Word: mandarin
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...have one friend who always orders in English at restaurants, even though she speaks Mandarin," one woman recounted. "I asked her why, and she said it's because the service is noticeably better...
...They hate it when you speak Mandarin to them," another person agrees...
...dawns on me: the wait staff thinks I'm a local at first. Then I open my mouth, and they think I'm from mainland China, not hearing enough Mandarin to realize no native would speak with such atrocious grammar. It was something my travel guide hadn't prepared me for, that Hong Kongers don't view mainlanders too favorably...
...After wandering around the Admiralty district, I found myself in one of the countless hole-in-the-wall local eateries which served up breakfast for the requisite 16-22 HKD ($2-3). I tried out my Mandarin on the waitress. "Ni hui shuo yingyu huo shi putonghua ma?" I asked. Do you speak English or Mandarin? She replied in Mandarin...
...third morning, I try breakfast again, ordering in Mandarin. Like the first waitress, this one glares and unhelpfully points to menus I can't read when I ask for help; she rolls her eyes when I ask for water, and she drops down my food with a tension that hangs in the air like the subtropical humidity here. I again give up on figuring out the menu, agree to something I don't understand, and end up with bowl of Ramen and pork chops. I wash it down with a painfully cloying iced tea. When I have a question...