In his book East Look West See, the author Zhai Hua - no relation to me - voices the problem with our surname:

"From kindergarten onwards, people with the last name 'Zhai' get used to others mispronouncing or writing this rare name wrongly. 'Zhai' is often mistaken for 'Qu', 'Cui', 'Huo', or 'Yao,'" he writes.

Zhai Hua taught me much about my last name in this humorous chapter, from its references in classical texts to Chinese airline computers' present inability to correctly key in the character.