Sunday, April 10, 2005

Chinese banks Just about every weekend we have to go to the bank to pay bills that cannot be paid by money transfer . That is a big nuisance, as it normally involves going to one bank to get money in cash, and going to another to deposit it in order to pay the bills. In Europe I hardly ever see a bank from the inside, because almost everything can be done online or by occasionally getting money out of an ATM. The thing I hate most about banks here is not the bad service, but the long lines. Today for example we wanted to go to the China Merchants Bank. Because we were shooting a commercial for General Motors in Pudong we first went to a branch there. However, there were 40 people ahead of us, and only one counter was open (actually, there was one counter open for for VIP's as well, but I did not manage to figure out what makes you a VIP). Then we went to our normal branch in Xujiahui, where we only had to wait 45 minutes. The interesting arrangement there is that you don't get a number, but that you have to sit in line. Yes, sit. They have seats lined up from the entrance of the bank to the counter. Each time the first person in line is served, the whole line moves up one seat. A strange sight, people stand up, move over half a meter and sit down again. Next time I should take my DV cam with me and film it. 11:12:49 PM    comment []