Chongqing Taxi Cab Confessions, Plus Why It’s Impossible To Give Out A Fake Phone Number In China

Yesterday I was hauling salsa and tortilla cooking ingredients to R.’s house, so I decided to take a taxi instead of the bus. The driver struck up a conversation with me in Mandarin (unusual, because it’s not the everyday spoken language in my city), including how much money I make, how old I am and whether I am married and/or have kids. These are pretty common questions for strangers to ask each other in China. (People are always shocked when I tell them what our monthly stipend is, because it’s roughly on par with street cleaners. I try to explain I am a volunteer teacher, but that kind of thing isn’t common here, so I think they just think I’m getting ripped off teaching English in China.)

When we were near my destination, he asked if he could have my phone number. I get asked for my phone number a lot, and no one ever calls later, they just want the “prestige” of having a foreigner’s phone number in their cell phone. So I gave him the number, and he gave me his. He drove me clear up to my friend’s apartment building, not just her front gate, and then refused to take any money from me for the fare. The guys I had dinner with before we started cooking were teasing me, saying,”Oh, you’re going to pay for that taxi ride when he calls you!” Then one of the guys said, '”No, we’re thinking like Americans. He’s probably going to call you to tutor his niece in English or something.” Which is totally true. On the other hand, if I ever get stranded someplace without a taxi nearby, I’m so calling this dude. I’ll pay him of course, but having a taxi driver’s cell number in China is not a bad thing!

By the way, the way that people exchange phone numbers in China is to give the other person your number, and they immediately call you so that you have theirs. Everyone has a cell phone, so there is pretty much no way to give out a fake number because they’ll call it right in front of you and if your phone doesn’t ring, they’ll keep asking until they get the right number. I’m not even sure they’d understand the concept of fake number giving out of.

Here’s a picture of the salsa and tortillas we made for tonight’s Fiesta party. I’ll be making breakfast tacos out of the tortillas, a Texas specialty.