We don't all look alike

By Alan Nie of the BBC Chinese Service

The frustration at my mistaken identity started right after I arrived in London six years ago.

Like most other new recruits to the BBC World Service, I had to find a place to rent. There was no shortage of advice from my colleagues and friends.

"You can bargain hard with the landlord," they told me "and never let them rip you off." So, I did exactly what they told me but not one house-owner I visited was willing to compromise.

One landlady bluntly questioned me: "Why are you rich Japanese not willing to fork out a penny more." Flabbergasted, I told her I was not Japanese but Chinese. She refused to believe my story.

"Then what is Chinese supposed to look like?" I demanded.

"I don't know but I suppose they're not like you!"

What can I say about this lady. In the eyes of the local residents here in Britain, the Japanese are indeed rich. For instance, of the foreign owners of many of the properties in London's financial centre the City, the majority are Japanese.

Bush House - owned by Japanese

Even Bush House, the headquarters of the BBC World Service and the very place from where I am telling you my story, is Japanese-owned.

But I was determined to find a place at a price I was happy with and clearly I had to do something about my Japanese appearance. Maybe I should not wear that dark suit and tie, and maybe I should not carry that brief case.

Why not a leather jacket and a pair of jeans and boots and carry my stuff in a supermarket plastic bag. Yes, these tactics worked and landed me in the right place.

Confusion can cause pain

I do not particularly mind the idea that I have to do something to make myself look more Chinese, but others take the experience rather personally.

"I was in a very nice restaurant. The waiter was nice, the manager was nice. Everything went on absolutely well", says Hong Kong-born colleague Deborah Chan.

"But after I'd placed the order, the waiter greeted me with 'Arigado' that's 'Thank You' in Japanese. And obviously he treated me as a Japanese because he thought I was a Japanese.

"Obviously I'm not. And I just felt so offended, so insulted that I couldn't help shedding tears", she says.

Stereotypes

But what happens if you let others know you are Chinese? At a friend's birthday party, I met William Yi who was born in Beijing and has lived in Britain for the past seven years.

William works for an import and export company in the southern coastal town of Hastings. But he says that he cannot stand people who first meet him asking if he is a chef.

"It did happen to me a couple of times in the past but once is too many. And they started asking: 'Oh, which restaurant do you work for?' I told them I don't work for any particular restaurant and at first they feel very surprised," he says.

William thinks some people just take it for granted that all Chinese are good chefs. Well, how can you blame them. If you have been to London's Chinatown or indeed the Chinatown of any other cities if they have one, you will almost agree with this preconception.

The predominant feature of Chinatown is restaurant and restaurant and again restaurant. It even has a distinct smell. Without opening my eyes, I would know I am in Chinatown. Indeed, it looks as if all the Chinese make their living in this way.

Against this criteria, I would be even less Chinese because I cannot even cook a decent meal for myself. No wonder my next door British neighbour is kind of puzzled why this Chinese is so un-Chinese.