Zhujiajiao incident a step in direction of fairness

Despite living in an age of constant change, there remain several constants in this world. One is that people expect to be treated with fairness, and another is that foreigners in any country often feel as though they are being cheated. Visitors to my country regularly believe that other people are swindling them out of money, and here in China, many foreigners like myself plod through our daily lives thinking that other people are getting the better of us. From taxi fares to hotel bills, it seems that we are paying more than we should. Now, because of a recent investigation, we can be sure that we are not being paranoid. We are definitely being cheated.

A pair of restaurants in the water town of Zhujiajiao were recently caught in their scam of using two different menus for their customers - one with marked-up prices for foreigners, and the other for Chinese. When asked about the discrepancy between the menus, staff answered that foreigners can afford to pay higher prices, and also that the prices included an invisible "service charge."

This discovery is not surprising. When I first arrived in the city, taxi drivers seized upon me as easy prey for being overcharged, and this has continued throughout my daily life here, whether at fruit stalls or with vendors trying to short-change me.

I also have no doubt that at least some of this bamboozlement is racially motivated. While almost all Chinese people I encounter are friendly and even helpful to me, I know that not everyone feels positively about foreigners. Some Chinese acquaintances have directly told me that they do not like people who come from other countries, often citing historical events that at least provide a reason for their prejudice. Likely, people with such a perspective would be happy to make me overpay on a mop or whatever else I was trying to purchase.

In the case of the restaurants' pricing, however, it does not yet seem that the proprietors were acting under racist motives. The staff at one Zhujiajiao eatery justified the different prices by saying that foreigners could afford to pay more, and in many cases these people are correct. The high prices at many foreign-favored restaurants in the city show that foreigners are not timid about expensive meals, and it is well-known that many expatriates just throw their bills onto expense accounts.

Nevertheless, like many other foreigners, I am disturbed by the issue of restaurants overcharging non-Chinese customers. More than the question of how much money I lose, it strikes me as an issue of pride. People are charging me extra because they see me as a big, stupid target, one too ignorant to know what is really going on. In most cases they are probably right - but not this time. They have been found out.

The two restaurants have been temporarily shut down and local authorities are now speaking out against unfair practices at restaurants. The general public is also being encouraged to report such unjust dealings. This response represents a turning of the tide against this unfortunate behavior. And we are likely to see more fairness as a result.