Club InterContinental Week 8/16

Well, look at that. I'm halfway through my longest term at one position.
This week was rather uneventful in the workplace.
I'm starting to gain a routine and go through many of the daily tasks without question or assistance, leaving only one or two that must be done with a co-worker on account of the language barrier.
I've also come to realize that in China, they value guest relations less than they do "customer service." I know they sound like the same thing and I would have agreed before I came here, but the more I learn about work culture here, they more I realize that in their systematic way of life and doing things, they have no idea how to interact with guests and only know how to perform service standards.
For example, when you go to a restaurant there are certain requirements of the staff depending on the quality of the establishment.
In China, the staff would certainly put the napkin in your lap, pour the wine with the label facing you for a taste, and serve the ladies of the table first.
But don't expect them to provide a five-star personality.
They're stand offish and do not initiate conversation or a welcome attitude.
In part, this is probably because the Chinese do not expect this and maybe they think they don't want this and they are too intimidated with their English to try such a thing with a foreign guest.
As much as I would like to excuse them for the first, I simply can't from my own experience which stands to invalidate the second reason.
Chinese guests that don't know much English understand that I don't speak much Chinese. They understand that I'm not going to start a conversation with them and force them to use their second language. Most of the time however, they understand my hand motions when I perform basic service and are appreciative that I take the time to ask if their food or stay was good (I get around the language by saying "good?" with inflection, most of them know that word at least and know how to say "yes" and "no" afterwards, while motioning towards the plate). About of quarter of them even start a conversation with me to practice their own English and have someone to genuinely engaged with. Something I have noticed them do with the other workers (in Chinese of course), but judging from their body motion, the staff is quick to cut these conversations short rather courteously.
As far as westerners, their English has improved quite a bit since my arrival. They are able to carry on conversations with ease yet I've noticed that they only speak more than basics to only one westerner who happens to be dating one of their bosses.
Sidenote: While I'm quick to go out for fun with guests (I'm always open to new friends, especially in a foreign country), I'm surprised that the property even allows a manager to date a guest. Personally, I don't think I could ever see myself getting into that situation, but even if I did, I'm not sure it's completely professional on the part of the hotel. But, hey, I'm just the intern. What do I know?
Each side of the guest coin has noticed this coldness. They all say something along the lines of, "the staff is nice and quick to provide service, much better than any hotel I stay at in China, but as a frequent guest, it bothers me that you are the first one at this hotel, at the club level, that takes the time to talk to me and inquire how work is going or even take the time to get to know my life outside of work and the hotel."
So, when I was yelled at twice this week for talking to guests for too long, it peeved me to say the least.
My job is rather mundane and often has huge periods of inactivity, so I have to say that here (and really all my other hotel jobs), my favorite part is talking to our frequent guests. These are people I build a fun relationship with that often teach me a lot about the world and their work and usually have some great stories as frequent travelers. I highly value these relationships and, frankly, each hotel I've worked for has, too. You would too if it ensured your frequent guests kept coming to your hotel versus the others.
So, this reprimand was the first of its kind I had ever received.
"You talk to guests too much, we are too busy."
"But, dear manager, we had no other guests on the floor and no other work to do."
"It is breakfast time, there is no time to talk to guests."
"But, dear manager, you say the same thing when it is dinner time."
"The guests don't have time to be bothered by you."
"But, dear manager, I never extend a conversation that isn't welcome and, honestly I spend 90% of the time listening."
"I said you talk too much, leave the guests alone."
Okay.
It hurt my feelings and also made my outlook on the next half of this position rather gloomy.
But I have to admit, it made me feel better that two of our guests mentioned that the rest of the staff treats them like they are just the furniture and they don't matter since they stay so much. They said they were frustrated with coming all the time and the staff still doesn't know their name.
I felt horrible that they felt this way, but, still, better to know that, at least to someone, I was doing the right thing. My room mate's family friend works a respected position at IHG corporate in Shanghai. I was particularly thankful to have the chance to talk with her and gain a lot of insight on my frustrations with the internship. I told her I was grateful to have such an excellent opportunity to work abroad, but frustrated with many of the different aspects of my job and had even come to the realization recently that I'm bored out of my mind working in front office, in China or stateside, and no longer have any desire of being a front office manager in my next move.
She said that, in China, they lack the "soft skills," and no one knows how to train them. Back home, most of my managers would argue that they can't be trained and they hire on the basis of personality and train the rest.
Often I would agree, but after hearing that I didn't know what I wanted to do and then the list of things I didn't want to do, she suggested speaking with our training manager to gain some insight on what he does and consider that for a career option and maybe even developing a soft skill curriculum with him.
Hmm.
I also told her how I would have never considered being a food and beverage intern, but, even in another culture, I seem to have made more friends in the kitchen that in the front office. This happened at home too, I often relate much more with the creativity and easy-going environment of the food and beverage department, but my skin crawls with the prospect of actually working with food.
I'm just not a foodie.
As I thought about it, though, I realized that the most fun I had and the things I were most interested in doing at my last job were working with our catering manager and our chef on different events. I didn't do much, I was basically a day-of assistant, er student, really as I learned more than I probably helped.
With this in mind and the fact that, down the line I want to teach, I feel like I have finally started using the things I don't like to find the things that I do like to build a future.
For every time I told a professor, "I don't care about Asia, I will never go there," I am now grateful that they were there to support me when it became my first job out of college.
For every time I told my food and beverage professor or a chef or any other colleague, "I will never work in food, I can only microwave my own meals much less deal with other peoples," you were right and I should have listened to you when you said to at least consider it.
For every boss, friend, and numerous guests that mentored me in the discovery of the things I hated to find what was left to like and learn more about the world of opportunities (literally) available out there, thank you for seeing what I couldn't see in myself, I will always be grateful for your efforts, advice, conversations, and inspiration.
Truly, thank you.
So as I get ready to go on vacation for a week and a half in a couple weeks, I also have to start to consider where to go from here and begin to initiate the hunt for my life post-China when I get back. I feel a bit of relief in allowing myself to cut front office out of the search.
Since I have so much front office experience, I fear this will bring less opportunity, but I guess there's no time like the present to try and move to a different area.
I'm looking forward to it with a fresh and open mindset and welcome all options or thoughts you think I should consider.
What have I got to lose, right?
Here's to great people, awesome conversations, and new adventures.
Much love.

