Correct Tip For Driver
Jul 15, 2014 | 11:41 pm
#16
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 46,283
Jul 15, 2014 | 11:45 pm
#17
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Indore
Posts: 335
All said, I have a Chinese Business Partner, he always makes me buy some breads or cakes for them instead of lunch. And if you have a chinese traveling with you, its easier.
Jul 16, 2014 | 12:06 am
#18
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 46,283
"Long journeys" are a critical point in this thread. If you bring a driver out of his normal element (e.g. eating dirt cheap Chinese food that he knows well) and put him in a tourist trap like Mutianyu for the bulk of the day, it makes sense to help out on the meal front whether or not you join him. Apart from simple courtesy, I certainly want my drivers to have sufficient energy at the end of the day when they bring me back to town.
Last edited by moondog; Jul 16, 2014 at 12:13 am
Jul 16, 2014 | 7:12 am
#19
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: China and Canada
Posts: 1,894
Once took a friend to Mutianyu with a driver that I know well. We invited him to join us for lunch (at the Schoolhouse). He turned down our offer. He said that all drivers were getting a free lunch downstairs from the restaurant. Drivers often get kickbacks for taking you somewhere and that includes some restaurants.
Jul 16, 2014 | 7:38 am
#20
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Indore
Posts: 335
Once took a friend to Mutianyu with a driver that I know well. We invited him to join us for lunch (at the Schoolhouse). He turned down our offer. He said that all drivers were getting a free lunch downstairs from the restaurant. Drivers often get kickbacks for taking you somewhere and that includes some restaurants.
Jul 16, 2014 | 10:47 pm
#21
Ambassador: China
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Malibu Inferno Ground Zero
Programs: UA AA CO
Posts: 4,836
Never experienced Chinese turn down a gratuity.
Doesn't make you look stupid, doesn't matter.
If you feel like giving more than you are required.
Who really cares?
Doesn't make you look stupid, doesn't matter.
If you feel like giving more than you are required.
Who really cares?
Jul 17, 2014 | 4:10 am
#22
Join Date: May 2014
Location: LHR/BHX
Programs: BA, VS, SU
Posts: 194
The Chinese are massively segregated by financial status and it may make some poorer people a little uncomfortable.
Jul 24, 2014 | 1:01 am
#26
Join Date: May 2014
Location: LHR/BHX
Programs: BA, VS, SU
Posts: 194
Jul 24, 2014 | 5:26 am
#27
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 46,283
The only cities I've encountered in China in which wealth flaunting is not common practice are those that haven't gotten a taste of Beijing's water yet, but it's only a matter of time before they follow suit.
Jul 24, 2014 | 7:39 am
#28
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Thailand
Programs: HH, MR, BA
Posts: 123
Personally I've observed an inverse correlation between city size / tier status and the prevalance of wealth flaunting. I'm not just talking about wenzhou and the random mining towns but about less obvious suspects such as ningbo, Nanning, lanzhou, shenyang, and jinan.
The only cities I've encountered in China in which wealth flaunting is not common practice are those that haven't gotten a taste of Beijing's water yet, but it's only a matter of time before they follow suit.
The only cities I've encountered in China in which wealth flaunting is not common practice are those that haven't gotten a taste of Beijing's water yet, but it's only a matter of time before they follow suit.