Taxi Experiments

The tale of my Sichuan travels is written as a continuous story and starts on the entry "In Chengdu" on Nov. 5th, 2008. For context and continuity, feel free to start back at that point and read on forward first if you have not already done so.

"Turn around!" I ordered the driver, as we rushed back to where we came from. As we approached the square, I saw my phone – it was just laying on one of the steps, unmolested:



Unfortunately, there's no place to stop - this is a busy section of the road with thru traffic, and the closest place to park was probably at least a few minutes away. Furthermore, there was a police car right behind us, watching. Things looked difficult, but I remained undeterred.

With the car still moving, I jumped out, the car door still open:



After I rushed over and secured the phone, I ran back to the taxi and jumped back in before it could get too much further. Operation Retrieval was successful!

We had the driver take us all the way to where Larry was. Still pumped from the adrenaline of my recent adventure, I decided to take a couple pictures to help recreate the scene (see pictures from above). The phone lying on the step was easy, but the open door to the taxi? That seemed to be a bit trickier. After all, it seems irresponsible to call a taxi over, open its door, and take a picture of it, all without actually riding or paying the taxi driver.

And so I decided to pay - 1 RMB. I wave a cab over. He comes by, and I open the back seat. The driver is a young man.
"Sir, have 1 RMB!" I reached out my hand and offered him a 1 RMB bill, taking a picture at the same time:

Taxi #1:


"Huh?" He was clearly confused. It isn't everyday people open cab doors and offer you money.
"I just want to give you an RMB."
"No, I don't make money like this - I'm an honest man, just trying to make an honest living. Where do you want to go? Tell me and I will take you there."
"I don't need to go anywhere - but why don't you have an RMB!"

He still refuses. I leave the bill on his back seat, but he grabs it and tosses it out the passenger window, and then drives off.

I was bemused - I had assumed people would just take money offered to them, but clearly that was not the case. Having lost nothing after I retrieved my 1 RMB bill, I decided this was actually a very interesting experiment that was worth running.


And so I hailed another cab. This time, the driver was a middle-aged man.

Taxi #2:


"Sir, have 1 RMB!" I reached out and extended the bill to him as well. He looked amused.
“Alright, why not!” he responded, and took my money. I closed his door and he drove off.

He took my money, I took a picture of him, and he drove off. Ah, back to normalcy, I thought.

However, I was wrong. I flagged down a 3rd taxi.

Taxi #3:


I offered him 1 RMB as well, but this young man did not take.

Taxi #4:


This was another middle-aged driver, and he refused as well. I then flagged down another:

Taxi #5:


"Hello, would you like 1 RMB?" I asked. The lady looked at me funny. Then she went on a tirade.
"I'm a cab driver! I don't make money like this! Who do you take me for??" It was as if I had insulted her occupation. She drove off in a huff.

Finally, I waved down the sixth cab driver. He looked to be a guy in his thirties:

Taxi #6:


“Today is your lucky day! Here is a kuai (i.e. 1 RMB)!”
"Whaa?" He seemed totally bewildered at first.
"I said today's your lucky day. Have a Reminbi."
"Huh?" He still didn't get it and seemed even more perplexed.
"Don't worry about a thing. I just want to give you 1 RMB. Why don't you take it?"
The man seemed to partially regain his senses. I suppose cab drivers usually are on auto-pilot and need a bit of time to adjust to an out of the ordinary passenger pickup routine such as this. After a few more moments of thought, he shrugged, and took the bill.
"Thanks," he said. I closed the door and he drove off.

2 of 6 drivers took the money. The sample size is rather small, no controls were ran, and no standard scripts were used, so it is difficult to draw any hard conclusions, but Maoxian (茂縣) seems to be a fairly upstanding place. Looking a bit deeper at the preliminary data, and combining it with some simple intuition, it also seems that the younger drivers tend to be more idealistic and would refuse taking in "free" money out of principle, whereas the two drivers that did take money were older drivers, with probably more realist viewpoints. Given their socioeconomic condition (after all, Maoxian cabs have just about the lowest fares of anywhere I've been - 3 RMB for the first kilometer, and 1 RMB for each half kilometer afterwards), they would gladly take every RMB that was offered to them.

Distributing Business Cards

After wandering around Gulangyu, I just missed the boat to Jinmen, and so I had about an hour to kill in Xiamen.

While I was walking, I noticed a group of people distributing business cards.

Since I was in no hurry anymore, I slowed down, and took one from one of them. It was a business card for a travel agency. Suddenly, seeing that I had stopped in my tracks to examine the card, a whole swarm of card distributors surrounded me, each handing me another card. I took them all, ending up with about 10 cards or so.

Next, the old lady selling maps came by, holding a copy in her hand.



"Would you like a map?"
"No thanks, I know where I'm going."
"It's just 6 RMB."
"You know, in other cities, I can get them for 3 RMB."
"Okay fine, how about 3 RMB?" She smiled sweetly, showing her decaying teeth.