Suzhou Week 9/26

They say you learn a lot about yourself when you are away from your home, your bubble.
On Saturday evening, a group of our guests invited me to join them on their day off the following day playing around town.
I was off and would have spent the day biking around by myself, so I agreed.
I waited in the lobby until their conference call was over that morning and we headed out.
In a brand new Mercedes.
It was then that I knew I was going to have a much more fun day than anticipated.
We headed off to Tiger Hill, one of Suzhou's more popular attractions. Nestled in the hills of Suzhou, it's basically a giant tower surrounded by some really pretty grounds within the complex. There's lots of street food at the exit as well as little kitschy shops, so it was pretty neat.
Afterwards, we landed in Li Gong Di. This is essentially expat row. It is 80% foreign restaurants such as Italian or Mexican, with about 75% of those being a bar, sometimes with it's respective country's atmosphere.
Our first spot was an modern Chinese bar that even offered hookah as you spent your time eating snack food and drinking on sofas. Like a Starbucks bar, of sorts. They talked me into letting them order a beer for me, which I generally don't drink.
And here is where I learned a Madison lesson.
Stubborn to the bone, I've never let anyone push me to drink when I don't want to. Having a personal rule to drink only when the sun is down, I realized when I accepted the beer at 2 pm that I was going to be relaxing some morals.
Not even my closest friends could get me to do this, why them? Because they are new acquaintances who offered me a day of hospitality and it would be rude not to drink with them, even if it was beer (yuck) and we were starting at 2 pm (frick).
So, in the end, manners to new people wins over my friends, I guess.
This happened in Paris as well as I continued drinking wine much further past my personal limit (not my capacity limit, just a line that I don't really feel like drinking anymore) so I would not be rude to the French hosts.
And it is with these new friends, that, for the first time in my life, I drank for 7-8 hours straight, starting in the middle of the day, and, with all things, a beer.
After about an hour of picking their brains on their career path (I love talking about how people ended up having the chance to work abroad so I can pick up repetitive details that would help my own career) and talking about friends and family back home, we moved to a German bar.
A German bar that featured pretzels hanging from chandeliers in an all dark wood interior that had the set-up of a church bar if you could imagine such a thing. Or, better yet, like the dining hall in Harry Potter, minus the awesome ceiling and food that appears out of nowhere.
Everyone moved to harder liquor here, so I opted for what I could bear to consume that was within the same price limit that everyone else had order - they had been paying for everything all day.
A rum and coke it is.
After 1.5 of those, Jaggermeister shots landed on the table.
I couldn't remember ordering these. I was pretty clear minded at this point and was quite sure I would not have order them even if I wasn't, having avoided the cough syrup since I first had it on my 21st birthday. I looked around and everyone had one as one of the men had ordered a round for everyone. At this point I not only pitied myself but the poor Chinese girl they had talk into ordering a Long Island Iced Tea, saying only that it "wasn't quite like Chinese black tea, but you should try it" with smirks on their faces.
Well, I couldn't deny a drink already bought in front of my hosts.
Bottoms up.
Other than the bar food we had (popcorn, banana chips, spring rolls, and something I can only describe as shrimp flavored pork rinds except better tasting than you would initially imagine), I had nothing solid on my stomach and was trying to avoid being obvious as I only sipped through my second rum and coke (hence the .5). Finally, one of them suggested heading for an early Italian dinner (carbs, yes, just what I need to slow this alcohol down).
