by black69wolf69 » Thu Jun 07, 2012 6:35 pm
Doubtful that it's really special to be white in Cambodia anymore. Westerners are everywhere in Cambodia, especially Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. A lot of them are expats and not just tourists. So apart from Cambodian weddings where westerners would be in the minority (unless it's a case of a Cambodian marrying a westerner), there is nothing special about being white in Cambodia, nobody cares anymore - maybe they did 20 years ago, but times have changed considerably; same thing everywhere else in South-East Asia.
According to the articles about "renting a white guy" in China thingy, well, westerners (and foreigners in general) are very rare in China. It's extremely rare to see a westerner in rural China or any non-descript city anywhere in China for that matter. Case in point: hundreds of westerners descend on Lao Cai, Vietnam directly across from Hekou, China every morning and evening on their way to/from Hanoi and Sapa. None of them ever cross to China, despite Lao Cai being a legal international crossing point into China. If you do cross, like I have, once in Hekou, many of the locals will stare, point and giggle at your presence, which just feels bizarre in this day and age. Also, did those local people descend from the moon or something? Just 1km away in Vietnam, they could see hundreds of foreigners daily! In Lao Cai, everyone working in the tourist industry speaks English and is used to the presence of foreigners. Vietnam just seems so much more civilized than China. Ditto for Cambodia.
Doubtful that it's really special to be white in Cambodia anymore. Westerners are everywhere in Cambodia, especially Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. A lot of them are expats and not just tourists. So apart from Cambodian weddings where westerners would be in the minority (unless it's a case of a Cambodian marrying a westerner), there is nothing special about being white in Cambodia, nobody cares anymore - maybe they did 20 years ago, but times have changed considerably; same thing everywhere else in South-East Asia.
According to the articles about "renting a white guy" in China thingy, well, westerners (and foreigners in general) are very rare in China. It's extremely rare to see a westerner in rural China or any non-descript city anywhere in China for that matter. Case in point: hundreds of westerners descend on Lao Cai, Vietnam directly across from Hekou, China every morning and evening on their way to/from Hanoi and Sapa. None of them ever cross to China, despite Lao Cai being a legal international crossing point into China. If you do cross, like I have, once in Hekou, many of the locals will stare, point and giggle at your presence, which just feels bizarre in this day and age. Also, did those local people descend from the moon or something? Just 1km away in Vietnam, they could see hundreds of foreigners daily! In Lao Cai, everyone working in the tourist industry speaks English and is used to the presence of foreigners. Vietnam just seems so much more civilized than China. Ditto for Cambodia.