Beijing's 'White Man Tax' Pegged at a Median 16% in Unscientific Survey

Intrepid bloggers over at The World of Chinese – one of Chinese ancestry and one Caucasian – have taken a quick look at differential pricing here in the 'Jing, and their results peg the median markup for foreign-looking foreigners at 16 percent.

In the entirely unscientific survey, an overseas Chinese fluent in Mandarin and an English Caucasian with no Chinese language skills went out shopping for a variety of goods ranging from daily use items to tourist trinkets. Granted, part of their itinerary included the Silk Market, a notorious tourist trap that is known for asking ridiculous prices from people of every race, creed and color, which is far more likely a place to see such markups than in places less frequented by tourists.

Though the overall average markup was 41 percent, we think the median price is a more accurate reflection of the actual situation, as a heavy markup on one of the items – the Short Sword – skewed the average by a significant margin.

And perhaps more surprising for the average laowai with a persecution complex was the fact that in nearly one third of the cases, the prices for foreigners and Chinese were exactly the same – and in one case the foreigner actually came out ahead.

No indication was made of whether these prices were the opening price or the final price after haggling, and while we're nitpicking, we might point out that the difference could be attributed to local language skills rather than the color of one's skin. For a future comparison we'd suggest sending out two people – one Chinese, one foreign-looking – with equal Mandarin language skills, have them record the opening price only, and avoid notorious tourist markets.

Whether it's due to one's skin color, ethnicity, language ability or haggling skills, one thing is clear: not everyone gets the same deal in this town. The bloggers were fair in pointing out in the final graph: "In all likelihood, simply calling it a “white tax” is an overly reductive and simplistic way of looking at it. Different Chinese people are likely to be charged different amounts, as are foreigners from different countries."

Graphic: The Beijinger