Crossing Cultures

Being here in Beijing reminds me of how much I enjoy traveling internationally. It can be stressful to not speak the language or wonder if you’ve just spent too much on something, but I actually kind of enjoy that feeling of dislocation.

Being in a different culture is sometimes obvious, like seeing roasted scorpions on skewers or watching a busy intersection in action:

But sometimes, the most discombobulating moments of being in a different culture are when things seem very similar, but work very differently. Which is a philosophical way of saying — a Chinese bank machine ate our ATM card!

So. As it turns out, Chinese ATMs do not always work the same way as ATMs in the United States. Some are only for deposits, some for withdrawals. Most importantly, mistakes in card usage or even taking too long can result in the machine eating your card.

Here are some pro tips about using Chinese ATMs we learned the hard way.

1. Never use an ATM that doesn’t have an option for English.
2. Do not use a machine that is not attached to a bank office where you can go in and ask for help if something goes awry.
3. If the machine starts beeping like a timer is counting down, remove the card immediately by pressing the button for “eject card,” provided that you know how to read Chinese. If you do not know how to read Chinese, note point 1.

We suspended our card, just in case. Then we went to the front desk to ask for help and — there was Dennis, the nice man who picked us up from the airport. He took the matter in hand, called the bank and talked and talked, furrowed his brow, raised his voice, talked some more.

(In the meantime, here are some photos from our day at a Tibetian Buddhist temple and environs).

Back to the ATM card incident of 2017: Dennis helped us settle it. The bank will call the front desk when they’ve recovered the card and the front desk will call Dennis and Dennis will let us know. It should take about a week. 

Luckily, we are traveling with a competent adult (Kate) who has an ATM card, so we are totally fine. Also, we pawned off some of Mr. and Mrs. G’s antiques and electronics for extra cash. Just kidding, Mr. and Mrs. G! Just checking to see if you’re reading!