Comments on: Some Small Act Of Bureaucratic Kindness

By: » The Situation Is Excellent: The Week That Was At Beijing Cream Beijing Cream

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 16:06:32 +0000

[...] pithy and wry observation regarding the Jim Fields post “Some Small Act of Bureaucratic Kindness“: this post follows: @beijingcream @jimfields “Read Previous Post: Chengguan Chase Down [...]

By: kevin

kevin — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 08:35:19 +0000

I use passport photocopies all the time. In fact the signs in the Hangzhou station say this is fine. You can use whatever ID you want, as long as you are not booking 2+ tickets under the same ID number. This was not an act of kindness, it was standard protocol. I often use my wife’s shenfenzheng just because you can swipe it in the machine where the line is shorter. The railway staff don’t care. You are not from Xinjiang.

By: Harold

Harold — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 19:07:53 +0000

I’ve used:
Foreign drivers license
Expired drivers license with no photo
Chinese drivers license
An old US library card that was in my wallet for some reason
US student ID
B&W copy of a passport
A picture of a passport on a phone
Telling them my passport number and name
Making up a passport number and name

All of it, not a single problem ever.

By: John

John — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:12:20 +0000

I’m currently out in the sticks in Zhejiang (it’s fucking gorgeous out here, BTW) for a buddy’s wedding, and took trains via Hangzhou and Linhai to get here. I do not have my passport on me, as I am in the process of getting a new visa, but used a photo copy of the ID page to get through. Only at the ticket inspection in Beijing South did they bother to check with a co-worker if photo-copies were acceptable. A quick “没事” and I was through.

The trick might have been that I bought the tickets online first, and when you pick up your tickets, they just need to see at least a photo copy of the document to match the ID number with that of the purchased ticket. If you’re staying at hotels, it seems to work as long as you’ve booked previously and also have a copy of the visa page that shows your last date of entry.

By: RFH

RFH — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:03:31 +0000

I once bought a wardrobe that had some kind of portal at the back, which took you straight to a magical rack of clothes. Point is, I made the mistake of selling that wardrobe and now I can’t find my jacket. I’d hang onto that purple card for dear life if I were you

By: DaXiong

DaXiong — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 04:02:02 +0000

In the 13 years I have lived in China, I find that such acts of humanity are more common during the past 5 of those years. It’s not that the “customer service” situation has changed, but it could very well be that I have done some changing. Somewhere along the line I gave up the notion of “doing battle” with the clarks and minors, and realized they were just doing what they do. Calm. Smile. 没问题.

By: DubMe

DubMe — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 03:52:30 +0000

We need more positive stories like this once in a while to keep things in perspective… Thanks

By: bert

bert — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 02:54:28 +0000

Nice story. I had a bad week so this story helped me to be a bit more positive.