I politely refused again, and tried to change the subject. "Where are you from?"
"From Anhui Province."
"Are you all from Anhui?" I pointed to the rest of the travel agency card distributors.
"Yes. Anhui Province is quite poor. We are here to try to make a bit more money, but the work is not easy."
"But how does it work? With the maps it is easy - it's based on how many you sell. But for the cards, how do they know how many cards you distribute?"
"It has nothing to do with how many cards you distribute." She took a card from my hand and pointed, "See here, there's a phone number on each one. They're all different, for every card, even though they go to the same company. Based on which number is called, they will know the person that distributed the card to the customer."

I was intrigued, as I had never tried distributing cards before, and was curious to see how hard it would be. After all, I had time to kill. So with the ~10 cards I had gathered, I decided to start passing them out myself, and see who would take, as well as how long it would take.

It wasn't easy. My first taker was a young child... who was with parents. The parents ignored me, but the child's curiosity got the best of him, and he reached out towards me with his hand as his parents dragged him away. I gave him a card.

The second took a several minutes longer, and it was one of those people that were taking all the cards (as most people only take the first card they see). I saw her approaching as did all the other card distributors, and we overloaded her hands with cards. During the tiem I was there, there were about 3-4 people who took everyone's cards like her.

However, most of the time was spent waiting, hoping to catch some interest...



I tried to look for patterns in demographics to see who was more likely to take from me. Is it the old? The young? Men? Women?

It was extremely hard to tell. I easily approached at least 75-100 people per card I managed to hand out.

Different people would act differently as well. Most people just walked past you without reacting. Some would look at your card, and then look away. A few would put up their hands, as if sayig "no thanks." Only one lady politely refused me with words. Very few looked genuinely annoyed with all the card distribution activity.

The passerbys were also difficult to handle because they tend to come in clumps (as opposed to a steady stream) due to the traffic lights. As a result, every clump would attract all the card distributors' attention, and it was difficult to "stand out" amongst the other distributors. It was important to get there first, but of course, not to be pushy about it. It is notable too that people in groups walking together were harder to pass cards to, but not impossible.

I tried different techniques as well. At first I just tried to smile and look nice. I maintained good eye contact, but not overly intrusive. When they came closer, I gave them a pleasant half smile, and nodded in acknowledgment if they took a card. I also tried the "double take" technique, which seemed to work slightly better - I would flash the cards at them quickly, and if they showed interested, I would show the cards a second time for them to take. Finally, I tried a two handed card presentation technique (like how you would hand gifts to someone using traditional Asian etiquette) to each passerby, though this technique also had limited success.



The Anhui people watched with surprise and amusement at my efforts. They cheered me on as I promised to give away all my cards before I left. Some were leaning back against the wall or the lamp post, taking a break and watching me work instead, finally having a chance to enjoy a sunny, if not unusual, afternoon. However, others were more interesting in their treatment of me. One guy tried to sell me some watches. I tried to give him a business card. We each failed in our respective endeavors.

After about 55 minutes, I had finally finished giving out all ~10 or so of my cards. It was definitely not easy, and I was fortunate to have met the 3-4 people who took a card from everyone. I waved bye to the Anhui folks, hopped in a cab, and hurried to the boat.

Rushing in, I walked quickly towards the counter just to check on the status of the boat. Most of the passengers, however, thought I was getting on the boat, and thru so a sort of mob mentality developed, with many passengers seated at the waiting area getting up and following me to the counter. However, the boat was not yet ready, and we ended up waiting there for another good 10 minutes. Few people sat back down, apparently not wanting to give up their spot in the line.



And so I floated back to Jinmen, then flew to Taipei, back to familiar territory.

Card distribution does not seem to be my calling, though inspiring mob behavior might be.

Begging in Suzhou

As mentioned earlier, I got to Suzhou quite late in the day, and had no more than an hour or so of sunlight left. The sun sets at around 6pm, which I find remarkably early, though maybe I just haven't gotten used to the idea that it's already mid-fall. Or maybe it has something to do with China's wacky timezones - basically, the whole country is under a single timezone, so who knows what the times would actually be if they had split it out geographically.

While waiting to meet up with my friend at the bus stop, I came across this fellow sitting on the sidewalk:


The writing, upon close examination:


Basically, it translates to, "Very Hungry. Kind people, please buy me a boxed lunch. Thanks."

I had nothing to do, and had actually thought about talking to beggars for sometime to understand them better. This guy also seemed relatively clean and healthy, so I was puzzled as to why he didn't just go work for his food like everyone else his age. I was hoping he would make for good, perhaps even meaningful conversation.

And so I decided to go across the street to buy a boxed meal. For 7 RMB, I got a Black Peppered Beef Fried Rice (黑胡椒牛肉炒飯) to go. I walked across the street, and asked him if he was hungry. He made no reaction. I placed the bag carrying the boxed meal next to him, but he still did not move. I was puzzled; did he not hear me? Isn't this what he wanted? Isn't he surprised that somebody actually got him something to eat? Why wouldn't he thank me, or at least acknowledge me? I decided to give him some distance - it was clearly somewhat awkward. A took several steps away, and watched him for a minute or two between the rest of the walking crowd. He did not move at all. Disgusted, I walked away... but then decided to circle back from the other direction. By the time I had reached his position again, he was gone - I could see him walking in the distance with the plastic lunch sack. So much for gratitude. At the same time, he had left for me a unique opportunity...

