Love Life, Pay and Age on "Don't Ask" List

Source: Shanghai Daily

Questions about salaries are out. Also questions about the age of a foreigner visiting Beijing for the Olympics. And an inquiry about someone's love life? Forget it.

These are part of the "Eight don't asks" displayed on posters in a central Beijing district giving conversational etiquette guidelines to residents meeting foreigners or athletes.

The advice on Chinese-language posters was put together by the publicity department of Dongcheng District to educate residents on how to properly welcome visitors during the Games, a spokeswoman for Dongcheng District government said.

Dongcheng includes Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City. It is also the location of the Beijing Workers' Gymnasium, the boxing venue for the August Olympics.

One poster focuses on "etiquette when communicating with foreigners." Locals are advised not to ask foreigners personal questions about their age, salary, love life, health, income, political views, religious beliefs, or personal experiences.

"It's normal for Chinese to ask people they just met such questions, but foreigners respond negatively to such questions," Wang Zhaoqian, a spokeswoman for the Beijing municipal government, said Wednesday. "We hope that locals will become more socially sensitive when communicating with visitors," she added.

Another poster gives advice on talking to disabled people. They are told not to use phrases such as "it's up there," or "it's over there" when talking to anyone visually impaired.

Instead, people are recommended to use "you are really great," or "you are wonderful," the poster says.

(By Chi-Chi Zhang)

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Editor: Chen Minjie