One thing that always amazes me is how somethings in China develop so quickly, while others seem to remain unchanged. As a foreigner living in Shanghai, it is not cultural differences or a language barrier that really bothers me. It’s easy enough to just sit down and decide I’d better learn some Chinese if I want to fit. It’s simple things like customer service that amazes me. As developed as China is becoming, it’s amazing how something as simple as customer service has not developed with it.

I have openly had check-out clerks throw my vegetables across the scanner and break eggs in the process. What really makes me laugh is that I simply get stares that say ‘What are you going to do about it?’ It’s a shame really. A lot of businesses would do so much better just by having their clerks smile (even if they can’t speak English) and just be a little more careful.

Just one of many reasons I generally don’t shop at GMS anymore.

There’s quite a discussion going on about a man from Henan. The controversy seems to be around the fact a man who cheated the government out of almost four million yuan getting a life sentence. I don’t really understand what all the fuss is about. Given what people earn in China, it seems he cheated the government out of a significant amount of money. Not only that, but he seemed to put quite a bit of effort into it. As the expression in English goes, you can’t fight city hall.

Funny thing is the title (from a Western news article). This just goes to show you how distorted Chinese news can be in Foreign media. How does transportation business = farming?  ; )
Article (taken from Shanghai Daily)

A court in central Henan Province today decided to retry a man who evaded 3.68 million yuan (US$555,570) in toll fees using fake military documents and was sentenced to life imprisonment because the convict revealed that he had some accomplices, Xinhua reported. The Intermediate People’s Court in Pingdingshan City said Shi Jianfeng used two fake military truck plates, military driver licenses, and other documents to do transportation business and dodged 3.68 million yuan in toll fees from May 2008 to January 2009. Shi was sentenced to life imprisonment for fraud in the first trial — the country’s first life sentence for such a violation. The Pingdingshan count said on its website they reviewed Shi’s case yesterday and Shi confessed that he had some accomplices. Based on this new development, the court decided to have a new trial.

Been redoing things to get them working better.

Good luck with your studies,

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