With nothing to do but wait for my friend, I decided to do just that. And so I waited... at the very spot the fellow had sat at. At first I was embarrassed - just about everybody that passed read the chalk writing by my feet, and looked at me funny, especially as I stood around and txted my friend. However, after awhile, I got more comfortable, and sat down on the sidewalk, in the very position my ungrateful predecessor did. Many people looked at the writing, then looked at me with pity. I couldn't help but flash a smug smile. When they seem perplexed, I laughed out loud. I'm sure they had never seen such a happy person starving!

Many gawkers had passed by, but for the first several minutes nobody offered anything at all. There was a girl standing several feet away on the sidewalk, who seemed either to be waiting for someone, or perhaps wanted to help me but was too shy to talk to me. We made eye contact a few times. I smiled at her too, just like the rest, but she did not budge from her spot. A few moments later, she disappeared.

I got out my Lonely Planet book and started reading it. The text was in English, a highly prized language that Chinese people tend to dole out plenty of money to learn, which made the scene all the more bizarre. At one point a Caucasian guy was walking extremely fast along the sidewalk in my direction. We made eye contact and I smiled. He said, "Ni hao," in Mandarin Chinese. I replied back in English, "Hey man, how's it going?" He made no reply and kept walking - most likely he was in a hurry or he just couldn't hear with his headphones on.

After about 10-15 minutes, there was a young couple walked past me. I looked up and the girl eyed me cautiously. I smiled gently, and she slowed and turned around. Walking towards me, still with a hand clasped with her boyfriend's, she tentatively asked me in Chinese, "Sir, where are you from?"

"I am from USA," I replied back. She recoiled in shock. She could not have imagined someone from the richest of nations begging on the streets of China! I continued, "The US is bankrupt and our economy is in shambles, so that is why I am here."

She looked at me with great pity. "Why don't you take 5 RMB then?" She pulled a small bill out of her purse.

The gig was up - there was no way I was taking money. I smiled, and explained to her that I did not actually write the chalk writing - I was the "kind person" who helped out the one who was here before. I just happened to be sitting here waiting for a friend, and really am not starving. She smiled in relief and and her boyfriend laughed, deeply amused. They walked off into the distance, the only ones to stop by and offer help during my short, tacit begging career. And I enjoyed the experience so much that I forgot to ask them why they had decided to stop in the first place.

A few minutes later, my friend arrived, and called me to let me know. I had her take a picture of me, which was difficult due to the high foot and bike traffic as well as the fact she was so embarrassed to be associated with me sitting by the chalk writing (loss of face and everything):



Fun times. I guess I didn't get to see much of Suzhou, but I think they should seriously consider making that section of the sidewalk into a tourist attraction...

Running In Chaoyang Park and Taxi Fun

So I decided to run to Chaoyang Park today, as I've spent the last few days lazying around and not getting much exercise. Besides, it'll give me a good gauge for distances in Beijing, especially things like, "How far apart are the subway stations?" which is impossible to tell on most Chinese maps since they never put in a scale.

On the way there, I took a busy road full of cars, buses, etc, but ran amongst the bicycles in their bike lane. Surprisingly, I found myself to be just as swift (or swifter) than many of the other travelers. It's an odd feeling first of all to even "run" in the bike lane (I was the only one), and even odder to be running fast enough to pass other cyclists.

Unfortunately, the air quality was not great in the bike lane. Beijing's air pollution, while noticeably better than in the past, is still not well suited for this kind of long distancce, self-propelled mechanism. My throat was feeling rather funny by the time I finally got to Chaoyang Park, about 3 km away.

Once there, I ran around the park, but to my disappointment, many parts of it were closed due to the Olympics still. I was hoping they'd open things up between the Olympics and the Paralympics, but such was not the case.

On the way back, I did not feel like running through the smog anymore. I could take a bus, but I'd have to figure out where the bus stop was and what lines to take and so on. I decided instead to take a taxi, but I only brought 10 RMB with me, which was just enough to cover the starting fare. Regardless, I got in cab, and asked him to drive me home.

My driver was a man in his 30's; he looked like a nice guy, but maybe not nice enough. I told him that I only had 10 RMB (and paid him upfront), and requested that he drive me as far as he possibly could, given my situation. He can then drop me off and I can run the rest of the way. Hoping for some sympathy, I secretly wished he would take pity on me and take me all the way, which would have only cost him (opportunity-wise) an additional 8 RMB. The driver understood, but made no hint of what he planned...

And thus, after a couple kilometers, he dumped me on the side of the road after the interchange, pointing in the general direction I should run in, and leaving me to cover the remaining kilometer by myself. Oh well. Like I said, he seemed nice, but just not nice enough. At least he had the heart to pass through the interchange first, so I didn't have to deal with trying to pass through that concrete mess on foot.

Maybe it was that guy in particular, maybe it's how Beijingers are. I think the only thing to conclude for now is that I ought to try this experiement a few more times, or in other cities and see how it turns out...