I have fond memories from Beijing where random patrons loudly and extensively scolded a clerk for not serving me in my (accented yet understandable) mandarin. A

I have fond memories from Beijing where random patrons loudly and extensively scolded a clerk for not serving me in my (accented yet understandable) mandarin. Any foreigner who has spent enough time in China has been refused service even when speaking the local tongue and respecting local customs, but I've never heard of anyone else having a crowd of boisterous Beijingers come to their rescue ;) In Vancouver, Canada, it's not uncommon to hear mainland Chinese refer to locals/non-Chinese as "laowai" among themselves (literally "alien" - an informal or slang term for "foreigner," possibly impolite). Some find a way to not speak survival-level English years after arrival, in spite of school and free education programs for new arrivals. You may be confusing tolerance of xenophobia with the celebration and institutional support of it.