Living in China is like playing the lottery; you never know which number to pick.
Because 85% people share only 100 surnames you usually find people in the public businesses (whether you are at the post office, the bank, etc…) having a number on their “name” tag instead of their actual name because let’s face it, it doesn’t help if they are all called Wang!
So a couple of weeks ago I was chatting with some friends and we were talking about pedicure/manicure and massages (aka the perk of Expat life in cheap countries), the conversation went a little like this:
- V.: I always take “number 9” for my manicure if she’s not there “number 15” is not bad either
- J.: As for massage at the club house, I prefer “number 6” while my husband goes to “number 7”
- C. : My husband swears by “number 12” for his massages.
I have to say that the number system is not as bad as it sounds because I personally would never remember their Chinese name (I would probably say it with the wrong tone and end up calling her/him a very bad word) and when Chinese choose an English name sometime there are really creative and it’s not easy not to laugh… calling Samanfar, Lucky, Dollar, Frog or Tornado to the rescue.
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| It's better than 666 |
