What's a white ghost and what does it mean if someone calls me that?

You may have heard of visitors to China being called a “white ghost”.

I've been called that a few times myself. And if you visit China, you might even be referred to as a white or black ghost!

Having said that, relax. You rarely ever get called this. And it's not as terrible as it sounds.

When I arrived in China in 2003, I was called this a few times. I chose to feel amused rather than insulted. It's like visiting Latin America and being called a “Gringo”.

As China opens it's doors wider and wider, visitors are more commonplace. Nowadays, seeing a real foreign tourist isn't anywhere near as exciting as seeing a real ghost!

“Guh-why-low” is the Cantonese pronounciation of white ghost. In Mandarin, “Guh-wait-zuh” (often for Japanese visitors) and “Gow(rhyming with now)-lee-bung-zuh” (often for Korean visitors). For political reasons, visitors from those two countries are sometimes called these kind of names.

More commonly, all visitors in China are called “why-guh-wah-wren”. This means “outside country person” and is often translated as foreigner.

For me, the word foreigner has a more negative connotation than “visitor”, “tourist” or even ghost! To me a foreigner sounds like someone who doesn't belong.

If you feel the same, keep in mind that when you are being referred to as a “foreigner” - it simply means a tourist or guest in the country.

Foreigner is just the way the Chinese people are taught to translate the word “why-guh-wah-wren”. Most Chinese people aren't aware of the negative connotation. They regard you as a welcome guest rather than someone unwanted.

Or as a white ghost!