All expats here in China have read or heard that laowai is the colloquial term for “foreigner,” or that it’s short for waiguoren, which literally means “a person of another country.” But have you ever wondered if that definition is even accurate?

That definition implies that Chinese people use laowai to refer to all foreigners when that is not the case. When you hear a Chinese person say laowai, what comes to mind? Most of you, regardless of your race, would probably think of a white person. That’s just how it is. Most people, or at least expats, would consider black and brown people as laowai as well, but by default, laowai refers to a white person unless someone points out that he’s not. Again, that’s just how people use the word.

Is a white person who becomes a Chinese citizen still a laowai?

Where it starts to get tricky is when we talk about yellow people who are not from China. Are Japanese and Koreans laowai? Are Vietnamese and Thai people laowai? They would definitely count as waiguoren, but the term laowai is rarely associated with them.

What about Singaporeans, specifically Chinese Singaporeans? Technically they are waiguoren, but you wouldn’t hear a Chinese Singaporean be referred to as a laowai.

Similarly, you wouldn’t hear an American or Canadian who is ethnically Chinese be referred to as a laowai either, unless the person saying it is joking.

Now here’s the really tricky one. Is a white person who becomes a Chinese citizen still a laowai? Would locals stop referring to him as a laowai even when they know he has a Chinese passport?

My point is this: simply defining laowai as “foreigner,” or saying it’s just the informal term for waiguoren, is about as accurate as saying “African means black person.” It’s incorrect, and websites, tourism pamphlets, etc. should stop using that definition because local Chinese do not refer to all foreigners or waiguoren as laowai. In actual usage, when someone says “laowai” he is talking about a person who is not ethnically Chinese. And if no certain race is indicated, a laowai is white. ✖