Dave’s Wagon

Our group made a run to Xi’an two weekends back. After hitting all the usually stops (Terracotta Warriors, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, etc.) we decided to go bar hopping one night. After wandering aimlessly on the streets for awhile to no avail, we grabbed some cabs, ordered them into the livelier part of the city, and hopped out at the first drinking establishment we saw.

It just so happened that we had gotten out at the “True Colors” bar where the above sign greeted us at the entrance. Some of our group members initially thought it was a joke (rendered, as it was, in an amusement park-style motif), but I was well-enough versed in the finer points of Sino-Japanese relations to know better.

The sign’s English translation left something to be desired, but the 日本人 (Japanese people) covered with the circle and slash was exceedingly clear.

I’d like to say that we took the higher moral road and simply walked on to the next bar, but our momentum ended up carrying us inside and we ordered a round of drinks. We quickly discovered that the establishment was really in no position to be so selective about their clientèle; the place was empty except for us (and it was a Saturday night). Ultimately unimpressed with the atmosphere, we simply drank our alcohol, said “sayonara” to the staff, and took off.

Lest I give the wrong impression, all us, on the whole, have been treated wonderfully here in China despite, or perhaps, because, we are foreigners. Nonetheless, China obviously has some work to do in the tolerance department. I’m sure there are Americans as well who would love to put such a sign on the front of their businesses, but the rest of the country would never let them. That apparently isn’t the case here.

I ran into an American at a Halloween party last weekend who claimed that he had seen a bar with an “Americans forbidden” sign. I’ll believe that only when I see it, but when and if I do, I’d like to tell the proprietor the same thing Kyle over at I am the Manchurian Candidate is apparently known to say in such situations: “I hope one day, if you ever have a chance to go to a foreign country, they never treat you the same way you are treating us.”

This entry was posted on Monday, October 30th, 2006 @ 4:23 pm on the category China, Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Our group made a run to Xi’an two weekends back. After hitting all the usually stops (Terracotta Warriors, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, etc.) we decided to go bar hopping one night. After wandering aimlessly on the streets for awhile to no avail, we grabbed some cabs, ordered them into the livelier part of the city, and hopped out at the first drinking establishment we saw.

It just so happened that we had gotten out at the “True Colors” bar where the above sign greeted us at the entrance. Some of our group members initially thought it was a joke (rendered, as it was, in an amusement park-style motif), but I was well-enough versed in the finer points of Sino-Japanese relations to know better.

The sign’s English translation left something to be desired, but the 日本人 (Japanese people) covered with the circle and slash was exceedingly clear.

I’d like to say that we took the higher moral road and simply walked on to the next bar, but our momentum ended up carrying us inside and we ordered a round of drinks. We quickly discovered that the establishment was really in no position to be so selective about their clientèle; the place was empty except for us (and it was a Saturday night). Ultimately unimpressed with the atmosphere, we simply drank our alcohol, said “sayonara” to the staff, and took off.

Lest I give the wrong impression, all us, on the whole, have been treated wonderfully here in China despite, or perhaps, because, we are foreigners. Nonetheless, China obviously has some work to do in the tolerance department. I’m sure there are Americans as well who would love to put such a sign on the front of their businesses, but the rest of the country would never let them. That apparently isn’t the case here.

I ran into an American at a Halloween party last weekend who claimed that he had seen a bar with an “Americans forbidden” sign. I’ll believe that only when I see it, but when and if I do, I’d like to tell the proprietor the same thing Kyle over at I am the Manchurian Candidate is apparently known to say in such situations: “I hope one day, if you ever have a chance to go to a foreign country, they never treat you the same way you are treating us.”

This entry was posted on Monday, October 30th, 2006 @ 4:23 pm on the category China, Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.