Well, here I am, sitting in Kunming once again. It seems that a decent number of my China experiences include a few days of relaxation in this great, sunny town. However, the detailed travelogue postings can wait. Instead, I thought I’d relate a quick story which I feel amply demonstrates that, even on vacation, living in China can at times be quite frustrating for lost foreigners. Here goes:
Yesterday I realized that my cell phone was quickly running out of funds. Since I have to meet up with some fellow travelling co-workers in Chengdu (I’m currently alone in Kunming), I figure a dead phone is of not much use to me. Problem easily solved, I say to myself. I’ll just step into the nearest China Mobile branch and fill ‘er up with a sweet 50RMB.
I quickly find such a place, but am informed they only have 100RMB cards. Oh well, no big deal. The clerk then fiddles with my phone before telling me she can’t get through. She phones the China Mobile service number on her phone and it doesn’t work either. The system is down for a bit, she says. No problem, I can wait.
A few minutes later the system comes back up, but she still can’t get the number to work on my phone. She calls over her friend, who proceeds to take my phone apart to scientifically examine the SIM Card. The newcomer asks me where the number is based, and I tell her Hangzhou. She then informs me that she is sorry, but that my phone won’t work in Yunnan. I tell her that is strange, because I have just spend the past two weeks using it all over the province, hence my lack of credit on the phone. They give me my money back, I leave.
Down the street I see a large China Mobile office. Perfect! I figure such a palace of telecommunications will be able to deal with my Zhejiang Province number. I find my way to a clerk, but my number seems to freeze up her computer (it doesn’t exist or something). She then informs me that to deal with out-of-province accounts, I will have to go to some super central branch. She scribbles down the address for me on a piece of paper. Given that me and handwritten Chinese characters don’t mix very well, I have to ask about 4 people along the way before I find my destination.
The building is huge, and there is a two-storey China Mobile logo on the front. I’m in business! If any place is central enough to deal with my “foreign” account, it should be this one.
I walk to the information desk and inform them, in my best broken Chinese, that my phone number is based in Hangzhou and that I need to put money in my account. I am instantly directed upstairs to windows 2 and 2, the “global account services”. Any minute now, I should be strolling out of the building with some fresh credit to blow on SMS messaging.
Alas, it was not to be. The clerk tries to enter my number into her computer, but again it seems to freeze. She asks her co-worker to try at her desk, but to no avail. Apparently my phone number crashes China Mobile’s network. The clerk informs me that my number is from outside of Yunnan and thus cannot be accessed. I ask her (in approximate broken Chinese, of course) where the wisdom is in letting people use their phones all over the country if they can only fill up the credit from their “home” province. She doesn’t know. And I don’t know why the global account services counter can’t deal with things outside of Yunnan province.
So if anyone out there knows how to deal with this sort of fiasco, please let me know!