Shang Dang Shou Pian

Yesterday I decided to walk along the narrow hutongr (a traditional Beijing alleyway, and the most difficult-to-pronounce word in Chinese) near my hostel to find a place for lunch. I went into a dirty restaurant whose exterior was decorated like a Christmas tree, except instead of ornaments it had cages and cages of chirping birds. I don’t know why I chose this restaurant. I was also the only customer.

Anyway, after I sat down I ordered chicken fried rice. Then I jokingly asked the very young waitress (I think she was about 12) whether the prices on the English menu were higher than on the Chinese one.

“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”

So after she left I snuck up to the front and took a copy of the Chinese-language menu. Sure enough, the Chinese price for a plate of fried rice is 5 kuai, while the price for the same meal on the English menu is 16 kuai.

When the waitress came back I pointed this out to her and asked her what the difference was between the two dishes. She said “ummm ummm” and just left. I said, “You’re cheating me!” I was still smiling and joking at this point.

After I finished eating I got kind of nervous because I didn’t know how to handle the bill. I considered just leaving 5 kuai, the actual price of the food, on the table and just leaving. But I was also scared that the owner of the place might run after me and thought that probably wasn’t the best idea. Finally I asked for the bill, and a different kid came up to me and said the price was 16 kuai. I calmly said, “I think that’s wrong, I just read the Chinese menu and it says 5.” The kid acted confused and went to go check. After a minute I got up and “helped” him find it: 鸡肉炒饭 – 5 kuai.

He seemed “confused” and then he went to go “ask” his boss. When he came back, he said okay, okay, we’ll only charge you 10. I saw this as a kind of victory and coughed up the 10 kuai and left.

Afterwards I felt like a total loser. I was, and am, really disappointed in myself. Why hadn’t I argued more? They blatantly took advantage of me. Most foreigners who ate there would have never known the difference, but I was able to read the Chinese menu. I saw the huge difference in their prices. Never mind that 5 kuai is only equal to 85 American cents. Never mind that my meal would have cost me $8 in the US. Never mind that I happily paid 25 kuai for a burger later that night. The point is that I should have stood up for myself and demanded to pay the Chinese price, given that I had physical proof that they were cheating me. I mean, where did this new price of 10 kuai even come from?

I learned something that day, and that's to be a lot more assertive.