I was speaking to a Chinese relative who said you shouldn't call young ladies Xiaojie as it often refers to prostitutes and the like. Is this true? It would be quite embarrassing if so!

I have asked about it with native Chinese over chat and haven't gotten any comments related to prostitutes so I doubt it. Not 100% sure though.

This one depends on the place. When I was in Beijing I heard many people using it. I believe maybe in Guangdong it maybe viewed differently? (not 100% sure of the place but I know it is geographical in nature)

Hi there, It is true that in some areas xiaojie 小姐 can have a derogatory sentiment behind it but that often depends also on the context and way in which the word is said. However, for the most part, it is an acceptable term to address young woman as and I wouldn't worry about any misunderstandings because as I said it very much depends on the tone of the conversation. - Lin Ping

I was in a Chinese restaurant with a friend and called the waitress 小姐 . My friend told me that 小姐 refers to a prostitute and I should call her fuwuyuan 服务员. We were in Germany at the time but she is from hangzhou .

if you refer to young woman as XiaoMei, young sister, I believe that would solve any confusion. When in Changsha my wife's home city I call all young woman MeiDuo, Changsha Hua for XiaoMei!

I asked my wife, from Hunan Changsha, and she said, xiaojie can be the same as prostitute !

I am not certain about its meaning today. But I watched an historical Chinese film -the romance of the seven kingdoms- there all the (virtuous) young women were called xiaojie. Anyhow I don't believe Rocket Chinese would make such a blunder by teaching us such insulting words.

In the city I've lived, Shijiazhuang, People usually say 美女 instead of 小姐. But for male, they just say 先生

I am a male and have a friend from Hangzhou who often calls me  美女. What's up with that?