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What To Say If Chinese Men Ask How Big Your Penis Is

Foreign men have a reputation for having incredibly large wieners in China, but this seems to provoke more curiosity than insecurity. Watch out.

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They call our penises lǎowài kuà xià qī yīngcùn (老外胯下7英寸). Literally, this means something to the effect of “the seven inches below a foreigner’s crotch.”

The proportions of the non-Asian foreign male in China are perhaps, well, blown out of proportion. But this seems to provoke way more curiosity than insecurity, and if you hang out with the men here long enough the question will inevitably be put forth: “Do you have a big penis?”

It is always a dude who asks this question, and only the dudes seem interested in the response. If asked in a bar, this question has the power to attract a crowd — of men. I don’t know where this legend comes from — perhaps from Hollywood movies and porno, perhaps there is a more historic basis —  but the over-inflated reputations that Caucasian and African men have here are difficult for most to measure up to.

Admittedly, it is tricky to field a direct question about the largeness of your junk. The unequivocal best response is an astute “No.” Just say no and be done with it. Though very few men are prepared to proclaim this — especially when confirming the contrary is going to get them a good deal of erotic attention.  But, be warned, if you answer this question in the affirmative be prepared to prove your claim, as there is a good chance that the next question will be an unabashed, “Can we see?”

I’ve been asked this question before, and I’ve tried out various responses, so I knew what to say when I became the center of intrigue and inquiry in a bar one night in Jiangsu Taizhou:

“Yes, I do,” I answered proudly, “but not as big as that guy over there.”

I pointed to a foreign guy across the bar who had just arrived in China. It worked. The curious men lost all interest in my smaller than largest sized member and descended upon the unsuspecting fellow. They asked him outright if it was true. Taken off guard, he said that it was. They asked him to whip it out. He was terrified. They continued asking. He squirmed. The bartender made a few playful grabs towards the target area (he was pretty drunk). A group of onlookers gathered.

“But Cody showed us his,” the bartender pleaded, perhaps thinking it normal fare for foreigners to produce their penises for inspection on cue just because he’d gotten one to do so.

Whenever any foreigner goes to China they know that they are going to be in for an inter-cultural experience, but I don’t think this poor laowai was expecting this when he signed on to his teaching job. Inquisitions over penis size, well, that’s just not in any “What to expect in China” travel manual.

Welcome to The Middle Kingdom.

Better you than me.

The bartender was not letting the matter go. He took it way beyond simple curiosity and humor. At one point he offered a free drink in exchange for the peep show.

“Chinese man,” the bartender then spoke in English, “penis like this.” He grabbed his pinky finger. “American man, penis like this.” He grabbed his thumb and lowered his voice a couple of octaves for emphasis.

It was a scene directly out of a South Park episode. I would have figured it to be a funny coincidence but I’ve heard the same exact routine before: in 2006, in Hangzhou. Some Chinese dudes really say things like that.

They sometimes also do more than ask. Recently, another expat in Taizhou was accosted by a fisherman under a bridge. They had some small talk and then the fisherman asked him how much he weighed. A normal question. But after the laowai responded the guy got behind him tried to find out for himself. Though weight was not what this fisherman was interested in gauging. As he attempted his lift he used the laowai’s junk as a handle.

So what was happening in that bar, while not necessarily common, was not completely out of the ordinary. On some occasions back in my early days of China travel I was not as prepared for these inquiries, and I found myself in the same uber-awkward situation as the hapless protagonist that I’d sacrificed for my own entertainment.

The requests for full frontal exposure continued unabated. What started out as sort of amusing soon became overtly annoying and more than a touch disturbing. Finally, the laowai had enough. He grabbed me by the shoulder and nervously whispered in my ear the dreaded phrase: “I’m a grower not a shower.”

“You gotta get out of here!”

This legend of debatable accuracy is about the only thing us male laowai have going for us here in China. Otherwise, we’d just be a bunch of big nosed, hairy barbarians.

penis-size-world-map_DCE

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Filed under: China, Culture and Society, Love/ Relationships/ Sex, Travel Guide

About the Author:

I am the founder and editor of Vagabond Journey. I’ve been traveling the world since 1999, through 91 countries. I am the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China and have written for The Guardian, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. has written 3723 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.

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VBJ is currently in: New York City

18 comments… add one

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  • Félix Gervais June 2, 2013, 6:33 am

    Only males ask you? Not earlier than two days ago, I was having dinner with four girls and the topic quickly moved there, with their own initiative, shall I say. They were very curious, yet obviously not ignorant, and asked me also about the “black brothers”. At the end, I settled for “bigger than a Chinese one, smaller than an African’s… and if you wanna know how big really, just ask her”, gently elbowing my table neighbor in the ribs. They all giggled.

