price wars
Sometimes I feel that being a foreigner in China comes with a constant struggle to prove that I am indeed a working, living member of their society. With this, I feel I should to some degree be treated as one. I've grown past the 'ignorant tourist' stage to the point where now I actually live here and see the same people everyday. But for some people, in their minds, I feel that I will never get past the title LAOWAI, and I'll never be treated like all the other community members. Which brings me to the ongoing price wars.
At first, it is hard to gauge the price of ANYTHING here, because it depends on who is buying, who is selling, where you are buying, etc... For example, everything is more expensive in the cities... cabs, food, stores, etc... and on the flip side, everything is cheaper in the countryside. I also have found the people in the countryside less likely to try and rip me off. Maybe it is because they realize I live here and if they give me a fair price, I will remember and go back to them, which I do. However, there are some people who I feel like it is their ambition in life to rip off the foreigner.
For example, a taxi ride here is generally 2 yuan (25 cent). When we first arrived in Ningyuan, we were being charged almost 3 yuan for every trip, sometimes 4. I didn't mind this much, mainly because we were the naive foreigners, and you'll get the same treatment anywhere you go in the world. Plus, the fare is really cheap. However, 3 months later, there are still a few cabbies who try and charge us 4 yuan for a short trip, and then proceed to get in an arguing match. Every time, we usually win, but it's the principal of the issue that bothers me, that some people still feel that they can charge us more for being the foreigners.
The thing that got me to write this entry is an event that happens almost everyday to me. I eat breakfast across the street at a nice dumpling soup place. All the restaurants in the area are pretty standard in prices, and the prices are very cheap because we are in the countryside. Anyways, the restaurant is run by a husband and wife who are a younger couple, maybe in their thirties. The thing that always gets me is that everyday I will order the same thing, and everyday when I pay, the wife and the husband always charge me 2 different prices. The price for a bowl of soup is 1 yuan 5 jiao, which the wife charges. The husband always charges 2 yuan.
Now, you're probably thinking, what the hell, it's only 5 jiao, which is basically pennies. My answer to that is it's not about the money. It's something that you can't understand unless you are here. Today when I was standing in line to pay, I saw the man in front of me, who had the same bowl of soup, pay the normal price to the husband. I, as usual, was charged 2 yuan.
It's something where I actually tried to ask the man why he was charging me a higher price than everyone else, and he said that it was because I got a big bowl instead of a small bowl. Funny, every bowl in that restaurant is the same, and I got the same amount of dumplings as everyone else. I dunno, it is just frustrating going in there every morning to a place that I really like and I end up leaving with a stare-off with the husband. Guanxi is a very interesting thing, and maybe my guanxi with them will improve as the months go on.
At first, it is hard to gauge the price of ANYTHING here, because it depends on who is buying, who is selling, where you are buying, etc... For example, everything is more expensive in the cities... cabs, food, stores, etc... and on the flip side, everything is cheaper in the countryside. I also have found the people in the countryside less likely to try and rip me off. Maybe it is because they realize I live here and if they give me a fair price, I will remember and go back to them, which I do. However, there are some people who I feel like it is their ambition in life to rip off the foreigner.
For example, a taxi ride here is generally 2 yuan (25 cent). When we first arrived in Ningyuan, we were being charged almost 3 yuan for every trip, sometimes 4. I didn't mind this much, mainly because we were the naive foreigners, and you'll get the same treatment anywhere you go in the world. Plus, the fare is really cheap. However, 3 months later, there are still a few cabbies who try and charge us 4 yuan for a short trip, and then proceed to get in an arguing match. Every time, we usually win, but it's the principal of the issue that bothers me, that some people still feel that they can charge us more for being the foreigners.
The thing that got me to write this entry is an event that happens almost everyday to me. I eat breakfast across the street at a nice dumpling soup place. All the restaurants in the area are pretty standard in prices, and the prices are very cheap because we are in the countryside. Anyways, the restaurant is run by a husband and wife who are a younger couple, maybe in their thirties. The thing that always gets me is that everyday I will order the same thing, and everyday when I pay, the wife and the husband always charge me 2 different prices. The price for a bowl of soup is 1 yuan 5 jiao, which the wife charges. The husband always charges 2 yuan.
Now, you're probably thinking, what the hell, it's only 5 jiao, which is basically pennies. My answer to that is it's not about the money. It's something that you can't understand unless you are here. Today when I was standing in line to pay, I saw the man in front of me, who had the same bowl of soup, pay the normal price to the husband. I, as usual, was charged 2 yuan.
It's something where I actually tried to ask the man why he was charging me a higher price than everyone else, and he said that it was because I got a big bowl instead of a small bowl. Funny, every bowl in that restaurant is the same, and I got the same amount of dumplings as everyone else. I dunno, it is just frustrating going in there every morning to a place that I really like and I end up leaving with a stare-off with the husband. Guanxi is a very interesting thing, and maybe my guanxi with them will improve as the months go on.