New Yorker Loses Phones, Makes Friend in China

[Michael]

I Followed My Stolen iPhone Across The World, Became A Celebrity In China, And Found A Friend For Life
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/i-followed-my-stolen-iphone-across-the-world-became-a-celebr?bffb&utm_term=4ldqpgp#.ae6aJq4jN

Social media worker in NYC bar lost his iphone and a year later pictures from the phone turned up on his cloud, so he tracked it down in China and met the mysterious figure from the photos.

[wiesiek]

only in NYC, !

[lazyboxer]

Everyone should read this who thinks all Chinese are xenophobes.

P.S. Mr. Orange was Hakka, though...

[windwalker]

very cool

Anyway, Brother Orange and I exchange messages for weeks. He invites me to visit him. The Chinese internet is watching. I set a date: March 18.

[windwalker]

way cool

[roger hao]

so...................this is not stolen cell phone purchased on black market?

social media absolves all sins.

[Michael]

This is why I wouldn't buy a used cell phone in China unless I knew the seller was the legit owner. I got my phone repaired at one of the large markets in Guangzhou, and while I was waiting around an hour, several pairs of young men dropped in with 3,4,5 or more phones on them to sell to the owner.

[grzegorz]

Holy Sh*t! China dude is growing some huge orange trees in those tiny pots! Those trees must be on steroids!

US Dude should challenge Da Shan to a No Rules fight and dethrone him as the most famous foreigner in China.

[Steve James]

Ah, the ethics of purchasing stolen property.

[roger hao]

Glad someone else gets it

Also .........not oranges - sorry

[grzegorz]

Glad someone else gets it

Also .........not oranges - sorry

No need to be sorry.

Yes, Mandarins oranges Roger. I was keeping in with the lingo of the blogger.

I grow them myself but I have no idea how he's pulling this off.

[Michael]

Everyone should read this who thinks all Chinese are xenophobes.

P.S. Mr. Orange was Hakka, though...

I think this is a fine story, but it was poignant for me when the American was asked to dance, obviously swept up in the moment he just went with it, although 10 days is probably doable when your life is working for a social media company and you're getting that much attention. I've seen one other person feel the rush and go with it whole hog like that.

I think this situation does describe one of the lenses through which Chinese see foreigners, and in my opinion it is a strange facet of xenophobia, but obviously this guy was treated very well overall, so no harm no foul.

[grzegorz]

The problem arises when some foreigners don't want all that attention. For example women might feel unsafe or people in general might be having a bad China day. It's a little different when you're not a professional blogger/writer looking for adventure, some people are in China because their boss sent them there and they'd prefer just to blend in. On flipside some people get addicted to it and don't want to come home to face reality. I knew an average looking Italian who the Chinese would swear looked like Tom Cruise and treated him as such.

[Michael]

I knew a woman who was treated almost as extravagantly as the one whose phone was stolen, and she loved every second of the adulation, returned as often as she could for years until the veneer of that situation began to chip away for her, although it had been apparent to all the other foreigners from the first moment, which raises a question about why do mainland Chinese flip out so massively over normal white people like this? It's weird. But on the other hand, I can probably never reciprocate all the free dinners and other goodies, so it's just one part of the package.

[grzegorz]

I knew a woman who was treated almost as extravagantly as the one whose phone was stolen, and she loved every second of the adulation, returned as often as she could for years until the veneer of that situation began to chip away for her, although it had been apparent to all the other foreigners from the first moment, which raises a question about why do mainland Chinese flip out so massively over normal white people like this? It's weird. But on the other hand, I can probably never reciprocate all the free dinners and other goodies, so it's just one part of the package.

I always find it interesting how once mainlanders come Stateside they stop acting that way, in fact it practically goes the other way.