We were off again, heading just a mile around the lake to a pretty nice Italian place. I ate bread as soon as it came to the table. I know it is rude to take it first and even to eat more than the hosts, but I was growing particularly anxious about being sick and/or obnoxiously drunk in front of my very kind hosts who, in their range of 40-50 years of life experience, were handling this much better than myself.
It wasn't long before more alcohol landed on the table. White wine.
Now, I was getting nervous.
Beer, hard liquor, and now wine.
There was no way this was going to end well, but as least I had food coming so, toast away.
My hosts were really excited to have me experience my first Chinese foot massage that day and there was a place just next door, so we all stumbled over. And by this point, our leading male was stumbling with slightly slurred, but hilarious verbage. I was feeling a little better about myself now.
We all took our place in a room of very comfortable arm chairs and propped our feet on our own footrests. The therapists (all males) marched in carrying buckets of hot water for us to place our feet in and then move to sit on the foot rests while they massaged our neck and backs. Afterwards, we relaxed in the chairs as  girl brought in TsingTao (pronounced "Ching Dow" with the "ow" in "dow" sounding like the "ow" of "meow"), a regional light Chinese beer that we serve at the club level, but that I've never tried. It was okay for beer. The leading female was kind enough to offer to split the can so I didn't feel obligated to drink the entire thing that had already been order, and avoid my being rude.
Boy, was I grateful for that.
And so, we went on to enjoy the next amazing hour and a half of one of the greatest, most relaxed, massages of my life. If you're ever in China, go get one, even if it means missing the Great Wall or something. Do it.
The male fell asleep for most of his (I think I even fell asleep for a few minutes as well), even snoring a bit, which reminded me of my own dad back home and gave me an even greater sense of gratitude to spend the day with someone that reminded me of enjoying time with my dad and a woman that reminded me so much of one of my great friends back home that is around her same age (early forties).
The lead male tried to get our taxi driver to let the five of us squeeze into one taxi, but driving laws are very strict in China with heavy punishment, so he wasn't having it, even for the short distance. As I rode with the girls back home, a sense of extreme gratitude not only for their hospitality, but my newfound companions who gave me a taste of home.
I felt as if I had just spent the day with some of my closest friend back home, tearing up the town one laugh/drink at a time. It really made me miss home, but at the same time, gave me a better sense of home in Suzhou as we explored parts of town I had yet to see.
With this, I was determined to be able to better assist other foreigners on their trip to Suzhou, so I wanted to become even more familiar with where I lived. I spent the only two days that weren't raining this week taking advantage of my bike card and biking around the lake, taking in the beautiful scenery of the newer part of Suzhou where I live (We call it the SIP bubble). The Suzhou Industrial Park was built by Singapore companies with excellent strategic design, westernized scenery and living, hence the bubble of SIP versus old town Suzhou.
I had the chance to see some gorgeous sights as well as see where many of the expats live around the lake. As I rode I also had the chance to witness a hidden inlet filled with Chinese who had taken their kids and families to swim in the disgusting lake (swimming is prohibited, hence the secluded spot). They were having a blast though, so who was I to judge?
I also realized that many paths in China end in dead ends and overgrown and/or damaged infrastructure, forcing me to back track many times.
But I thoroughly enjoyed the sites, the sunburn, and the spent calories to still be appreciative.
It was great to have a new love and appreciation for Suzhou before we headed off to Shanghai for the weekend.

