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我们是一群在中国常常被误解的人儿。我们来自不同的地方，会说多种语言代表着各行各业，但我们经常被看作是一个单一的整体、 混在一起并被定型。无论我们是谁，或者我们从哪里来，我们都被看成"老外”，这个词立刻在脑海里出现各种景象，并感情交错着各种描述"老外”的话题。下面有六个关于外国人在中国的一些主要误解。欢迎补充
01
图片来自法国摄影师Benoit Cezard观念摄影作品《中国2050年》
Foreigners are all rich
外国人都多金
It stands as no surprise that this is number one on the list. Most Chinese people assume that foreigners, especially Westerners, are rolling in the dough simply by virtue of having been born in America or France or Australia. Foreigners are often overcharged because the assumption is that they can afford to pay more since their countries are so much richer than China. The truth of the matter is, however, that many Westerners live paycheck to paycheck and do not have any significant amount of savings, and that people who are living in China long term, especially English teachers, are being paid wages that are a mere fraction of what they’d be making back home. Combine the two, and Westerners in China are not necessarily any richer than their local counterparts.
这个想法排在第一位并不奇怪。大多数中国人都认为外国人，尤其是西方人，因为出生在美国、 法国或澳大利亚都是财源滚滚。因为他们的国家富有，所以我们认为他们也很能富有。然而，事实的真相是，大部分西方人不存钱，那些长期居住中国的外国人，尤其是英语老师，工资是微不足道可以支付他们回家的费用。结合起来看，在中国的外国人并不一定比当地他们同行更富有。
While it is true that the 10,000-15,000 RMB a month that the typical English teacher takes home is a lot compared to Chinese salaries, remember that foreigners have a lot more expenses than Chinese people do (like routine trips home, which can easily decimate a year’s worth of savings), and that when they eventually return home they’ll have to convert whatever money they’ve managed to save back into their own currency, at which point it loses a lot of its value.
这没错，普通的英语老师每月可以拿到1万至1万5人民币，相比较中国人工资来说，的确很多。但请记住，外国人有比中国人更多费用支出（比如常规的旅行回家，可以轻易毁掉一年的积蓄），并且当他们最终要返回家园的时候，他们将不得不换成可以带回家的货币，届时贬值不少。
02
Foreigners can’t speak Chinese
外国人不会说中文
While it is true that your average tourist here to climb the Great Wall and see the Terracotta Warriors has probably not bothered to learn Chinese, foreigners who live in China long term usually have at least a basic grasp of the language, and those who don’t are almost always willing to learn. Moreover, the number of foreigners who have achieved true proficiency and even fluency in Chinese has increased dramatically over the years. The days of Da Shan are long gone, and it is no longer so uncommon for foreigners to learn Chinese. No longer is there any need to gush over foreigners clever enough to have learned how to say their name or “duo shao qian?”
虽然你看到的来这爬长城的、看兵马俑的的那些普通游客可能不费心去学中文，但是长期居住在中国的外国人至少都掌握一些基本语言技能，那些并没有掌握的人也是愿意去学习的。而且，达到真实水平甚至能流利得说汉语的外国人的数量已急剧增加。大山的日子一去不复返了，如今见到外国人学习汉语已经不稀奇了。不再是外国人能用中文说他们的名字或者会说句“多少钱”就夸他们很聪明的时候啦。
图片来自法国摄影师Benoit Cezard观念摄影作品《中国2050年》
Rather than assuming that Chinese is much too difficult for foreigners to master, Chinese people should give foreigners a bit of credit. Next time a foreigner walks into your shop, greet him with a “ni hao” rather than hello. If he can’t speak Chinese he’ll let you know, and if he can, he’ll be extremely grateful that you didn’t lump him in with the rest of the tourists.
不是说中文对于外国人来说太难了，而是中国人应该给外国人一点的信心。下一次有个外国人走进你的店，跟他打招呼请说"你好"而不是hello。如果他不会说中文，他会让你知道，如果他会说，他会非常感激你没把他与其他游客混为一谈。
03
Foreigners need luxury and can’t handle hardship
外国人喜欢享受他们吃不了苦
You’re planning a trip to the village down the way, having been invited there by a student, but when your boss gets wind of the plan he nixes it completely. The village is too dangerous. Inconvenient. Uncomfortable. You wouldn’t like it, he assures you. If you want to travel, a nice tour can be arranged. Sound familiar? Most of us have encountered some variation on the above theme at some point during our stay in China, but in fact, many, if not most, foreigners would love to experience real Chinese village life, even if it means a 12 hour bus ride or sleeping on a hard wooden bed or going to the bathroom in an outhouse. Most of us came to China expecting that sometimes our stay would be uncomfortable, that we would have to eat things we were not used to eating, travel in ways we were not used to traveling, and live in ways we were not used to living. That’s part of the fun, part of the adventure.
