Any expat in China will very quickly be confronted with Fapiaos (发票), essentially an official receipt issued by the local government. This is a necessity for anyone who needs Individual Income Tax (IIT) deductions, as well as for all reimbursement requests. However, this is generally not willingly given out by businesses (except for the ones that exclusively serve expats) since the giving of the fapiao means that they now must pay tax on this sale, sometimes they even have to pay the local government a percentage (generally 5%) of the sale to obtain the said fapiao.
While there are certainly some abuse of Fapiaos amongst the expats, the worst is something that I heard over this past week. While traveling to Amsterdam, a relative of mine had visited the Red Light district as a de rigueur sightsee item. As he was a part of a group of Chinese tourists, the ladies in the windows beckoned to them the best they can. At first he couldn’t make out what the ladies were saying, but after a few minutes he realized that they were saying “有发票，可报销”, which roughly translates to “have fapiao, can reimburse”. This could only mean that Chinese customers were requesting fapiaos (most likely marked as for food / drinks) for these services. And what kind of Chinese tourists requests fapiaos for reimbursement? Officials.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Lost in Translation
The past week has been a non-stop eating festival. Chinese New Year might as well be known as Eating Like it’s 1999. There was the requisite CNY eve meal that required the serving of fish, since “鱼(fish)” is a phonetic synonym of the word “余(plenty)”, hence having fish = having plenty. But the greater damage was done by the requisite visits to various aunts and uncles and cousins, each of which involves a meal – lunch or dinner. The younger generation (i.e. the cousins) have also adopted the British tradition of afternoon tea as a meal sans parents. Hence one literally eats 4 meals a day.
What’s contradictory to this semi-forced feeding (to refuse would be impolite) is the constant commentary about weight. This is primarily targeted towards the girls, but certainly not exclusive. On one hand, eat eat eat! On the other hand, wah! 胖了！(you’ve gotten chubby / fat!) Geez thanks. I wonder why.
Which brings me to the semi-forced topic of boyfriends and marriages and children. There were numerous posts on Weibo going around (for several years apparently) which stated something to the effect of “for Chinese New Year, the ones without boyfriends must rent a boyfriend, and ones with boyfriends must rent a girlfriend.” Perhaps due to the generational gap, the topic that the older generation turns to after the favored topics of retirement and housing has been exhausted is the love life of the younger generation. Something has been lost in this single generation. In private (or in English which serves as a kind of privacy), my cousins and their friends all have pretty vivid albeit complicated love lives, but not the kind that is on the straight and narrow path towards marriage and children, as hoped for by the parents. So they pretty much just keep mum and suffer the barrage of kind invectives until the older generation tires itself out. The Chinese word for finding a spouse is 找对像，literally “finding an appropriate reflection”, focuses the match on appropriateness – i.e. family and educational background, incomes, location, and maybe physical attractiveness. Nowhere to be found is the concept of love.
Which brings me to the semi-forced topic of boyfriends and marriages and children. There were numerous posts on Weibo going around (for several years apparently) which stated something to the effect of “for Chinese New Year, the ones without boyfriends must rent a boyfriend, and ones with boyfriends must rent a girlfriend.” Perhaps due to the generational gap, the topic that the older generation turns to after the favored topics of retirement and housing has been exhausted is the love life of the younger generation. Something has been lost in this single generation. In private (or in English which serves as a kind of privacy), my cousins and their friends all have pretty vivid albeit complicated love lives, but not the kind that is on the straight and narrow path towards marriage and children, as hoped for by the parents. So they pretty much just keep mum and suffer the barrage of kind invectives until the older generation tires itself out. The Chinese word for finding a spouse is 找对像，literally “finding an appropriate reflection”, focuses the match on appropriateness – i.e. family and educational background, incomes, location, and maybe physical attractiveness. Nowhere to be found is the concept of love.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
It's Okay La!
The first week has been an interesting mix of life's small humiliations as well as great expectations.
Upon arrival at PVG (Shanghai's international airport), I was picked up by a car service who efficiently delivered me to my corporate housing. Or so I thought. The receptionist couldn't find my reservation, and when I finally dug out the confirmation it turns out that I was at the wrong place. Apparently I was dropped off at a hotel with a very similar name that is on the street which very closely crosses the street that the correct hotel is on. I've committed my first "assume" sin in Shanghai. The driver said he knew where he was going, and I didn't question it. Lesson learned. Luckily a quick visit to the ATM armed me with RMBs and a helpful cab driver who whisked me to my correct nest.
I found out very quickly that restaurants that service locals shut down around 9PM, so that the only way to get something to eat after that is to go to an expat restaurant. This lead to a ramen noodle and mini tangerines (fruit stands, on the other hand, are open late) dinner. Boo.
On the upside, it turns out most restaurants do deliveries, free! And ordering with the receptionist @ work was a breeze, food arrives in less than 10 minutes and is steaming hot. And my work has heated toilet seats. I never knew how essential that is. Amazing.
Shanghai so far does fulfill its Work Hard Play Hard reputation. My first week and I worked past 8PM for 3 of the 5 days, although the efficiency of work certainly leaves something to be desired. On the other hand, I've gone out 4 of the 7 nights so far, and it's really a blast to be joking around with a group of people switching freely between English and Mandarin.
Upon arrival at PVG (Shanghai's international airport), I was picked up by a car service who efficiently delivered me to my corporate housing. Or so I thought. The receptionist couldn't find my reservation, and when I finally dug out the confirmation it turns out that I was at the wrong place. Apparently I was dropped off at a hotel with a very similar name that is on the street which very closely crosses the street that the correct hotel is on. I've committed my first "assume" sin in Shanghai. The driver said he knew where he was going, and I didn't question it. Lesson learned. Luckily a quick visit to the ATM armed me with RMBs and a helpful cab driver who whisked me to my correct nest.
I found out very quickly that restaurants that service locals shut down around 9PM, so that the only way to get something to eat after that is to go to an expat restaurant. This lead to a ramen noodle and mini tangerines (fruit stands, on the other hand, are open late) dinner. Boo.
On the upside, it turns out most restaurants do deliveries, free! And ordering with the receptionist @ work was a breeze, food arrives in less than 10 minutes and is steaming hot. And my work has heated toilet seats. I never knew how essential that is. Amazing.
Shanghai so far does fulfill its Work Hard Play Hard reputation. My first week and I worked past 8PM for 3 of the 5 days, although the efficiency of work certainly leaves something to be desired. On the other hand, I've gone out 4 of the 7 nights so far, and it's really a blast to be joking around with a group of people switching freely between English and Mandarin.
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