Travel Stories from an Asian Man #6 (Shanghai Style)

Links to stories #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5.

I’m a bad Asian. My parents are from Taiwan, but I don’t speak Mandarin very well, and I’m pretty much illiterate in Chinese. So I was a little nervous heading to Shanghai and trying to rely on my subpar Chinese skills.

At one food stand, I ordered what I wanted, and since it was clear that I wasn’t local, the following conversation happened in Mandarin:

Worker A: “So where are you from?”

Worker B: “I bet it’s Korea”

Worker A: “Yeah, I think it’s Korea too”

Me: “I’m visiting from America”

Worker A: “But you’re from Korea, right?”

Me: “…”

Worker B: “You speak pretty good Chinese for a Korean person”