How to win a Chinese girl

The other day I went to lunch with two guys from the paper. One is the only other foreign reporter in the office and the other is a Chinese guy who is a long-time editor with the paper. During lunch the foreign guy was talking about how Chinese girls aren’t into him. It was kind of surprising because this guy is tall, buff and not unfortunate looking. I would think Chinese girls would probably throw themselves at him. He said this is not the case.

His reason was that he wasn’t rich – ok fair enough. Shanghainese women are notoriously known for being gold diggers of sorts, but there are plenty of non-Shanghainese women in the city looking for a nice foreign guy. Well the Chinese editor pipes in with some advice for our foreign friend about how to woo the ladies next time he’s at the club. Of course, all the advice was for material possessions.

First is a nice watch. He said that a nice watch – even if its just a fake Rolex – will help make that first impression a memorable one.

Next was the shirt. He told the foreign guy he needed to get some nice shirts made. Oh, and a pair of nice-looking cuff links would also be worth the (maybe as cheap as 50 kuai) investment.

Third on the list were nice shoes. He said that women always look at guys’ shoes, adding that they also need to be well polished.

Last on the list was a nice car, which is obviously a little out of price range for someone earning a comparable salary to an entry-level reporter in the US and who is living in a country where taxes on imported luxury cars can make them at least twice as much as they cost at home.

The foreign guy just started laughing at the funny (and superficial) advice our Chinese coworker was offering. He jokingly asked “Can I just get a car key so she thinks I have a car and then I’ll just tell her it was stolen later in the night?” Ha. Problem solved.

All this talk from my Chinese coworker of fake watches and fake appearance of money made me glad I’m not a foreign guy trying to impress a Chinese girl.