Chillin in my Beemer, listenin to Ether

Anyone who saw me last month in NYC noticed one thing in particular...how excited I was when we hailed a taxi. Why was getting into a taxi, which should a complete non-event, so exciting? I'll tell you why.

The taxi situation in Wuhan has nearly brought me to tears since I've moved here. The angriest I've ever been in the last year has revolved around Wuhan taxis. The most I've sworn in the last year has revolved around Wuhan taxis. The closest I've come to an anxiety attack has revolved around Wuhan taxis. I absolutely dread when it rains in Wuhan because it makes it exponentially harder to get a taxi in a city where it is nearly impossible for me to get one to begin with. Before Wuhan, I rarely had bad days...but every day at approximately 4:55, my day becomes bad because I have to start looking for a taxi.

Unlike the U.S., taxi service isn't really based around the customer. For instance, in the U.S., you stop a taxi, get in, tell the driver where you want to go and that's it. In Wuhan, drivers can refuse to take you somewhere. They don't like to waste their time so so when you flag a driver down, he'll slow to a creep but not to a full stop...you have to tell him where you're going and he'll make a decision to stop the cab to let you in. As I've previously mentioned, I live about 7 KM away from work, which takes me about 25 minutes. I have no problem paying drivers the 16 - 20 RMB for the one-way trip but they absolutely hate taking me home. I have the hardest time in the world getting a taxi to take me home from work to my apartment. On average, I wait 15 - 20 minutes to find a taxi everyday after work...I'll see scores of empty taxis drive by me and when I flag them down, they'll wave no to me and keep on going. I asked my co-workers why I get blown off so much...they said since I'm a foreigners, drivers figure I live far away from the office so they don't want to deal with me. Uh, I guess I can now say I'm a victim of racism? Now I know how people north of Central Park feel.

Even when I can get a taxi to stop, when I tell them where I'm going, they say no and drive away. Typically, 4 or 5 taxis say no to me before someone agrees. As you can imagine, I get really angry when they say no to me...I've slammed the door, muttered some inappropriate words and more often than not, laugh at how ridiculous the situation is.

The absolute worst situation was a time when it was raining outside...after 30 minutes of trying to find a taxi, I decided to start walking in the direction of my apartment. After 2 KM, I was able to find a cab...however, I had a feeling he wouldn't take me to my apartment, so I gave him an address of a hotel halfway to my apartment...once we got there, I asked him to take me to my apartment...he was furious but decided to go through with it. It took me over ONE hour to get home that day, I was livid by the time I got into my apartment. Luckily after 3.5 LONG months of taking taxis everywhere, I'm almost free of them because I bought the company decided I need a car.

Say hi to my new car


Now, some of you are probably thinking "a BMW? Didn't you used to have the exact same car when you lived in America?"

Not quite...my new car is silver while the old one is black.



Aside from the color change, my new car is a lot slower...but yes, aside from that...I bought the exact same car. When I first drove my original BMW after I bought it, a song by Swizz Beatz came on and the chorus is the title of my blog "Chillin in my Beemer...." Very appropriate. So guess what the first song was when I was cruising in the new car? Sex Bomb by Tom Jones.

I came to Wuhan thinking I'd buy a Honda Accord, in fact, I almost bought one (alas with 2 televisions in the rear headrests, which would cost 500 dollars to remove) However, I was pressured into buying the BMW. Before any of you give me a hard time about how I was "pressured" into buy a Beemer, let me explain....

China is very status driven, even more so than India. Cars are no different and there is an established hierarchy when it comes to brands and their respective models. A Honda Accord is very respectable, you'll see a ton of them zooming around however it's known more as a car for a moderately successful person such as a good engineer/doctor/professor. Nothing wrong with them and it would have been more than suitable for me.

However, image is everything in China and I needed to make a statement. Having a luxury car demonstrates to your office staff that you above them and shows other business managers that you have power within your company. I realize most of you, especially the ones in America, are rolling your eyes but it's just a fact here.

When I sit down in meetings in China, I don't hide the fact that my uncle is the managing director of my Company or that I own a BMW.

Now this how it is construed in the three countries I've lived in...

America: What a douchebag, this kid reeks of nepotism....such a spoiled brat
India: He's basically the boss, I will listen to him because I'm afraid of being fired.
China: This is his Company, he has power and must be smart because he's more successful than me

When I mentioned this to Sara, she quickly asked "So how do we keep your head from getting even bigger?"

Well, I don't doubt the ability of my friends to keep me in check..in fact I'm sure all of you are just waiting for me to say something arrogant and actually being serious about it, so you can bring me down to Earth.

Even with luxury cars, there is a hierarchy that you CAN NOT breach.

I'm a manager type person...I can drive a 3 series/A4/C-Class
The head of the Company/division can drive a 5 series/A6/E-Class
And finally...only the big boss (as they are called in China) the ones who run the parent organization can drive a S-Class/7 Series/A8.

Not that my CFO would approve it, but even if I could afford a 5 series, I would have been shot down because that would have been an insult to the president of our JV in China.

So how is driving in China compared to India and the U.S.? Well....as I compare driving in the three countries I noticed something...driving in India is like capitalism while driving in America is like socialism.

Think about it...the roads in India are completely deregulated, rules are there but they're mostly suggestions ...people do whatever they want, whenever they want. Rules are ignore and often, the guy in the biggest vehicle does whatever the hell he wants while the rest of us adjust. Sounds a lot like big business in America! To an outsider, driving in India is chaotic but to a local driver, it's really easy...all you do is defend your car, that's the only rule. No one else matters.

Meanwhile American drivers, in hindsight, aren't actually very good. Everyone is a drone, the state sets the rules and everyone must follow them. If you don't, you're punished and must pay a fine or have your license revoked. Just think about it, even if you're all alone on a country road, you'll still stop at stop sign because it's the rule. You wont' even flinch at how ridiculous this is.

So what does this make Chinese driving? Hmmm, kind of like the current government in China...not quite socialists but not capitalists either. The Chinese are still trying to figure out driving...they have rules, for the most part people follow them, but only when it's convenient to them.

Alright, this post is getting super long, so I'll leave with you something I saw while visiting a supplier last week. In most countries, when you have television installed in the front of the car, it's automatically disabled when the car is in 'drive' Not only were we watching tv while doing 70 mph, it was a karaoke disc, so the passenger and driver were singing along.


I don't always put my seat belt on when I'm in the back seat...I strapped in this time.