SIS Summer Abroad 2011: China: From Alyssa

Blog Post #9

Ashley and I have been finding that there are two kinds of cabbies in this city. Well, that’s a lie; there are four or five kinds. 1) the cabbies who really like Americans and try very hard to please them. We love these cabbies, and they make life a lot easier. However, they are diamonds in the rough, and few to come by. 2) the cabbies that are legitimate but won’t take you to certain places because they wouldn’t make enough money. I get it- this happens in DC all the time; but it is still annoying. 3) The cabbies that are legit but hate foreigners. It’s just a fact- there is anti-American sentiment in China. Actually, there is rampant uncontrolled flat out racism. These cabbies don’t even look at you and certainly would never stop for you. 4) The cabbies who don’t mind American men but won’t give women the time of day. It’s hilarious, because when Dmytri, Ashley and I are in cab, I am the only one who speaks enough Chinese to be able to communicate where we would want to go. (99% of cabbies here speak literally zero English.) So, when they will only listen to Dmitri, it makes for an interesting dynamic. And by interesting I mean infuriating. Finally, 5) The “cabbies” who are really not cabbies at all, and just made their personal car into a cab by painting a logo on the outside. They will “negotiate” a fare with you prior to driving you, and there is no meter. Obviously, we are not that stupid and have never taken any of these cabs. Don’t worry, Heidi! We are heeding your safety advice.

The reason I am discussing the issue of cabs in this city is that yesterday evening, Ashley and I had massive troubles trying to find a cab. Another aspect to this whole crazy predicament is that there are a million rickshaws in Beijing, and especially in the areas where a lot of foreigners go (i.e. the nightlife district called sanlitun). These rickshaw drivers do not take no for an answer, and will swarm around you and bother you to let them pedal you somewhere. Basically, you have to firmly tell them no thank you. Well, last night Ashley and I were getting a bit hysterical when all of the cabs were either the 2^nd, 3^rd, or 5^th varieties that I mentioned above. After waiting for 25 minutes without a cab willing to take us somewhere, in a foreign city, one could see how panic might start to set in. We may or may not have started to make a scene, and then officer friendly may or may not have come over to “assist us” in finding a cab. In retrospect, the situation is pretty funny- American college girls almost in tears because all of the cab drivers hate them and rickshaw men smelling the vulnerability. We did finally get someone to begrudgingly take us where we were going, but only because the officer was standing there. Because of all of the anti-foreigner sentiment/sketchy cabs in this city, it’s always interesting trying to go places.