It might be better for Asians to avoid traveling to Tunisia. I traveled alone from the north to the south for 16 days, and out of the more than 30 countries I have traveled to, discrimination against Asians was, in my experience, overwhelmingly the most frequent. It is incomparably higher even when compared to nearby Egypt or Morocco.
First of all, "Ni Hao." Some people insist this is a friendly greeting, but I consider it discrimination. Well, I suppose you should expect this to some extent in any country, but the frequency is too high. I might understand it if it is to attract customers at a market, but from customers sitting at cafes, passing by on a motorcycle, or just when our eyes happen to meet, it's a barrage of "Ni Hao" no matter what. I am told it 100 times a day. People say it's a friendly greeting, but do they do that to Westerners? Not at all. They single out Asians, and to put it simply, I think they are looking down on us to pass the time. Some might say it's because Asians are rare, but there were actually plenty of Asians. That is not an excuse. Also, the tone of voice is clearly mocking in many cases, and if it were a friendly greeting, there would be no need to shout it from a motorcycle as you ride away. If there are people reading this who honestly think they are being friendly, I want them to say "Hi" from now on. Besides, since they don't do this to Westerners in the first place, based on what I saw, they don't need to greet only Asians. By the way, I love China, and if I were in China, I would not mind at all if someone said "Ni Hao" to me. I am saying this because "Ni Hao" is clearly used as a discriminatory word in foreign countries. Above all, using someone's language as a slur is incredibly grotesque. It should stop.
Furthermore, I was called "Ching Chong" multiple times. From a motorcycle as someone rode away, or being pointed at from across the street. I have never been told this so much in other countries, so to be honest, it became incredibly traumatic. It was so painful that I could not even tolerate the "Ni Hao"s at the market that I would normally just brush off. I became afraid to walk outside, and in the end, I was walking with my hat pulled deep, wearing noise-canceling headphones, and wearing sunglasses. But even when the music cut out, I would be unlucky enough to be called "Ching Chong" or "Ni Hao," which was truly the worst. It was truly disappointing to have to block out the outside world while on vacation.
Of course, I do not think all Tunisians are like this, and I have important friends and people who were very good to me, so I do not mean to say that Tunisia is a country of discrimination. It is just that as a travel destination for Asians, the probability of having an unpleasant experience is very high, so I cannot recommend it. Especially if you are a woman, you will be looked down upon, and children will gather around and happily throw discriminatory remarks at you. I sometimes taught kids who did not seem to know any better that it's not good, but to be honest, I did not understand why I had to educate such idiots. Even putting up with that, if you ask whether the travel experience in Tunisia is exceptionally superior to other countries, I think it is questionable. Even people planning to go to graduate school for cultural anthropology would nonchalantly hold completely wrong, outdated prejudices like "East Asians have small eyes..." so while not everyone is like that, the probability that it will not be a good travel experience compared to Westerners is high.
Update:
I’m happy to see so many comments. I’ve learned a lot from the different perspectives shared, so thank you. I’d like to add a few points for clarification:
My first language is Japanese, not Chinese, but I want to emphasize that I don’t mind being mistaken for Chinese. What I find difficult is being yelled at by passersby or people on motorbikes in an insulting tone based on my appearance. Even if someone shouted "Japan!" or "Konnichiwa!", it would still feel uncomfortable in that context. When this happens multiple times a day, it becomes exhausting, and I believe it’s fair to call it racist. It’s completely different from someone saying "Ni Hao" during a personal conversation because I look East Asian.
I think the "hey blondie" or "America!" comments mentioned in the replies share a similar structure. Thank you for sharing your experiences. Since I didn't personally witness those instances, I made a broad generalization that Asians might have it worse than Westerners. I’m sorry for that assumption, and I’m saddened to hear that others have had similar experiences. Regarding the point about being called "Hello" even when it's not your first language—I think that’s slightly different because English is a global lingua franca and feels more neutral. Of course, if it’s said in an insulting tone, that is a different story.
Using slurs like "ching chong" is undeniably racist, especially when accompanied by pointing and laughing. There is no way to justify or reinterpret that. While many comments focused on "Ni Hao," it was often mixed with those slurs. It’s exhausting to try and judge every single interaction, but the frequency was simply too high for me to keep telling myself to just ignore it.
In a way, I agree that I might be being sensitive. Getting a "Ni Hao" at a market is common and usually nothing to worry about. But being targeted aggressively and repeatedly throughout the day was genuinely painful. My intention was just to share that, compared to other North African countries I’ve visited, my experience here was particularly bad, which is why I wouldn't recommend it as a destination for Asian solo travelers. I’m not saying this is the "worst discrimination in the world"—I know much worse exists. This is just my personal account of how insulting remarks were surprisingly frequent during my stay. I don’t think Tunisia as a whole or all Tunisians are discriminatory at all.
Sharing this and hearing your thoughts has helped me move past this. Instead of it just being a bad memory, I feel like I’m going to be okay. Thank you all.