2011 - Day 6-8
Sent 1/17/2011
When in China and working with Chinese customers, every night seems to end at the bar. I am pretty OK with this as you might expect, but sometimes it is downright educational. Friday night I was at a bar with a few customers, as is typical populated by bar girls hustling drinks and a mix of Chinese and expat customers. As the night wore on, most of my customers had faded and gone home and I struck up a conversation with the girl behind the bar. I asked her who her most and least favorite customers were and the answer surprised me; she hated serving Chinese men. I was about to ask why when through the door came a young Chinese couple who sat at a small separate bar in a corner of the place, away from the others present. They were clearly intoxicated. I returned my attention to the bartender who said that none of the girls in the bar will serve Chinese men. Soon enough, one of the two guys working at the bar that night went to the small bar where the new arrivals were seated and began serving them. I had noticed the two guys earlier as they were standing around doing pretty much nothing – I assumed they were bouncers, but as the bartender told me, their only job is to handle the Chinese customers.
Sent 1/17/2011
When in China and working with Chinese customers, every night seems to end at the bar. I am pretty OK with this as you might expect, but sometimes it is downright educational. Friday night I was at a bar with a few customers, as is typical populated by bar girls hustling drinks and a mix of Chinese and expat customers. As the night wore on, most of my customers had faded and gone home and I struck up a conversation with the girl behind the bar. I asked her who her most and least favorite customers were and the answer surprised me; she hated serving Chinese men. I was about to ask why when through the door came a young Chinese couple who sat at a small separate bar in a corner of the place, away from the others present. They were clearly intoxicated. I returned my attention to the bartender who said that none of the girls in the bar will serve Chinese men. Soon enough, one of the two guys working at the bar that night went to the small bar where the new arrivals were seated and began serving them. I had noticed the two guys earlier as they were standing around doing pretty much nothing – I assumed they were bouncers, but as the bartender told me, their only job is to handle the Chinese customers.
Our conversation turned to other things for a while but maybe half an hour later there was a commotion at the small bar –the young Chinese couple had begun to fight – he was yelling at her, she was crying loudly and swinging at him. This went on for a few minutes, after which they appeared to make up, although she was still crying loudly and resting her head on the bar, he was trying to console her. Soon they were at it again louder than before, she was shoving him and screaming, he was yelling back, then once again, she was face down on the bar and he was trying to rub her back, that is until he collapsed to the floor in a drunken heap and struggled for what seemed like 5 minutes to get back upright, at which point round three began. This must have gone on for 30 minutes and no one at the bar seemed inclined to do anything about it. The bartender told me that this happens all the time – the young Chinese couples get far too drunk and fight, and the single Chinese men get drunk and get abusive with the bar girls. Quite the spectator sport I must say, but I certainly understand the bartender’s preference of customer a bit better.
While at the bar that night, I decided to switch from Chinese beer to something a bit more like home, so I ordered a Jack Daniels with no ice. What was actually in the bottle I cannot truly say, but it was not Jack Daniels. I told the girl behind the bar this was not really JD, but she insisted it was the “Chinese” version. OK, I inspected the bottle closely and it looked absolutely like the real thing but the taste and smell were all wrong. I kidded her that she was pouring cheap stuff in the good bottles, so she broke the seal on a new bottle for me and gave me a taste – same thing – wrong flavor. I told her “maybe this is not Jack Daniels, but Jeff Daniels”. A really good joke I thought – she did not get it. Product piracy is everywhere in China from DVD’s to electronics and more, and apparently there is fake liquor too. Buyer beware, I suppose.
Saturday I was off and Larry was returning home to Shanghai. One of my customers offered to show me around Shenzhen for the day. He and his wife took me to a place called Splendid China, kind of a theme park for Chinese history and culture. Mostly it was kind of hokey and touristy but some things were really impressive – lots of cool costumes, a reenactment of Genghis Khan invading China including archers on horseback, and an amazing acrobatics show. All in all a fun day.
Sunday was a travel day, and a fairly grueling one at that – 9 hours of ferries, planes and taxis. I arrived in my Shanghai hotel around 8:00 PM too tired to do much of anything. The next three days will be especially busy with all day obligations and some travel too.
Day 9 Preview – At long last, my quest for fish lips is at an end!
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