I really hate it when salespeople think its perfectly ok to start a conversation with "ni hao" to me. I mean, looking at me I look oriental not chinese, you don't know if I'm japanese, korean or whatever, don't look at me and assume that I come from a certain country. Thats like seeing an indian person and instantly assuming their pakistani.
And secondly, I can speak english just fine, unless you're working on an obviously touristy industry, theres no need to try to speak to me in chinese, we're in england. I've had people trying to sell me a credit card start off like that. No one would see a black person and try to engage him in conversation by trying to speak whatever language they think that person speaks without asking first. Does anyone else on here get annoyed or is it just me?
EDIT: seeing as no one bothers to read the rest of the thread where i clarify i might as well put it in here: yes my use of "oi paki" is a bit disanalogous because it is obviously a lot more racist than saying "ni hao" and is making everyone think that what I'm saying is that I think its racist to say "ni hao" to anyone who is asian. Note that I don't say this at any point in the above. What i am actually trying to say is that 1. its annoying because i might not be chinese and 2. it implies that you think that i can't speak english which is really patronising.
I do think there is an element of racism that comes into it in that if i were black, i doubt a salesperson would make any allusion to my race or assume that i can't speak english for fear of being branded racist and if people wouldn't do it for one race, why is it ok for another?