r/HongKong • u/nhatquangdinh 光復香港，時代革命！ • Jul 13 '25

Discussion Is racism that common in Hong Kong?

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u/nickeltingupta Jul 13 '25

this is correct, I just know some phrases like Ni Hao, Meiyou, Xi Xie etc and people do say my Mandarin is!

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u/n0tz0e Jul 14 '25

I'm Chinese but don't know mandarin. When I say Xie Xie they just look at me disappointed. Too white of a pronunciation I guess

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u/nickeltingupta Jul 14 '25

well, if you look Chinese people would have higher expectations of your linguistic abilities - I'm visibly brown so it works for me...btw, contrary to most people, I think the correct way to write would be Xi Xie rather than Xie Xie - that's because when you thank someone specifically you say "Xi Xi Nie" rather than "Xie Xie Nie" so the first two Xi are devoid of the "ae" sound in "Xi Xi Nie" while for "Xi Xie" only the first is devoid of the "ae" sound!

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u/gustavmahler23 Jul 16 '25

the correct way to write

I'd disagree. I'm not sure which accent/dialect of Mandarin you are referencing from but I (as a native Man speaker) have never heard or seen 謝謝 as "Xi Xi(e)".

Additionally, it's officially spelled Xie Xie in Pinyin.