Hey folks.

Last registered on this site when I was dropping over past HK on a trip from the states to visit family in GuangZhou.  I speak spots of cantonese and can carry a conversation but much prefer to speak in English.  How do the Hotel Girls react to this?  I also presume that James is the papasan of choice for the English speaking board?

Thanks

L123

Hey Lefty,

I'm not ABC and have no cantonese or mandarin.  In terms of scheduling with the HGs I've found that texting works better with the papas that don't speak english.  In terms of bias against english only speakers by the girls, well I haven't noticed any of that yet.  

Do you think that there might be bias against an english speaking ABC person whereas there wouldn't be against an english speaking, um, 'english' person?

One thing I have noticed about not speaking the local language: it seems to me that I sometimes get some extra service, like CIM, simply because the girl seems to think it's easier than trying to say no in english.  This is the exact opposite of what I would have expected.  Like I said, this is just an impression so far and my sample size is small.  The HGs I've seen have seemed like newbies so perhaps a more experienced girl would know how to say 'no' in 17 different languages.  I'll keep y'all up to date as the experiment continues!

I'm in the same boat.  An ABC, where English is definitely my first language but fluent in Cantonese and can speak probably kindergarten-level Mandarin, maybe a bit better.  I would say most of the HG girls will speak Mandarin only, but probably one out of 5 HG girls will be able to carry a conversation in Cantonese as well.  I don't think any of the HG girls mind.  I wind up speaking my broken Mandarin to them.  Luckily I know enough Mandarin to push the right buttons with the girls.

95% of the mamasans and papasans will speak Cantonese though.  James Bond does all 3 very well.  In fact, James' English is probably better than 95% of the mamasans and papasans that answer the phone in the San Francisco Bay Area.  You can always request for someone who can speak Cantonese. Very doubtful that you'll find any HGs that can carry a conversation in English, unless they're from outside of China.

The bias against an ABC as opposed to a Caucasian person possibly comes into play at the Wanchai bars.

Many HG's are fascinated by ABC's and CBC's. They are not exposed to that sort of thing.
It makes for great conversation.
I actually think there's a slight advantage being ABC or CBC.

ABC, CBC? I'm perplexed, what do these mean?

ABC = Network television in the US
CBC = Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (national TV)

...
...

No, seriously, ABC = American Born Chinese, and CBC is Canadian Born Chinese

You forgot the all important one - BBC (British Born Chinese)

Maybe we will need a new category - OBC (simply overseas borned chinese). Buddies from Singapore and Malaysia gets a bit pissed when they don't seem to fit into any category (felt being left out ). But they seem to be always referred to as 'nam yong'.. wonder why.

You Chinese guys get all the cool acronyms. We need something for guys like myself who have been in Asia for so long they no longer know what the fuck they are. How about RCG (Racially Confused Gwailo)? I haven't had sex with a white chick in 30 years for Christ's sake!  

[ Last edited by  Marsupial at 17-12-2009 21:36 ]

hey butler, since you dont speak the local language, what do you do to let them know you want to cim? i've been wondering this for quite a while. now that you mentioned it, please give more details and share

also, there are a few ABCDs that seem to hang out on these boards as well (American Born Confused Desi)...

Mars, 30 years... hmmm... that is a lot of Asian chicks you have tasted.

I have been here so long my employees call me an EGG
White on the Outside, Yellow on the inside.

And we call most of the CBC's that cant speak passable Cantonese, Bannana's

Yellow on the Outside, White on the inside.

etc...

you get the picture
  

---8th

The way I see it, Egg or Banana, we all have one thing in mind - SEX, hence we are here to share which WGs are a shag and which are not.

But I got to agreed that it may be somewhat difficult when you are a gwailo. I am to understand some establishments don't serve gwailos.

I'm a gweilo, and I speak no Cantonese and next-to-no Mandarin.  It's actually quite rare that I get refused service outright.  But I've had quite a few "flat" sessions where we were just not able to generate any rapport.  I'm a very verbal guy, so the language barrier really cuts into my ability to enjoy sessions.  

This is why I tend to stick to 141 walkups, rather than HGs.  HGs (at least those from the mainland) rarely speak much English at all, whereas some 141 WGs (particularly the "mixed" ones) can speak decent English.  For $800/pop, the HGs -- despite being on average far younger and cuter -- are just not a good roll of the dice for me...

Have fun, CGP

All I know is being CBC helps me when I go clubbing in HK...even if u do know how to speak Chinese stick to English in clubs...

And try to speak chinese like a n00b.girls love that shit...

As for WGs go...it is tru they are intrigued by ABC/CBC...

As for China...I should probably wear my Canadian Passport on my head...LOL

I'm a BBC and even though I can speak fluent Canto, they can always tell I'm from overseas. Funnily enough most people, not just working girls, but people on the street automatically assume that I'm Canadian WTF??!

But yeah, as mentioned above... in my experience, I have found that they are often intrigued by this fact. I don't know how they are with HK men or other nationalities, but majority of the girls I see tend to be very interested in me being a BBC, always asking questions etc
Always say to me that you must have lots of white girlfriends lmao!

funny, girls in Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines were really intrigued by me as an ABC, but never anyone from HK or China.  Not sure why.  Nowadays, I'm too old anyhow to worry about these types of things.

when i go out to eat at the restaurants, the waitresses automatically speak to me in canto. but when i say i dont speak canto, they give me a surprised look and hand me the menu. then they go to their coworkers and say "mei guo ren" lol. that i do understand. but what irritates me is that i dont know if thats a good or bad thing, as the original poster wondered. they just say "hes american" and thats it. hmm, i hope thats not code for "spit in his food"???

Try not to let it get to you, us ABC/BBC/CBC's are still a bit of a novelty to them.

I imagine that a Caucasian person going into a Diner in the US would get the same response if they told the staff that they don't speak English. There are, after all, 1.1 Billion people in China; so it's natural that they'd find out little minority strange.