你（假设是个外国人）被一个学生邀请去乡下玩，但当你的老板（假设是个中国人）得知后完全不同意。他向你保证，那不安全、太不方便、不舒服了。你绝不会喜欢那的，如果你真想要去旅行，本可以安排得更好。听起来耳熟么？以上类似的话题我们都会在生活中遇到，只是有些小的变化，但事实上，大多数的外国人想体验真正的中国的乡村生活，即使它意味着 12 小时的车程或睡在一个坚硬的木板床上或去室外上厕所。我们大多数人来中国预料到有时我们会呆的不舒服，我们会吃一些原来不常吃到的食物，去体验与以往不同的旅行，去过一种不同的生活。这就是生活的乐趣，精彩的经历呀。
图片来自法国摄影师Benoit Cezard观念摄影作品《中国2050年》
And while some Chinese people may be worried that foreigners will get the wrong impression if they visit the more off the beaten path places (some Chinese, particularly your bosses, are afraid that you will report home about how poor China is, in short, that you’ll be bad PR), this worry is mostly unfounded. Most foreigners from developed countries who visit Chinese villages do not report back about the filth or the poverty, but about the beautiful scenery and the kindness of the local people.
另外一些中国人可能担心，如果外国人去那些偏僻不出名的地方游览，将会留下不好的印象（一些中国人，特别是你的中国老板，害怕你这个外国人会去宣传中国如何如何贫穷，总之，你就是那个不好的宣传之窗） ，这种忧虑是大多是毫无根据的。大多数来自发达国家的外国人游览中国乡村，是不会宣传肮脏或贫穷，而是去传播美丽的风景和当地人民的淳朴民风。
04
图片来自法国摄影师Benoit Cezard观念摄影作品《中国2050年》
Real foreigners are white
真正的外国人是白种人
If you’re a non-white foreigner, especially if you’re a native English speaker, it can be frustrating looking for a job when most employers seem to want only blonde-haired white folk who look the part. Asian foreigners have a particularly hard time of it, as it is very hard for most Chinese people to reconcile an Asian face with a Western background. Of course Chinese people know that Chinese-Americans (and Chinese Canadians, British-born Chinese, etc.) exist, but they often assume that these people are simply Chinese. They’ll be taken aback when a Chinese-American can’t speak the Chinese language and will complement the person on their English language proficiency. It can be a real uphill battle for non-white foreigners in China, especially those trying to make it as English teachers.
如果你不是白种人的外国人，尤其如果英语是你的母语，在这个大多数雇主似乎只想雇佣金发碧眼的世界里，那在找工作的时候会令你非常沮丧。尤其是亚洲面孔的外国人很难以处理好这个亚洲人的面孔和西方生活背景。当然中国人都知道有美籍华人(包括华裔加拿大人，出生于英国的中国人，等等) 的存在，但他们经常都被简单的认为是中国人。当一个美籍华人不会说中文，并且补充说明他们英语的精通程度时，人们都会大吃一惊。这可能对于那些尤其是试图尝试当英语老师的非白种人的外国人来说，是一场艰苦的征程。
05
Foreign men are only after one thing
外国男人就爱做一件事
While there are enough foreign men in China who ARE after one thing and one thing only to to have perpetuated the stereotype, there are also plenty of foreign men in China who are not here to systematically date every Chinese girl in town. Some foreign guys prefer foreign girls, some are happily married, and some are simply waiting for that very special someone to come along. Not all foreign men should be viewed with suspicion.
尽管这有足够多的外国男人在中国就爱“做一件事”，而这件足以留下刻板印象，然后还有大量的外国男人在中国不是整天的去和每个中国女孩约会。有些外国男人还是更喜欢外国女孩，有些已经幸福幸福的婚了，还有一些只在静静的等待那个特别的人。并不是所有的外国男人都应被怀疑的眼光看待。
图片来自法国摄影师Benoit Cezard观念摄影作品《中国2050年》
06
Foreign women aren’t into Chinese guys
外国女人不喜欢中国男人
The number of foreign women dating and marrying Chinese men is certainly on the rise. Even five years ago such pairings were rare, and it wasn’t uncommon to hear Western women say they’d prefer to date Western guys, but times are changing. More foreigners are learning Chinese, for starters, including lots of women who previously wouldn’t have been able to communicate with the great Chinese men out there. Chinese guys are also becoming more open towards the possibility of dating a foreign girl. Thank the media, or the internet, but finding a foreign wife is no longer an impossibility, Chinese men.
和中国男人约会甚至结婚的外国女人的数量肯定是在上升的。甚至在五年前，听到西方女人说他们还是更喜欢西方男人很正常，但时代变了，中西方这样的组合并不少见了。越来越多的外国人在学习中文，从一开始不能很好的和中国男人交流的外国女人，再到，中国男人也变得改变更加开放的态度去尝试和外国女孩约会。感谢媒体、互联网，让中国男人能找到一位外国妻子不再成为不可能。
图片来自法国摄影师Benoit Cezard观念摄影作品《中国2050年》
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