Blog — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:54:36 +0000

It is more than just the money that changes the face equation in the US: it is the future the immigrants are creating for their children.

By: Diana

Diana — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 04:49:19 +0000

I remember going into a NY Fujianese salon in Chinatown and getting a haircut plus a 45-min head and neck massage for about $15. The total time it took to massage and cut was about 1.5 hours, and nobody else was in the salon at the time. It seemed like $15 was an awfully low sum of money to pay, seeing that it went towards two people’s wages for an hour and a half of work, and the running of the salon during that period. And while a haircut in China is a lot cheaper, the cost of living in NYC is higher. I am always just amazed how Chinese salons in the US can sustain themselves, from charging such low prices.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 09:46:18 +0000

I think for us over here in Asia, giving a tip seems almost foreign.

By: Benjamin Ross

Benjamin Ross — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 15:09:46 +0000

@Danjo

I have noticed this exact phenonemon as well. My explanation is that it may be that Chinese people in China are simply more extatic over meeting a foreigner than they are of hearing a foreigner speak Mandarin. Afterall, I have also encountered many Chinese people who seem to be most impressed with my ability to use chopsticks, never mind we have been speaking in Mandarin for half an hour. So I guess it would make sense that for Chinese living abroad, the novelty of meeting a “foreigner” has since worn off. On an even deeper level, I think when you are in the US, Chinese strangers treat you just like they would Chinese people in China, which is not too friendly, maybe on par with your typical New Yorker.

By: danjo

danjo — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:26:09 +0000

When I visited home after my first year in China, I noticed a funny thing: every Chinese-American who had emigrated from China I met was completely unimpressed by my ability to speak Mandarin, whereas of course in China most people gush over the ability to speak even a few simple sentences. I would have originally assumed that a random white kid speaking Chinese in America would be more unexpected than a teacher actually living in China learning the language. The only person in America actually interested in Mandarin conversation that I met (to be fair I didn’t meet all that many Mandarin speakers during my stay) was a grandmother from China who was just visiting family in Florida for a couple of weeks.