unintentional freebie
Whilst I was in China last year, as usual we were out on the town. We happened to stop at an unusual bar we hadn’t been to before.

Anyway we got talking to this Chinese guy, his name was Jackson (obviously not his real Chinese name- but a business English name)- a local business man - he could speak very good English. It seemed like he was trying to talk business to us, but after a short conversation we realised he was into the textile business and we were IT. So neither of us had anything to buy off each other. Instead we stayed in the bar for a short while, chatting about culture differences before heading off to another bar - with our new friend in tow.

This was about 9pm. We get to another bar and end up drinking into the very early hours (about 6am) at which point our new friend decides to leave and go home - we bid him farewell. We then finish our drinks and get up to leave about 30 minutes after Jackson. We then discover that the tab behind the bar has been paid by Jackson - well over £300 worth of drinks.

I never saw him again to thank him, on what was probably the most silent act of generosity I have ever seen. Apparently this is quite a common thing in China - its a sign of gentlemen respect. He silently paid the bill of, jumped into the taxi and went home.
(Dan dan dan They tik urh jerbs!!!, Mon 12 Nov 2007, 14:21, 7 replies)

That is possibly the classiest thing I have ever heard.
and I was expecting a nasty surprise, "when we went to pay the bill...he had stolen our wallets and sold us into the slave trade"
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Mon 12 Nov 2007, 14:27, closed)

This warms the cockles of my heart
Have a click
(Pavlov's Frog figures no-one really reads sigs anyway, Mon 12 Nov 2007, 15:08, closed)

Surely China doesn't have anything so decadent and Western as a bar!
*Clicks*
(Seance Trumpet has got no beef with a man enjoying a croissant, Mon 12 Nov 2007, 15:15, closed)

Chinese or "Western Bars"?
You'd be hard pressed to spend £300 in a week in chinese bars. Im assuming you drank in Western Hotel bars to run up a tab like that. Or was it a typo? Was in China last easter and banquet style meals for a party of 10 with all you could drink worked out on average £30 i.e. £3 a head - private room, very nice. That's about £1 per person per hour. And these were top notch resturants with incredible food and beverages.

We did bump into a few people staying at the "Holiday Inn" type places paying $120 a night and drinking $5 beers - It'd be like paying £2000 a night over here and drinking £50 bottles of beer - pretty shameful when you consider what the bar staff are paid, and quite unnecessary.

Entire two week trip cost me about £600 in expenses, including hotels, meals 2 internal flights, a day coach journey and a half day train journey.

Are you sure the guy wasn't Japanese or Korean? £300's nothing for bar bill in Tokyo (even for one person).

Mind you if the State's paying then it's all funy money - bit like the bundles of receipts you get.
( buffet_the_appetite_slayer ٩(●̮̃•)۶ jacked in to the ICE on, Mon 12 Nov 2007, 15:34, closed)

...
I hear you, china is dirt cheap, but about 10 or so, of us that night to the shamrock (Hangzhou) we were drinking English drinks Guinness (£4.50 pint) Carlsberg (about £2 pint) plus spirits which were very expensive - these were higher prices due to importing. if you go somewhere in china and get a Carlsberg for anything less than 25 Yuan chances are its fake... they reckon 60% of the lager over there is fake, especially the bottles.

We were also drinking loads of spirits and playing xi xuh ( i think that’s correct) basically its that dice game they play in Pirates of the Caribbean 2, very enjoyable and gets you drunk. we also had food.

I got a bit angry when we realised - as its just not in my culture to accept such a freebie. The guy did it without expecting anything back.. When I told my Chinese work mates they said is quite normal to meet people like this, some Chinese people believe if you share your money, the money will return someday to you in some manner - not necessarily through he person you gave it to. that’s why people give Chinese envelopes out at new year with money in it. They hope it will bring them good luck - in a sense.
(Dan dan dan They tik urh jerbs!!!, Mon 12 Nov 2007, 19:17, closed)

I lived out there for a bit and saw similar stuff quite often
...though not to that extent I must admit.
It's one more cultural difference I guess, if you wanted to pay then you had to pretend you were going to the toilet or something and pay in secret, everyone wanted to be the one paying and you risked SERIOUS offense if you actually offered to pay!
( Jessie © needs pirate name suggestions, Wed 14 Nov 2007, 17:51, closed)

.
you are exactly right, they argue and distract each other so that they can get to pay the bill on the sly. You think you would take advantage of it, but you feel ashamed that someone is paying for you in such a manner, hence the reason why you try to pay the bill yourself...on the sly before anyone else gets chance to.
(Dan dan dan They tik urh jerbs!!!, Wed 14 Nov 2007, 22:39, closed)