The scariest possible words to hear from a Beijing cop: 把 你 的 护 照 给 我。
Posted by Jonah Lopin on Sun, Mar 29, 2009 @ 10:23 AM
China isn't generally a scary place.
But as a foreigner, it's mildly terrifying when a cop says 把 [ba1="with respect to"] 你 的 [ni3de0 = your] 护 照 [hu4zhao4="passport"] 给 [gei3="give"] 我 [wo3="me"].
It's especially upsetting if the line is delivered by a cop who is staring stonily at you becasue you tried to help your friend jump up on one of the podiums normally occupied by guards outside the Spanish embassy!