http://tr.im/FlSJWhat Chinese Waitresses Really Think About Foreign Clientele
Nov 14, 2009
By Mark Turner,
www.eChinacities.comFont Size:
Favourite bars, and what took place in at them over the weekend, are two of the most popular topics for water-cooler banter in the work place amongst foreigners. Visiting bars is a favourite expat pastime and this is unlikely to change in the near future. One subject that is not heard so much around the water-cooler is the goings-on in bars from the perspectives of the people that work in them. In order to lend a voice to the more-often-than-not mute bartender, I decided to don my roving reporter hat, take up my pen and pad, and go find out what Beijing’s underpaid, sometimes harassed, and sometimes snooty bartenders and waitresses really think about the human zoo that is bar culture in China.
Having spoken to a handful of people, it seems that there is a great divide between the way Chinese bar clientele and their foreign counterparts approach bars; this is one of the things that fascinate bar staff the most. “As soon as Chinese people come into my bar, they try to find a comfortable place to sit down, and straight away they plan what they are going to order. They probably want to order a lot of drinks and some nuts or snacks… I want this, this and this, oh and six of those!” says Gladys, a waitress. Rather than identifying oneself as a person receiving to wait on, foreigners instead mostly head straight for the alcohol, like a herd of thirsty bison to a watering hole.
Many believe that despite this eagerness, foreigners are still more discriminating about what they drink. “Chinese people don’t care so much about quality; they are mostly impressed by price. Foreigners care more about quality.” Gladys went on to suggest that certain types of foreigners and nationalities even have particular favourites: ”In my bar French people like to drink rum and coke, British people like gin and tonic, and Americans always drink dirty martinis. It has to be dirty!” Whether these generalisations are like tequila – to be taken with a pinch of salt – remains to be seen. What we do know is there are certainly a lot of differences between the way people of different nationalities approach drinking and bars.
Mating rituals are also a source of much amusement to Chinese bar staff. “Sometimes a couple go to the toilets together... I don’t think that’s the cleanest place to be, doing that kind of thing, but I guess they are the ones that pay the money... They can do what they like as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody,” speculates Li Li, bartender at a popular Beijing bar. The way that the male of the species tries to attract a potential mate is also a subject under scrutiny. Chinese males tend to assume the hunter-gatherer role when in the bar: “Sometimes I feel like guys are trying to impress me by asking for the most expensive thing, or asking for lots of something. They don’t understand that they sometimes look really stuck up.”
Foreign guys also act in less than exemplary ways towards female bar-goers and staff; sometimes taking on an even more distasteful, predatory role after a few too many Tsingtaos. “I don’t like it when foreign men customers try to touch me or grab me when they are drunk. One time a regular followed me out of the bar after work and asked me to go back to his home. I kicked him and told him that I am a traditional Chinese girl. I thought that was very weird, because earlier in the night he showed me pictures of his wife and kids... People do strange things when they have drunk too much,” says Julia, another waitress.
There are discrepancies, also, in the other ways that Chinese and foreigners misbehave. Chinese misbehaviour tends to be a direct result of overindulgence, or misjudgment about the amount they can drink and remain sober; Westerners' misbehaviour is often more exhibitionism-related. “Chinese people often drink more than they should. Western people do more silly embarrassing things, like stand on the table, [and] take off all their clothes,” says James, a veteran bar manager.
James continued by saying that the entire meaning of bars is different for foreigners, as bar culture is a new thing to Chinese people. To many, he says, it's a novel way to spend money. For others, it is a way of gaining face, or pursuing an advantage in business circles. “Foreign people often like to dress very casual at my bar. Chinese people sometimes come wearing a suit; they want to impress the people they work with.”
As China’s bar scenes grow, it will be interesting to see how the drama of the human zoo unfolds. Will the culture of alcohol transcend national boundaries, leading to Chinese people adopting more Western attitudes toward drinking, or vice-versa? Until then, ganbei!
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