Chinese-Dutch community slams ‘racist’ line in Amsterdam 750 board game
A passage in a free children’s book distributed last week to Amsterdam elementary school students as part of the Amsterdam 750 celebrations has sparked outrage within the Chinese-Dutch community. The passage, found in the board game “Amsterdam Duivenbord,” is being criticized as discriminatory and reinforcing harmful stereotypes, Het Parool reports.
The passage appears on square 42 of the game, an Amsterdam-themed version of the traditional Dutch ganzenbord, or Game of the Goose. It reads: “Ni Hao! Chinese tourists are blocking the bike path. To avoid them, go back to square 39.” About 60,000 children received the game alongside the book Mijn 750-jarige stad (“My 750-Year-Old City”).
The Chinese-Dutch community voiced their disapproval primarily on social media platforms, especially on the Chinese network Rednote, where users described the text as perpetuating a stereotype linking Chinese visitors to public nuisance. Comments were also posted under a LinkedIn post by Amsterdam 750 highlighting the book, expressing criticism of the passage.
Hui-Hui Pan, founder of the Pan Asian Collective, expressed her outrage in a LinkedIn post: “What seems like a joke to most people is for me — and many other Asian Amsterdammers — a slap in the face. This is not an innocent sentence. This is racism in children’s language. Stereotypes packaged as a game. Distributed by the city itself, to tens of thousands of children.”
Documentary filmmaker and China expert Ruben Terlou also spoke out on Rednote, calling the passage implicit discrimination. Terlou questioned whether the passage “would not have caused immediate problems if Belgian, Israeli, or Black tourists had been named instead of Chinese tourists.” He stated that “the Chinese community deserves a serious response.”
Pavlov Publishing, which produced the book in collaboration with the city of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Association of School Boards (BBO), received a flood of angry emails and calls last week, said Michiel Haans, one of the partners at Pavlov. “We are terribly sorry about this, and on behalf of all parties involved in the book, I want to offer my sincere apologies.”
Haans emphasized that the publisher and partners never intended to offend anyone. “With the book, we wanted to celebrate Amsterdam’s inclusivity. Before publication, the book was extensively tested in elementary schools with students and teachers.” Haans expressed regret about the use of the word “Chinese” in the passage. “We never had bad intentions; it could have just as well said ‘French tourist’ or included no specific nationality.”
He added that Pavlov would meet Monday with everyone involved in the project, including the municipality and the school boards. The publisher also allegedly seeks to engage with the Chinese community to continue the conversation about discrimination.
A group representing the Chinese-Dutch community sent a letter to Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema expressing their concerns about the passage. The letter described the passage as “disappointing and painful,” emphasizing that it appeared in a book issued on behalf of the city.
“Many people experience this as cultural stigmatization—especially at a time when Asian Dutch people increasingly face subtle and overt forms of discrimination,” the letter stated.
The group demanded that Mayor Halsema explain why the passage was included and urged her to apologize on behalf of the municipality. They also called for the immediate halt of distribution of the children’s book and game, and for a new edition to be printed with the passage removed or revised.
A city spokesperson said the municipality had “no substantive involvement with this publication.” The spokesperson added, “It is, of course, not the intention that anyone is hurt by the book. The book is meant for everyone, with attention to the diversity of Amsterdam and our shared history.”
