At the Beach - You Can't Even Come Here!

  Time for part 2 of the trip to the beach. You know that I had some troubles in getting a hotel room but I had it easy. Check out what happened next. Also, please note that in the interest of not getting c3ns0r3d by the gubirnment, I've changed some spellings and names. I'm not stupid, just careful.
 
2. Non-H@n Ch!nese not allowed

  Of greater concern was the following comment by some members of the group: "It's a good thing none of us are minorities." I asked what they meant but knew enough not to push the issue right away (in front of the hotel staff). However, I had already decided this would be topic of conversation at lunch.

  Turns out that if you're not a member of the majority H@n ethnic community in Ch!n@, you can't even visit this area without permission from the local government. There is nothing that special about this area. In the US, it would be equivalent to saying that only white people could visit Venice Beach without prior approval. My friends indicated that it was probably just a formality and that it wasn't really that big a deal to get the required permission.  I'm not sure that mitigates the situation.

  [Background voice]: "But, how do they know if you're H@n ch!n3se?"

  How do they know, you ask? I wondered as well. Turns out the national ID cards actually have a section that lists what ethnic minority you belong to (!).  This idea would go over like a lead balloon in the US.  There is an official list of ethnic minorities and everyone has to fit into one of these categories (I imagine you couldn't get an ID card otherwise).

  This restriction was a surprise to many of my local friends. They reasoned that perhaps some of it was because of security precautions (and you know what scoundrels those ethnic minorities can be). I'm just astonished. This indicates "levels" of citizenship based on ethnic affiliation. I know Ch!n@ has some issues related to its ethnic minorities but the fastest way to keep a people from identifying with their country is to make sure that their affiliation is used in silly manners such as this. While the US has it's own problems relating to race, it doesn't have policies so blatant about segregating people. Maybe it works here but it doesn't fit my world view.

  Even in India where you have ethnic-based rebellions (with armies and everything), people's movements weren't officially restricted by the government based on ethnicity. Heck, at one time, the Prime Minister's whole security detail was composed of people from an ethnicity that was in open rebellion.  That would be like Who ZhinDao (get it?) being protected by SinZhiang Muslims.  Granted, India's Prime Minister was eventually assassinated by her security detail but it was the thought that counted.

At the Beach - You Can't Stay Here

 Recently, I visited a seaside resort near Beijing (okay, resort is a strong word, but you get my meaning). The place was quite nice. Hotels, restaurants, beach, entertainment, almost everything you would need... almost. This is the first in a three-part series covering the events of that weekend that might be of interest. I promise, they are all quick and informative.

  I went there with 7 other local Chinese. It was one of those weekend trips where you look forward to acting silly, having fun on the beach, eating too much and generally raising hell.

Story #1:

  Standard procedure. You arrive at location and look around for hotels. Seems easy, no? At the first hotel we went to, we starting asking about rooms, etc.  Upon seeing me, the hotel staff emphatically said that foreigners weren't allowed to stay at that hotel and we had to leave. "Odd", I thought,"but oh well, we'll go somewhere else."

  We then moved to hotel #2. This hotel seemed nicer and they also started to talk about rooms and options. Upon realizing that I was with the group, they also suddenly stopped the negotiations and insisted that we would have to stay elsewhere (actually, they were insisting that I should stay elsewhere). My friends were nice enough to close ranks with me.

  Turns out that none of the hotels in this area had "licenses" allowing them to have foreigners as guests. I never realized before. Hotels in China apparently need to apply for a special license in order to accept foreign guests. The cover story is that the government is trying to ensure that an appropriate level of quality is maintained for foreigners (I have already stayed in some horrendous hotels that were more than happy to have me as a guest).

  I suspect the real reason is to fleece the hotels for the costs of another "license". Since this area doesn't currently have many (any?) foreign visitors, there's no reason to apply for the license. I don't care if the government tries to track my movements by making hotels report all foreign guests but I don't like being told that certain hotels are off-limits. Regardless, after my friends begged and swore to the management that I wouldn't cause trouble (What? Me cause trouble? Never!), they relented and allowed me to stay.

  Lesson learned: Always take a tent with you on trips in case you're forced to camp outside.

 As you'll find out in the next story, I had it easy compared to other Chinese citizens who wanted to visit the area.

How to Gamble with Donations for the Earthquake

You've all heard about the earthquake in China. Nothing I can add to all the press so I'll focus on something a bit more important; namely, how did it affect me?

Let's establish some ground rules. This story is about some company in Beijing about which I happen to have a lot of inside knowledge. The story was told to me and I'll write the following in the first person because ... it's easier. Which company is it? I have no idea (and you don't have any idea either).

A few weeks after the earthquake, this company put together a financial response with the following rules:

1. The company will match all employee donations one-for-one.
2. The company will gaurantee a minimum donation of 250,000 RMB.
3. All funds are first to be used to help company employees and their families. Remaining funds will then be donated for general earthquake relief.

This elicited the following response from me:

1. My initial grief and compassion over the quake has now been replaced by a mathematical nightmare. If I donate some money, then the company will match it. But if the fund doesn't reach the 250K minimum, then my donation is wasted since the company was gauranteeing that amount. It would have been better to donate somewhere else. By donating, I'm gambling that my co-workers will cross the minimum.
2. What? 250,000 RMB? That's it? For a company with a market valuation in the tens of billions of US Dollars, this seems quite niggardly (there, I used the word, so sue me). As a comparison, after the 2005 India/Pakistan Quake, a similar-sized company donated 4,150,000 RMB outright, no conditions.
3. What? Cover your own employees first? With the money donated by other employees? I think that the company is on the hook for providing relief for its own employees (and immediate families) without going hat-in-hand to other employees.

After much hemming and hawing, I decided to donate some money. The response? I got an e-mail the next day telling me that the donations are only open to Chinese employees and I'm not eligible to participate (translation: We don't need your stinkin' money).

In the end, the employees blew past the 250K minimum. Like the rest of China, everyone came together in support for the victims. Adding up the company match and subtracting the amont given to the employees, the company ended up donating around 500,000 RMB. {My friend is not sure how he feels about the whole process or the result}.