In recent years, it seems to have become a fashion among Chinese tourists to talk of themselves being enthusiastically received overseas by shop owners, tour guides and restaurant waiters seeking to lighten their fat wallets.

One friend who traveled to Australia with a long shopping list enjoyed her spree and the attention lavished upon her by salesgirls. Another friend who just returned from Seoul highly praised the fluent Putonghua of local shop owners and their immaculate preparation for everything she needed. It seems more and more Chinese are now enjoying the feeling of being at the center of the world.

But that was not the case during my recent trip to Poland.

According to a local tour guide who was born in Shanghai but lives in Warsaw, every Chinese tourist group he receives loves to go on shopping sprees at local downtown malls or outlet centers. "Nowadays I'm getting more and more confused," he said. "While Europeans go to China to buy AAA-grade luxury brand replicas, the Chinese, who come from the copycat kingdom, rush to Europe to buy real luxury goods."

His words, though sarcastic, were in accordance with our usual expectations. After all, the world is embracing with open arms more and more Chinese consumers with their vigorous purchasing power. But in Poland, we did not feel the same enthusiasm shown by salesgirls at local outlets or downtown malls.

Chinese tourists have a particular habit when shopping overseas. Sometimes you see Chinese buyers typing on cellphones or iPads after taking a look at a price tag. That's because they've downloaded a free currency converter App. Sometimes you see Chinese shoppers quietly immersed in thought after looking at a price tag - that's because they are doing cross-rate mental calculations.

After making comparisons with the price of the same products sold in China, they usually find it much cheaper to make these purchases abroad.

That's exactly what we felt in Warsaw. It's unbelievable that some fashion brands, seen as middle or even high-end goods at Sanlitun in Beijing, are so cheap in Poland - 15 zloty ($4.52) for a shirt, and 140 zloty for two pairs of jeans. In China, a shirt of the same brand can sell at as high as 600 yuan ($97.89).

The direct result of this huge price gap is that each of my companions carried several shopping bags in hand. But the minute we gathered together after the shopping spree, we found we were left with a common impression: Polish salespeople are often cold and detached.

Unlike what we expected or experienced in other countries, few shopping assistants in Poland would ardently introduce products or invite you to try samples. Almost none tried to greet foreign guests in English, not to mention Chinese.

One companion found later in his hotel that the pair of shoes he had bought consisted of two left shoes. The next morning we went back. The salesgirl provided the appropriate shoe, and said nothing. Such non-apologetic silence is incredible in Chinese eyes.

I felt both angry and entertained. Looking back on our shopping experiences in Poland, the only time we felt normal was at the entrance of a downtown mall where two T-shirts on which Chinese characters were printed were hanging. Previously, the Chinese would be enraptured to find a Chinese presence abroad. Today, that's all too normal. What's abnormal is that we, as Chinese with our reputation as big buyers, were not given an especially warm reception!

This mind-set is actually a bit irksome. Chinese often banter that Americans are arrogant and ignorant. By assuming that people in every country should acknowledge the Chinese presence and give us special attention, we are probably turning ourselves into the "arrogant Chinese."

Despite the emerging trend of learning Chinese in Poland, the Chinese presence in the country is still very limited. The number of Chinese residents is small in Warsaw, and the Chinatown, created by Wenzhou businesspeople, is located in a remote suburban area. In this globalized world, it is still completely natural that local people speak their own language, live at their own pace, and behave in their own way despite the emergence of a country in another continent.

For years we have kept stressing that Chinese, as citizens of an emerging power, should have the mentality of confidence and openness. There are already voices warning that such self-confidence should not turn into self-obsession. And after this Poland trip, I have started to worry about whether we are already appearing a bit overconfident.

The author is an opinion editor with the Global Times. chenchenchen@globaltimes.com.cn