We’ve been walking around Shanghai and having all sorts of random people shout, “Hello! How are you?” or “Hello! You are very pretty!” to Hugh and I. I read that this was common, and at this point it’s still cute and funny (and far more appreciated than, “hey man, you wanna watch? dvd? bag?!) In Japan you got people staring and saw people really wanting to talk to you (and sometimes people did) but for the most part people were too shy to test out their English.
However, it can be kind of alarming. I’m a cautious person, but I don’t want to be too cautious.
We had a couple conversations with the hollerers and we don’t know what to believe yet–are these just outgoing young Chinese kids who want to practice their English with foreigners their age, or is it just one of those scams where they try to get you to go to their brothers tea shop then hit you with a huge bill? Since my friends in Shanghai are Chinese they aren’t exactly getting this treatment so they don’t know. I mean, I don’t want to assume the worst…it’s entirely possible they just want foreign friends (there’s plenty of gaijin hunters in Japan afterall, who basically do the same thing.)
Heehee, I loved the “You are very pretty!” when my mom and I were in Shanghai. Unfortunately, we only heard it after it was clear we weren’t interested in buying whatever they had on the cards they were carrying. :\