愤外 fen wai - "angry foreigner" (or, more literally, "angry outsider") - is the term given to foreigners living in China of a self-righteous and excessively cynical tendency. They are mostly middle-aged males with nothing better to do with their time than hang out online. They usually keep their own blogs, and also infest the comment-threads of other more popular foreign China bloggers. Some of the ones with better Mandarin skills will stalk Chinese-language blogs and bulletin boards in search of sources of amusement or indignation, but most will just skulk on other foreigner blogs waiting to pick a fight with any fenqing who happens along. If you visit The Peking Duck, etc., etc.
I often refer to the fenwai phenomenon as the Chinese Communist Party's 'blowback' from years of inviting 'foreign experts' into the country to help with its development.... and then treating them with complete contempt.
Yes, my name is Froog, and I am a fenwai.
Well, not really. I sometimes manage to go for months at a time without commenting on anyone else's blog, and I usually fight shy of engaging with the fenqing types, the Chinese berserkers I spoke of yesterday - because I know that it rarely goes anywhere except round and round in circles. Just occasionally, though, I get sucked in; when I have too much time on my hands, or when there's an untypically stimulating antagonist around. I did it a year ago over on J's blog, and on The China Beat here. And this week I've found myself doing it over at Stuart's place. If you also have too much time on your hands at the moment, you might find some of these threads diverting.
6 comments:
I think it's almost inevitable to become a fenwai if a foreigner spends enough time in China. Or is that partially attributed to old age? Therapeutically, blogging can be used as a pressure relief valve, and is better than leaving China or taking out your frustrations on your local fuwuyuan.
And I'm not entirely serious about this, Don.
I relieve most of my stress through running. Or breaking things in my apartment.
I'm always extremely nice to fuwuyuan - even ones in Western restaurants who are conspicuously crap. I appreciate it's a horrible job and they probably got little or no training. I've done the same kind of jobs myself and I know how worn down you get.
I really living in China, but I definitely had fen wai days (usually caused by hitting my maximum for shoves, stares and mei you). I think we all do...
One odd thing about the middle-aged fenwai is that cute young Chinese girlfriends. Shouldn't that cheer the grumpy guys up?!?
Gosh, Meg, how naughty is your site? It keeps getting timed out!
It is an interesting point as to whether the online fenwai are all sexually frustrated.
"Cuteness" is less important than intelligence for me. I'd prefer a more mature (and probably non-Chinese) girlfriend; I've been looking a long time.
I'm guilty of this. I troll the Global Times comment threads occasionally (though little gets through) and am all over any thread on Tianya that looks like it will be full of racist filth because I apparently enjoy the feeling of disgust it gives me. This isn't very healthy. I don't even live in China anymore, why do I even care?
@MAC - There is something called Hathos, that is, the enjoyment of things which annoy you.
I am a great suffere of this, I don't even live in China anymore but still argue with folk on nationalist blogs.
I really have to stop!
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