[Tainan]

Maybe 'Lao Wai'(big nose) or 'Wai Guo'(simply means foreigner) would be a bit more accurate as to some of the names for non-Chinese or westerners that are used...and also more commonly used by the general populace for 'foreigners.'
And then there is that 'shing lang' thing...but we won't go into that one.

So they told you it means 'beautiful country' did they?
Were you offered a deal on an old and long wall also?...;)

[Teacher317]

According to my dictionary, the character "mei" that means "beautiful, pretty, lovely" is the same character used in MeiGuo... where is that translation wrong?

I did not discern this myself, though. I was told "beautiful country" by a charming university student at an English Corner 3 years ago... but the reaction of the other Chinese there did tell me that it was more clever than educational, LOL. I just don't see where the translation isn't literal. Can you help clarify for me? (My Putonghua vocab is still less than 400 words, and my reading and writing list is less than 200 words, but I'm making strides when I can!)

[Exit148]

I may not be fluent in Mandarin Chinese but my 25 years of study did teach me something. Just how would you translate Mei Guo? In my travels there I have been always greeted with respect and cheer. The Chinese people are no different than people most anywhere. Treat them with courtesy and it is returned

Prayers for these unfortunate people have been ongoing. Since most of the structures are concrete, and with the density of the towns and cities, I can only imagine the horror of the quake.

[ninesongs]

Lao Wai(the Chinese characters are 老外) doesn’t mean “big nose”, “lao” is something like prefix, like “lao ma”(mum), “lao ba” (dad), and “wai“ means “foreign”，so “lao wai” means “foreigner” in spoken Chinese. “Wai Guo”(外国) means foreign country. (”Guo” means country)