Just as compliments on your big toe are a sign that someone has the hots for you, dubious-sounding praises from Chinese should be interpreted as a sign of endearment. More often than not, compliments in China come across more as highly personal statements, ranging from the plain statement of fact, to the bewildering, to the downright offensive. Strict upbringing in traditional families ensure that most Chinese almost never receive compliments growing up, so they may be simply lacking in practice dishing out praises. Got a compliment that was not-so-complimentary? Take it in your stride inwardly and outwardly deny it vehemently, as the Chinese would do. Here are six strange, but common enough, compliments that one may encounter in China together with tips on how best to brush them off.

1) “Your Chinese is soooo good! / You can use chopsticks!!” (And other compliments related to Chinese culture)
Flattered as you may be, always take such compliments with a grain of salt (or MSG, for that matter). Unless of course you happen to speak Mandarin like Da Shan; that is, more impeccably than a lot of locals. It may be tempting to think that you have a flair for a language as difficult to commit to memory as Egyptian hieroglyphics but in all honesty, a simple Ni Hao is enough to earn lavish praise from most people. When your Chinese-speaking ability gets strangely ignored, you can then be sure it is good enough to be taken as a given. Beware of similar praises extolling your chopstick skills or Chinese culinary prowess.

The brush-off: An outright thanks is neither culturally appropriate nor necessary, given the embedded white lie within this compliment. Rather, some self-deprecatory noise is called for, like “nali, nali”(哪里，哪里). Or, to match the compliment, try something showy, like “Ban men nong fu”(班门弄斧), an idiom about someone showing off his axe-wielding skills in front of Ban men, an expert in this field).

2) “You have straight legs”
This one is not as common as the others but is completely bizarre. At some point at Chinese person may come up to you and say, admiringly, “Your legs are so straight! Foreign girls have such straight legs!”-after a period of scrutinizing Chinese people’s walks to see if they are bandy-legged, you will realize that they were actually complimenting you on your good posture. Go figure.

The brush-off: Act pleased and mutter something vague about having attended finishing school.

3) “You come from a country with such high morals!” (And other country-of-origin compliments)
You couldn’t choose your country of birth any more than you could choose your biological parents. Yet the Chinese around you are impressed you come from a country full of polite people who don’t smoke in enclosed spaces or spit on the ground. Other factors that might impress are hygiene standards, economy, air quality, welfare programs and the country’s history.

The brush-off: The polite response would be to invite them over for a visit. Or, endeavour to explain why your hometown is no utopia. Just don’t expect to change mindsets in one session.

4) “Your face is soooooo small!” 
Possibly the most confusing of comments, your original reaction to this might be a defensive: ‘YOUR face is small!!!!’, before realizing that it’s actually a compliment- albeit an unusual one. What Chinese people really mean when they say this is: ‘your face isn’t big and round’. The bane of many a Chinese girl’s life is a lack of a guazi lian- a face in the shape of an upside down sunflower seed with a pointy chin like Zhou Xun, or a Manga cartoon. This is the reason behind the majority of weird Chinese posing in photographs- most of these poses are designed to make your face look less round.

The brush-off: None, just bask in the awesomeness of your tiny face and maybe try to make your face look bigger when taking photos with Chinese girls, by puffing out your cheeks.

5) “You’re so cute!”
It is common knowledge that Asians find deep double eyelids, chiseled bone structures and any eye or hair colour other than black attractive. Yet this one never fails to amuse or bewilder (depending on the level of attractiveness of the object of the compliment) whenever it is directed at guys who would never raise a second look back home. You may be too skinny (or fat) or short (or tall) or just plain ugly in your home country, but here, you’re suddenly Brad Pitt, or something. Well, just don’t let it go into your head (unless you really do look like Brad Pitt).

The brush-off:More self-deprecatory noises of “nali, nali” (哪里，哪里).

6) “You’re so white!”
This one only happens to Caucasian foreigners, mainly pasty Europeans and Americans of Irish complexions who have been spending most of their lives desperately basting their glaringly white legs in tanning oil in an attempt at cooking themselves into bronzed perfection. Pale skin is considered desirable here as it separates you from the farming classes, and is the reason you’ve been seeing middle aged women zooming around on e-bikes with Darth Vader style visors on.

The brush-off: Tell them about your sad failed tanning attempts and appreciate the fact that everyone wants what they can’t have.