Club InterContinental Week 7/16

There are few times in my life when I feel an extreme sense of freedom as when I went home sick from high school, contemplated and consequently skipped class in college on the basis of nice weather (or better yet, having cancelled class), or, now that I am finished with each, getting sent home from work.
Yes, it feels just as freeing in China as it does in the states.
Actually it feels better because I'm technically still getting paid.
I'm supposed to work 40 hours every week. Occasionally, I am schedule only one day off in a week.
I know not everyone is a math expert, so before I make you pull out your calculator, that would mean I am going 8 hours over my 40 hour work week.
Overtime doesn't really exist in China. So, now, the hotel "owes" me hours, eight of them, to be exact. By sending me home early when we were over-staffed, they have eliminated four of these "debt hours."
So, while I was paid the extra money in my monthly paycheck, it wasn't multiplied as overtime. They were just normal hours.
Also, there is no PTO. You just work a lot to make up for time you're going to be gone.
So, even though I'm not working. I was already paid the money for the rest of the day I won't be working.
Crazy, I know.
But still.
What a great start to the work week.
The next day was the worst of the typhoon and I struggled just to remain upright walking from the bus to the hotel. The wind had kept me up most of the few previous nights so I was pretty exhausted. Never in my life have I heard such a wind, it sounded like the sobs of an old woman attending a funeral.
That was a little specific, but still.
It was a loud and horrendous shrill.
This week also began the mandatory make-up policy.
For those of you that know me, I don't do make-up, so I'm not down with this.
Pro of working in the U.S.: threatening to sue over equal opportunity employment laws.
Con of working in China: No equal opportunity employment laws
In essence, I can't legally bitch about being forced to wear make-up.
This policy also requires us to wear the company-issued heels as opposed to black flats that everyone finds and buys themselves to wear instead. Having bad knees, I also kind of hate this as it means I probably won't be able to do any running now.
I could probably fight my way through each of these, citing eye allergies to mascara and the knee injury for the heels, but I feel as though that would not be very acceptable to the boss.
No matter what I do here in China, the first hurdle I have to jump is language, and this is a big, bitch of a hurdle. I have to ensure that I speak basic-level English and just hope that it is understood as intended, which happens 40% of the time.
Even if I brought up the issue to the boss and even if they completely understood enough to let the stupid thing go, it would be a deep and bad mark on their memory for a future recommendation for international work. Essentially, it makes me appear inflexible to other cultures.
And this is definitely cultural.
The Chinese place a lot on how you look and a "professional" look is essential to getting ahead, especially for women, who are still not thought of as completely on the same plane as men (close, but no cigar). A "professional" look requires panty hose, heels, and make-up - across the board. These women truly believe it is part of moving up, just as we value education and experience for promotion material.
I've never been a huge China fan, which is why it is weird for me to end up here as my first job out of college. It makes me feel a little guilty since I have so many friends that are just crazy about this country and even actually speak the language really well, yet I'm the one here, not them.
For me, China is a means to an end. It is the place I work not really because I've been dying to, but because I'm willing to do it to work in a country where I am dying to be.
Don't get me wrong, I love the experience of working in another country and I don't hate China, but I do have to admit I'm using it for something else.
I guess that's why I can justify going against my personal make-up morals for the next three and a half months.
Here's to natural beauty and all the countries that embrace it.

