What is "laowai"

n. (context colloquial English) A foreigner in mainland China or Taiwan, (context particularly English) a Western one.

Laowai is the Mandarin pronunciation of ( pinyin: lǎowài, lit. "old outsider"), an informal term or slang for "foreigner," usually neutral but possibly impolite or loose in some circumstances. Formal and polite Chinese terms for foreigner include wàiguórén , wàibīn , and wàiguó pengyou . "Laowai" usually does not refer to Chinese living abroad or East Asians who are non-Chinese. It is typically used to refer to Westerners of European descent, blacks, Africans, Latin Americans, and Middle Easterners.