Chinese People; What I Learned in Their Republic

China is a beautiful country, with a deeply fascinating and ornate cultural background which is amongst the most interesting on the planet. Lovely, breathtaking sites to view, art, and just plain history , combined with the fervor of a rising nation. One trip to the Great Wall, a week-end in 'Xian to explore the Terracotta Warriors, the coast of Hainan, etc...you'll be truly amazed and enchanted.

However, behind all this beauty, lies its people. Don't get me wrong, I can get along with Chinese people just as well as with anyone else; I am one of those humans who believes that, well, we are all human, so I truly don't see a difference from one race to another, and hold everyone, no matter their background, in the same light and respect. I expect them to afford the same courtesy when it comes to me. China is the one country where, during all my years of travel, I felt as if there was zero respect. No, these are not naive words spoken by some sullen girl who had a bad experience with one Chinese individual, it's more of a compilation, not only by my own experiences, but all the stories and events I have watched unfold before my own eyes during the year I spent living there.

First example has to be my most favorite and annoying, by far. Why is it that Chinese people will not help another person out of a jam, no matter how simple the task?

On the subway there, you can either buy a single ride ticket, or get a rechargeable card, but to recharge the card you need to use a 20, 50, or 100 RMB note (why, I have no idea). Next to the machines (which are new, and are almost useless already) there is usually a station agent who will help you get what you need in case the machine fails you (which more often than not is the case).

One afternoon, during rush hour (which is the craziest I have ever witnessed, NYC has nothing on Beijing) I was getting in line for one of these machines, and I see a British tourist in the front of the queue trying to recharge his card. Clearly, he speaks no Chinese, so when the station agent comes and tries to tell him that he can't use his two 10 RMB notes and that he needs a 20 RMB one to get it to work, the man doesn't understand, hence proceeds to just stand there, very lost and confused, and gets pushed aside by the Chinese man standing behind him and called a stupid slow foreigner. Now, being me and always up for helping, I go and tell the guy what was happening, and he thanked me profusely. This is where it gets good. He pulls out a 20, and we wait for the Chinese man who previously insulted him to finish getting his card, so he can try again with my guidance, when out of nowhere, the Chinese insulter turns around and says, in perfect English "you should learn Chinese before you come to visit this country"... then, the two women who were obviously watching the whole thing started to laugh, which means they understood the perils the British guy had been in during his misunderstandings with the station agent, which means they could have just simply translated for him, as I did, instead of watching him suffer.

What do you make of that?! Instead of taking 5 seconds of their precious existence to help a guy out, they stood and stared, even if they were completely capable, not to mention stuck in place waiting for longer than they should have while the whole time they possesed the knowledge to speed things along, and make the world a better, more harmonious place.

Sadly, this is common. Simple translations and directional help for foreigners will only happen if you are extremely lucky and come across a Chinese national eager to practice their English skills. I have also been on the British guy's side of things, stranded in the grocery store line when I first got to China, being scolded like a child by the cashier who was frustrated because she had just rang me up in her register and, apparently, hers wasnt the register to pay with a foreign credit card. She screamed, I said I didn't understand, and after about 10 minutes the man behind me (whom had witnessed my near-tear experience) finally had the decency to translate for me, but it took him 10 minutes to simply utter the words "you need to use that register, over there..." I was dumbfounded. Oh, and did I mention that when you politely ask them in Chinese if they speak any English, when they do, 9 out of 10 times they will rudely answer "yes, I speak English!", insulted, as if you were calling them uneducated or something.

Then again, it's to be expected of a people who don't even call 911 when a boy falls out his apt window to the ground 18 floors below. Yes, it's caught on camera how a kid landed on the sidewalk and a number of passers-by did nothing to help the gurgling mess of a child who had suffered the terrible accident. It took them 20 minutes to do anything about it. What a great morale.

Onto the next and most common of Chinese cons on foreigners, the 100 RMB switch.
It goes like this. You get in a cab, arrive at your destination, and hand the driver a 100 RMB note. He takes it, fumbles around, then gives it back and says he has no change and asks for smaller bills. Little do you know, he took your legitimate 100 and switched it for a fake. You will inevitably find out too late, when you go and try pay for something else and they throw the bill in your face, cursing you out for trying to trick THEM. You'll notice how 100 notes are scrutinized everywhere you try and use them, for this is a very common hoax in the country. Always keep your eye on the money you hand to anyone, not only cab drivers.

Then there is the fake liquor. You read that right. Cheap vodka in Grey Goose bottles, tequila from a plastic jug in Patron bottles, etc. They charge you an exorbitant amount for "top shelf, imported" brands, then deliver what can only be described as watered-down gasoline with a mixer, usually an abundant amount of the latter, so you don't taste the fraud they have just poured. Avoiding this is kind of hard, and my recommendation is to either stick to the cheap stuff (it's all the same anyways, just 1/4 of the price), especially if you're at a student area bar, or go to higher-end locales such as hotel lounges.

Of course, no one comes to China without hitting the local markets to check out the cheap clothes and top-brand knock-offs, and in these markets is where most foreigners will inevitably get swindled. The vendors are all packed into tight spaces, most of them selling the same stuff, all trying to get you into their stall, calling you their friend (some even resort to grabbing and pulling), and guilting you into buying more than what you're looking for, at a very inflated price. Remember, they make those things there, so they are bought at prices you can't even imagine from some sweat-shop in another poorer province. They will sweet-talk you, and try to make it seem as if they like you, that you're special, then name a price they state as "very good, for you only, my friend".

Cute, but more fake than their goods. Never pay more than 1/4 of their starting price. They will cry and tell you you're robbing them, that you're mean... but when you walk away, they will most definitely chase after you and agree on the price. Here is where you have to be careful, always inspect the article you are actually given, as I have witnessed a friend argue over a pricey scarf, only to finally get it for a reasonable amount, and then was given a "new, packaged" scarf, which turned out being a completely different (i.e. cheaper) material than what she had originally bargained for. They will also try and pass off purses with faulty zippers and the like to unsuspecting foreigners, so just double-check you're getting what you pay for.

In these markets, and of course on the train, bus, or any major foot traffic location, there will be a very high incidence of pickpockets. Again, I was with a friend at one of these markets, where she had her wallet stolen out of her small, zipped-up purse. Chinese people are small, quick, and dainty, the makings of a perfect, sneaky and sly thief. Now, hear this.

One of the first (and only) times I took the bus, I was with my boyfriend. It was a Saturday, and particularly crowded. He had been telling me to always watch my purse since we got to Beijing, which was getting on my nerves, and on this afternoon, he got what was coming to him, albeit in a rather annoyingly Chinese fashion. Half-way through our ride, after one of the stops, a Chinese man approaches him and says "you should be more careful, the guy behind you was trying to pick your pocket".... ummm, thanks? Could he not have said this a couple minutes ago, when the alleged thief was trying to put his hand into my boyfriend's back pocket?? What was the point in him telling us after the threat?? And what's funnier is that I think he actually thought he helped us or something, guiding us poor foreigners. Geez. You think he would've said anything had the robbery been successful??

I love the country, I think the people are beautiful and culturally diverse, but the treatment of foreigners has left me wanting. I know they're still bouncing back from the cultural revolution in some ways, but lets all get along, and help each other out. I don't expect miracles, but hopefully, your experience will be better than mine.