Suzhou Week 8/26

Ordinary are the days that end with fetching boiling hot water from the first floor of my building to replenish my drinkable water supply. I don't even smell the pollutants in the shower water anymore. Nor do I notice or smell the smog in the air. I'm pretty sure I can no longer hear the honking horns nor the sound of someone hocking up phlegm-filled spit nearby.
Just kidding on the last one, I don't think I will ever get used to that.
Thanks to my roommate who was willing to lend not only her time, but her language skills, I have now acquired a bike card. Like many major cities, Paris included, Suzhou has a bike rental system that allows you to "check out" a bike from a station to use and "check in" to another station.
The great thing about the Suzhou system is that your first 90 minutes are free. Now I can't imagine why I would ever need a bike to take me farther that an hour's ride away (especially with the bus and subway available), so I don't plan on recharging my card, well, ever.
And the whole thing was 200 RMB ($30 USD), plus 10 RMB for the card itself (less that $5 USD).
Not a bad deal.
Maybe when Memphis gets more bike lanes, we can jump in on this.
Anyway, it feels great to have +1 on my independence scale. Lifting just a little dependence on the hotel shuttle, taxis, and public transportation makes me a little happier.
Afterwards, we went to Auchan (basically Wal-Mart) and used the roommate's gift card. We spent the entire 200 RMB on junk food in preparation for a few movie nights ahead, what with it being ridiculously hot outside and a typhoon approaching. Since I had a coupon, we had Papa John's for dinner while we watched "He's Just Not That Into You."
Perfect girls night in the little American box of a home we have amongst the Chinese.
On Monday, we put our cards to use and biked to another Mexican place for lunch, Zapata's. It was pretty good, but still, no cheese dip, so I won't be going back. Afterwards we headed to the Humble Administrator's Garden, where we probably had the most fun taking stupid pictures, people watching, and climbing into a boat that was just floating in the pond. We made a few new friends with that last one.

If you're ever in Suzhou, this is one of the "have to" gardens. It was pretty neat and had some cool trinket stands outside the front run by local craftsmen.
We biked over to my favorite place, the Momi Cafe, for the greatest caramel frappe while I wrote out some postcards. We ran into one of her co-workers who graciously wrote the symbol for "America" at the top of all my postcards to ensure that they made it to the right country.
Whew.
With still another coupon in hand and some adventurous spirit left, we decided to bike all the way from the Momi Cafe to the Papa John's next to the hotel. This was at least 8 miles, probably more. We picked up some bread from the bread shop and went to sit in the restaurant while we waited on our pizza, feeling disgusting yet good about all the dry sweat on our body. We were going to deserve our pizza that night.
I convinced her that we should ride our bikes to the apartment instead of waiting another 30 minutes on the bus, when we could probably get home in 30 minutes AND burn more calories doing it. I swore that I saw a bike station just a block before the apartment.
I could have swore it was there.
Alas, an hour of biking later (mind you, she had spent the previous two days going for a run and was absolutely exhausted), there was no bike station in sight of the complex. After a quick consultation with a local and the station map, we had long passed the last station on the way to the apartments.
Frick.
With only 30 free minutes remaining on the bikes we hauled ass as best as our sore bodies would allow and made it just under the 90 minute mark. At this point, we had back tracked 3 miles at least and were far too burned out to walk the distance at 9:00 PM with a work day that required a 4:00 AM alarm.
Being the guilty room mate that got us into this, I payed for the cab that we called to come fetch us (which was a woman driver, quite the rarity).
We practically fell out of that cab.
I can't believe we even woke up the next morning.
We've spent the rest of this week resting from that day and planning for our trip to Shanghai next weekend.
Well, I have a day off that I plan on starting to enjoy pretty early, much love.

