Everyone knows I love chatting with the Taxi Drivers of any city because I feel that most of them have a better sense of what is going on in the city than other locals. Taxi drivers interact with all cross-sections of the socioeconomic, but especially students, business people, and the middle class in China.
After a friend told me that she did not want to visit me in China because of her past bad experience with people calling her “fat” and another friend who was complaining about being unable to find the correct size clothing for herself – I was inspired to write the previous post and to ask my taxi driver about being fat in China.
I told the driver that when I was younger people in China loved being called fat. Now this is going to age me but that was about 20+ years ago. The driver told me that in the past being called fat in China was a really nice compliment because this meant that you were in a position of power and had money or relatives abroad who sent you money. He told me that in the old days (1960s-1980s), most people could not afford to eat and you needed to not only have money but the coupon rations. You got the coupon rations from being from a powerful or influential family and you got the money from relatives abroad. So being “fat” back then was a good thing.
According to the same taxi driver, being called fat today is an insult because most people want to look thin and pretty. Depending on the specific “fat” term it could be anything from a backhanded compliment to an all out insult. If someone tells you that you are “pang pang” this can be a way to encourage you to lose weight. If someone tells you that you are “fei” them are fighting words. Apparently this is a sign of disrespect. If you tell someone that they are “zhuan” (sorry might have the pinyin wrong here), it is a nice way to say that you are a little fat but also indicates that you are healthy but can lose a little weight.
Frankly, if someone really skinny called me “fei” I would just laugh because you would be retarded. Seriously, if you are that thin then you really need to worry about your sanity. Bigger people do have tempers if you catch them at the right time and you would get your ass handed to you in a heart beat. Not only that but you have never seen a panda fight – those things may be large, cute, cuddly, and seemingly harmless but watch how fast those things move and maul people when upset.
Now if a fat person called me “fei” I would still laugh and feel sorry for them because they obviously have self esteem issues. Not a really good insult when the person can just tell you to look in the mirror to see the definition of “fei.”
Moral to the story – please do not feel bad about being “fatter” than the other girls in China because time changes the definition and meaning of fat. For those of you who were not here in 2008-2009, I was considered an XXXL back then and needed to have my clothing made as this size did not exist in China. Fast forward to 2015-2016 and I buy an XL in the regular Chinese malls. Even this summer when I was 200 pounds, I still was not the biggest girl on campus or in the city. Times are a changing and with the introduction of the western diet in China, they are going to be supersized just like the rest of us so chin up 🙂
Current Mood: I think my thoughts on the “fat” issue are over.