Is there such a people as Chinese-Chinese?

One day last week I went to a private clinic in Beijing. As usual the clinic was quiet and only a few clients - half of them expats - sat around waiting. A tall Scandinavian-looking guy came and sat next to me. We struck up a conversation about the newspaper story I was reading. Then he asked.

"Are you Chinese-Chinese?"

Reflexively I explained that I had lived in the US for many years. The Scandinavian guy then nodded, seemingly satisfied. "You don't look very Chinese to me," he said.