Sloppy Arrives in Beijing!

Welcome to China comrade! Where everything has a cartoon mascot!
This one is from Judy's company (they make cell phones).

View from the 5th ring

Ghost Street

So I started applying for jobs in Beijing. Now Beijing is much more corrupt than Taiwan and there are many more scams. There’s a few different kinds of scams. One, is that they offer you a working visa, then never give you one because they can’t actually get one for you. And if the police come around, you’re in trouble. That brings me to that store about the Taiwanese agent I was telling you about. 
            There’s this company, “Best Learning”. I might as well just put the name down in case any foreigners are looking at that school. They claim to be able to get a Z visa (the only visa you can teach on). Now recently, Beijing has issued a new set of regulations for foreign employees and is cracking down on people working under the wrong visas. I hear tell that Best Learning lost upwards of about twenty foreign teachers in one day! All of them deported for being on the wrong visa. A foreign employee tells it, “there were Chinese police in the school screaming in the foreigners’ faces one day and on the next day, the administration of the school addressed the problem by sending an email out that said “don’t worry, be happy!” Not a word was said about it after that.”

 Now I think they did this not because they couldn’t get the visas, but because they didn’t want to front the cash to get the visa. Slimy. So the agent trying to sell me this job said nothing about this whatsoever. After I researched it and brought it up, he said “ I was really angry with them when they did that visa thing! And I’ve checked in with them now to make sure they are complying!” So of course he didn’t mention the potential downside that the company has a history of loosing its teachers to deportation because they play fast and loose with the visas. It’s not his ass if we get caught anyway. Recruiters…blech! Additionally, this same school offers an “interest free loan” as a salary advance for the first month. They get you to sign the loan paper (all in Chinese) , and then they extort you later with that paper, in which of course, you agreed to all kinds of things you never would if you knew what it said! Oye!

Then there is another scam where the school hires an “agent” with “guan xi” (relationships) to grease the right wheels and then they get you a visa under a different company’s name. The last school I was at in Taiwan actually did this as well but not to me. Of course, it’s at the same risk to the foreign teacher. The difference is, in Taiwan, the police leave you alone. In China, there are cops everywhere and they definitely do not leave you alone. They come around for their “Christmas Presents” every year. And they try to extort you after you’ve applied for your visa since they’ve got your passport. So if you’re really actually doing something illegal, they’ll have a field day with you. I’ve asked the school to provide the required licenses so I can see that they are able to apply for a visa. They give me the run around every time. So I have been advised against that.

One of the most common scams is just to pay you pennies compared to what is normally expected for teaching English in China. They aim that one at recent college graduates and probably do all kinds of other illegal things to them while they are there.

Now the trouble is, even if you do everything 100% legally, you can still get extorted by the immigration police. So I’ve been trying to figure out what is the best job to take. It looks like I’ll take the one who can get me the official visa, but mainly because she has been very honest and upfront about all the scams going on in China. So we’ll see how that goes!

How could this little guy ever do anything nasty?

So now I’ve arrived in Beijing. I had to fly into Hong Kong first to get a tourist visa. It cost me $300 US because I had to get it expedited so I could get over here and start making some money. I have just found out that I will have to do another visa run to Hong Kong to get my work visa. I had to stay overnight in the hotel which was actually very nice. I booked hotel and flight together and got a room at the grand riverside something or other hotel for 100 bucks which is a great price. Man this place was NICE and of course EXPENSIVE.  It’s not really that they were trying to jack you at the hotel (which they were to a normal extent), it’s just that Hong Kong is really super expensive. But damned if that food wasn’t top notch. I think they offered a pretty fair deal given the local economy. That was the first time I’d had Italian food like that in a long, long time. They had Italian, Japanese, American, Thai, Vietnamese. This place was awesome. They carried my bags for me on and off the shuttle and to my room which was great because I had a ton of stuff with me. When I go for my next run, though, I’m going to keep it as cheap as possible!

Anyway, I was back in the airport the next day and the visa thing went off without a hitch. I was on my flight to Beijing around 8 pm. This plane had no individual entertainment though, which was quite disappointing. However, at the duty free before the flight, they were giving out free samples of Jack Daniels, so I just got loaded there for like an hour before the flight and that made me not mind whatever it was they were playing on the shared TV screen. Now since I’ve been in Taiwan, people have been warning me about the behavior of mainlanders. There’s some crazy stuff that these people do (allegedly). Allegedly, they are rude, they push and shove, cut in line, constantly hack up loogies, hold their children over trash cans in restaurants to defecate, let their children pee on the floor of the subway, etc.

Damn, no trumpet playing! I'm in the wrong place!

            When I was on the plane, there were a few children being intolerably loud and the parent was doing nothing about it, at which point I had to say something. She shut her kid up afterwards, so that was nice. But she shoved her way out of the plane after that, which was not so nice. So it is true that they do shove…but it’s not so different from Taiwan. Taiwanese people are far more aggressive when walking and driving. They will cut you off just to cut you off. Just like it’s so routine for them to cut people off, that they just do it in every scenario. I’ve had cabs cut me off in a crosswalk, only to be stopped directly in front of me by a line of traffic. And this happened no less, at the hospital as I was limping in there for my ankle. It’s really infuriating. They have extremely poor driving and walking etiquette. So since I’ve been in Beijing, and granted, it’s only been three days, the drivers and walkers here are much more polite and laid back. More conscientious, if you will.

            They’re cute too. Pretty much every cab I’ve been in, the guy will just start singing some Chinese song while he’s driving. These people are just chillin’. So I can’t say anything bad about Chinese people so far (Beijingers at least) because they’ve been very helpful to me when I’ve been lost. They will go out of their way to help you. So give the mainlanders a break Taiwan! I’ll have to admit though, I was frustrated with some of the hotel employees, but that is more of a matter of adjustment for me I think. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen some really ignorant people since I arrived, but it’s more the exception than the rule.

            So Beijing is a massive city. They use simplified Chinese characters here instead of traditional…so I have a better shot at learning to read. The night I got here, the skies where clean and clear and the following day was nice and sunny. That was akin to beginners luck though I think, because for the last two days, the pollution has been at hazardous levels. I have to walk around in the chemical fog with a mask on. It is really bad. The government is beginning to improve this situation though I think. I think it will get much better in the next five years. Not soon enough for me anyhow.
            However backwards their environmental standards are, Beijing itself is on the cusp of new technologies. People drive around on and in electric scooters and cars. In the restaurants, they all have little smart phone coupon things, and the waiters use these wireless keypad things to place your order. They have every imaginable creature comfort here and the food is fantastic. They like things spicy and salty here so me and Beijing food get along just fine! The food is about on average with the cost of food in Taipei, pretty cheap generally speaking. Beijing is a mighty city, and I look forward to exploring it when the pollution clears up!

At this pumpkin themed restaurant, you order by putting food cards on the table.

Hot Pot (Shabu Shabu) cooked in a pumpkin with melon juices inside…that's Judy's coworker btw.

There's the waiter, putting orders in on the remote control pad.

Look closely, there is something quite unusual on the menu at this Mali Mali place.

Pork rice with onions and green peppers, $2.50 BAM!

Restaurant called "Grandma's Home"

They strobe light advertisements on the wall outside the moving train…pretty cool.

This is called Mali Mali, spicy, lots of garlic with a savory sauce. You just put whatever meat and veg you want in there and they steam it…fantastic!

The kids can jump on this…I almost did myself. This is in the mall with the indoor ice skating rink.