Archive for November, 2006

Chow Yun Fat complimented me on my Chinese

Tuesday, November 28th, 2006
I’ve been watching Chow Yun Fat on film since 1986’s A Better Tomorrow, so it’s a thrill to have been on the set in Gansu province to watch him act in his next film. At one point, I got a chance to say hello, and we chatted for a minute or two, and spoke a little bit in mandarin. I’m not generally a terribly star-struck person, but this is Chow Yun Fat we’re talking about here.

While we spoke, he complimented me on my Chinese. Foreigners to China are frequently complimented on their Chinese here if they can even manage to say “ni hao”, but as I said before, this is Chow Yun Fat we’re talking about. I’m pleased as punch.

If you don’t know who Chow Yun Fat is, head to your local video store and rent Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Killer, two of his best IMO, and discover what you’ve been missing.

As for my Chinese skills, they’re coming along nicely. I can get by in Mandarin a lot better than I had thought possible, have had some 5-10 minute conversations aided by the sporadic use of a dictionary, and have even been pressed into occasional service as a translator in the office when the real translators were away. It is encouraging, but I still have a long way to go.

Posted in China, Chinese language | 5 Comments »

A new scam at the airport

Sunday, November 19th, 2006
I arrived at the Beijing airport about an hour-and-forty-five minutes before my flight, which should be plenty of time for a domestic flight in China. I walked over to the monitor to see whether my flight was running on schedule, and a woman in professional dress wearing a nametag asked me which flight I was on and if she could see my ticket. I showed her my ticket, and she said “oh, you’re very late, must hurry! Follow me” and she and her partner in crime led me to a check-in line. She elbowed her way to the front (this would have been more impressive had there been more than one person in front of me), spoke to the man behind the counter, had me come up and check my bag, handed me my boarding pass, and then started talking money.

At first I didn’t understand what she wanted. Something about “flight money” or “airport money”. I had already paid for the ticket. Then it dawned on me that she didn’t work for the airline, but just wanted money for “helping” me. I figured she had probably saved me about 4 minutes of standing in line, so I pulled out what seemed to me to be a decent tip, 10 RMB. She looked upset and asked for 50. I should have walked away. I said I didn’t have 50. She lowered the price down to 10 for her and 10 for her confederate. I checked my wallet and found 15, happy to give it to herso I could leave without further disrupting the social harmony. Then she spotted another 5 in my wallet.

So she got 20 RMB out of me, which is the literal equivalent of $2.50 and the functional equivalent of $6. What a scam.

Posted in China | 1 Comment »

Bad Behavior has blocked 300 access attempts in the last 7 days.