Blonde Hair

As you might have guessed, blonde hair is not terribly common in China. Like most countries that aren't the United States (and Australia), the vast majority of the country's population consists of people originally descended from that country. And since we all know what Chinese people look like, you can imagine that I was a bit of an outlier.

It's true: I have blonde hair.

Due to the unspoken rules that China has regarding staring -- namely that it does not appear to be a rude thing to do and that people of all ages just go right ahead and do it at their leisure -- I was often stared at. I'm sure my American travel-mates were stared at a good amount as well, but I believe it was the hair that put me over the top.

It wasn't like I was a freak show. But a large percentage of people old and young, male and female would simply stare at me for way longer than is socially acceptable in my country as I walked by/sat on a bus/ate dinner. It was totally weird. I would consistently consider if I had something on my face or if a goiter had spurted from my neck since the last time I had viewed a mirror.

I found it most strange that the women were staring. It's not terribly uncommon for a man in my country to take a gander at me; I'm not delusional, though I am often oblivious. But to have women checking me out and not even trying to hide it was especially weird. And I would say I was nearly as popular with the ladies as I was with the men in terms of staring. I kept picturing them thinking, "oh hell no, girlfriend, go back to your country".

One man did ask to take a picture with me outside the Forbidden City. I thought he wanted me to take a picture of him; there was a bit of communication reconstruction required to establish his actual intentions. I took a picture with him and tried to smile real pretty. (Later in the trip someone asked to take a picture with Elijah on the Great Wall. So it wasn't just me; we're all white freaks, apparently.)

Another woman in an elevator picked up a lock of my hair as I stood in front of her. I slowly turned to give her a kindly "what the hell are you doing" look; she said something in Chinese that Jon's girlfriend translated to mean "pretty". Thanks lady, now stop touching me please.

So, if you feel like donning minor celebrity/freak status for some amount of time, dye your hair blonde and head to China. Note also that this was my experience in Beijing, the capital. I've heard it's far worse in the rural areas.