Cigarettes and Liquor "Recycling" in China
As a naive Singaporean (okay, okay, not so naive) stepping into China back in February of 2004, culture shock hit me rapidly. I had thought that, as an ethnic Chinese myself, fitting into Chinese society would be easy. It was not to be so – every day for me was an exciting learning journey, understanding the culture and the ways of China, the land of my ancestry.
One of the thriving businesses in China is that of 烟酒回收 cigarettes and liquor “recycling”. One can see many signs like this all over the city.
Besides cigarettes and liquor, other items that can be “recycled” include some valuable herbs (cordyceps) or transport/supermarket cashcards. What the vendor does is to buy in these items at way lower than their normal cash value, and sell them to interested parties for a premium (but still lower than normal cash value).
What makes this a thriving business here? China is a nation with a strong gift-giving culture. To avoid the appearance of bribery, nobody gives cash here (it is a quick ticket to jail). Instead, gifts of cigarettes, liquor, cashcards, etc are doled out. Some “important personnel” may find themselves with tons of such gifts in their hands (especially if they do not smoke) and the “recycling centre” offers a good alternative to convert these useless junk into useful cash.
Many western readers (and even Singaporean ones) may be shocked at such rampant “bribery” here. I have written a post on the difference between gift-giving and bribery in a traditionally eastern society like China. Here, gifts are given for many reasons, some even as simple as a matter of showing off ones’ wealth and generosity rather than seeking a favour.
I used to lament the tons of pens (good ones!), cups, cute niceties and what-nots that I received from my loving pupils (some colleagues claimed that the gifts were “tributes” or “offerings” – I think my readers will understand if I mention that I was the Discipline Master in my former school) that I really do not know what to do with. A “recycling centre” would have been useful for me, and I do not think bribery is at work here.
On the other hand, turning in 1000 RMB100 supermarket cashcards at a go is going to be an interesting thought. I suspect it will not raise any eyebrows with the staff of the “recycling centre”, here in China. After all, nothing will go wrong, and everything is business as usual.
One of the thriving businesses in China is that of 烟酒回收 cigarettes and liquor “recycling”. One can see many signs like this all over the city.
Besides cigarettes and liquor, other items that can be “recycled” include some valuable herbs (cordyceps) or transport/supermarket cashcards. What the vendor does is to buy in these items at way lower than their normal cash value, and sell them to interested parties for a premium (but still lower than normal cash value).
What makes this a thriving business here? China is a nation with a strong gift-giving culture. To avoid the appearance of bribery, nobody gives cash here (it is a quick ticket to jail). Instead, gifts of cigarettes, liquor, cashcards, etc are doled out. Some “important personnel” may find themselves with tons of such gifts in their hands (especially if they do not smoke) and the “recycling centre” offers a good alternative to convert these useless junk into useful cash.
Many western readers (and even Singaporean ones) may be shocked at such rampant “bribery” here. I have written a post on the difference between gift-giving and bribery in a traditionally eastern society like China. Here, gifts are given for many reasons, some even as simple as a matter of showing off ones’ wealth and generosity rather than seeking a favour.
I used to lament the tons of pens (good ones!), cups, cute niceties and what-nots that I received from my loving pupils (some colleagues claimed that the gifts were “tributes” or “offerings” – I think my readers will understand if I mention that I was the Discipline Master in my former school) that I really do not know what to do with. A “recycling centre” would have been useful for me, and I do not think bribery is at work here.
On the other hand, turning in 1000 RMB100 supermarket cashcards at a go is going to be an interesting thought. I suspect it will not raise any eyebrows with the staff of the “recycling centre”, here in China. After all, nothing will go wrong, and everything is business as usual.
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