    Who said that ALL Chinese chicks are prudish?

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    • Wade June 3, 2013, 9:54 am

      No way! I only get dudes asking about my junk. Oh well. I guess I just don’t spark the curiosity of the ladies like the magnificent Felix 🙂

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      • Félix Gervais June 3, 2013, 11:00 pm

        Ha! I wish…

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      • Liam Fried August 16, 2013, 11:59 pm

        Same here. Only guys, never women. And likewise with my other expat friends.

        The funniest (and most emasculating) incident was at a gym’s steam room. I could tell a bunch of guys were curious and they wanted to see as we were all only wearing towels.

        One guy then says he’ll show his first and he whipped out the biggest penis that I’ve seen outside of porn.

        Suffice to say, I quickly tried to get out of there and salvage what was left of my self-esteem!

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      • VagabondJourney August 17, 2013, 3:22 am

        I had a similar thing happen recently — well, sort of. I was in a dorm room and I saw this small little skinny twerp of a Chinese dude getting naked, and just when I was about to feel smug he revealed this seriously massive horse cock. He seemed to have been proud of the thing because he seemed to always have it hanging out.

        Funny, I think our data set on Chinese wiener dimensions may be off.

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      • Michael Chesney August 18, 2013, 12:16 pm

        like fish… there’s all kinds of sizes… but nobody cares about the little fish.

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  • Félix Gervais June 2, 2013, 5:33 am

    Only males ask you? Not earlier than two days ago, I was having dinner with four girls and the topic quickly moved there, with their own initiative, shall I say. They were very curious, yet obviously not ignorant, and asked me also about the “black brothers”. At the end, I settled for “bigger than a Chinese one, smaller than an African’s… and if you wanna know how big really, just ask her”, gently elbowing my table neighbor in the ribs. They all giggled.

    Who said that ALL Chinese chicks are prudish?

    Link Reply
    • Wade June 3, 2013, 8:54 am

      No way! I only get dudes asking about my junk. Oh well. I guess I just don’t spark the curiosity of the ladies like the magnificent Felix 🙂

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      • Félix Gervais June 3, 2013, 10:00 pm

        Ha! I wish…

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  • Shane September 29, 2013, 10:33 pm

    I am the hapless protagonist in question. This is my first look at this article since the event. It’s the kind of thing which is inconceivable until you experience it.

    Great job, Wade. I appreciate how you handled the presentation of the content. Lol. Hope all is well.

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    • Wade Shepard October 5, 2013, 3:36 am

      I have to say that I’m glad this happened to you and I could write about it as an outside observer than telling the tale of the times it’s happened to me. Thank you for this haha.

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  • Shane October 9, 2013, 7:22 am

    Lol. No problem. It was an interesting evening, and makes for a good read.

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  • Victoria November 3, 2013, 7:26 am

    Haha, this is pretty funny stuff.
    I read this Chinese book called “The Before Midnight Scholar” which informed me that six inches was on the average to low side for the Chinese male a few centuries back. Interesting stuff.
    I think that Chinese people just like their own stereotypes for some reason since they’re always the first to bring them up, usually reaffirming them. Bizarre.

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    • Wade Shepard November 3, 2013, 9:11 am

      That’s interesting. Especially since the only real “data” on that matter derived from the 1950s, when the people here were pretty malnourished, so what you’ve read may have some truth to it. Very true, Chinese people have a tendency of having some very fixed ideas about themselves — and every other culture/ race/ nationality for that matter.

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  • Johnny Lawai May 25, 2019, 8:59 pm

    If a man was curious about the size of my junk, I would suspect he was gay and leave the room. No normal man would ask that question unless he was wanting to try it out himself.

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  • Max D. July 28, 2020, 5:29 am

    I‘m deeply grateful for this article and the other comments. Something similar happened to me, and I didn’t expect that other guys made analogue experiences. It happened in a gym: I was the only white person there – and I bet, just a few western guys visit that place. When I went to shower after workout a few guys followed me and stared at me, enjoying their time and chatting with each other. A few dudes also started to shower. I quickly went to the locker to get dressed. I haven’t told anyone about that. And it’s difficult to find a person. I anyone is interested, I’d like to tell the experience in detail. (max.distel@gmx.net)

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  • Bill D. November 30, 2023, 5:16 pm

    First off, I’d call the Chinese dude asking about the size of my dong a H O M O and then tell him that mine is at least twice as large as his and that I could easily blow out his butthole with it.

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    • VBJ November 30, 2023, 9:09 pm

      Haha I will try that next time!

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