Club InterContinental Week 6/16

Every month, two chatty women come up to the club to take inventory. By take inventory, I mean, interrupt our entire day to count every bit of every item we have.
Towels.
Dishes.
Glasses.
Bottles of Juice.
Bags of coffee.
They act like the police looking for drugs. Dying to find something out of place or peer into a closet that hosts nothing of inventoried stock.
Shoo, fly.
I haven't taken inventory since my first job at a movie theater. If I remember correctly, we did it every flipping night.
I must admit, it improved my math skills.
Although, counting packaged popcorn tubs is much easier and more efficient that stacks and stacks of plates and rows upon rows of glasses.
I wrote in my notes to say something about bull fighting.
I have no idea what that is about.
Sometimes I wonder what the hell is going on in my head. Many of you may use the phrase, "what was I thinking?" although I can't be sure that logical processing was going on when I wrote "bull fighting" in my notes for a blog on China.
Moving on.
The bus drivers are not happy.
I know you're wondering why I give a damn, but I happen to like them. They always smile and say hello to me, so I return the favor with a "chey chey" (thank you) whenever we arrive to work or the apartments. I guess, because of this, they are the only ones that excitedly smile and say hello to me down in the staff canteen.
Well, them and the dishwasher - a very old woman who, like the bus drivers, speaks not a word of English.
Which leads me to believe that if the only people that acknowledge me like that are the ones that don't speak my language, maybe I should shut up more or something.
Whatever.
At least you're listening.
So, the human resources department has decided they are no longer allowed to eat in the staff canteen.
The result?
Our bus driver never shows. Or he is 15 minutes late. Or he disappears with the bus for hours on end.
Leaving us stranded, forced to use a taxi, collect the receipt, and get paid by the finance department.
One taxi ride alone surely costs more than it would to feed an additional three people (mind you there are ALWAYS leftovers anyway).
Oh, China logic.
Well, I'm not the boss, so I don't say anything.
I'm just the intern.
Much love!

Suzhou, New And Old

I came home to fresh cut grass the other day.

In case you were wondering, it smells just as amazing here as it does in the states.

I love how that smell lifts memories of summer out of the past and into the present, out of North America and into Asia.

I was also walking along and passed a home where there was a lot of renovation going on, I immediately recognized the smell of a red spray glue that is used to apply laminate to a base wood. Another rush of summer memories spent with Dad at the shop.
It's crazy how we instantly know these smells even if it's been ten years since we've smelled them. 

I've also discovered "my part of town." It's in old town and it's called the Ping Jiang district. It's a historic district along one of the canals, featuring a pretty sweet cobblestone road and cafes, gelato shops, silk stores, and plenty of adorable little boutiques with some clothing and little trinkets.
There were even a few foreigners, so I felt a little at home.
Eventually I wandered into some of the slums where the staring ensued and foreigners disappeared. I walked along, watching a day in summer life go by in the slums. Lots of sitting or washing, maybe even peeling beans. I felt like I was in a village each time I saw a guy walk by with a wooden cart behind him or carrying a long tube for whatever balanced on his shoulder.
A village, right in the middle of a major metropolitan city. That's the weird thing about Suzhou, the old and historic is the center, with the new sky scrapers towering around.

I stumbled back into Ping Jiang and roamed into the Momi-Cafe. My new hang out. It's a coffee shop that blessed me with the best caramel frappe I've ever had in my life and amazing cheesecake. The walls are lined with quirky postcards to buy, trinkets, and journals. And every table features a cup full of colored pencils.
I love it there.
It feels as if I'm back at home and in mid-town Memphis.
From there I walked for a while until I was back in modern Suzhou. Modern Suzhou, where the people play with their kids in public fountains or set up cones to rollerblade through the plazas in front of corporate buildings or throw a dance party in the park.

Great spot for my nap

When I arrived at the last subway stop before the lake (essentially where I was headed to), I was shocked to see everyone glued to an outdoor television. Normally, this television is essentially an ad screen, but tonight, it was turned to the Olympic channel. And I laughed as I realized they were all intently watching Olympic Ping Pong.
Yep, Ping Pong.
So, I finished my day and fell asleep exhausted.

Fishing on the canal

When I got up to enjoy another day off, I headed to old town again, but this time, in the opposite direction toward Panmen Canal area. Essentially, lots of gorgeous walkways through a canal-side park. I even stopped to talk a 30 minute nap as I listened to waves crash against the canal wall each time a boat passed by. Lots of fisherman and old boats.
On my way back to the subway, I stopped in to have an awesome blackberry soda float at McDonald's (hey I may miss out on a lot, but at least I gain a sweet float) and then a tour through a small garden, one of many listed on the World Heritage gardens in Suzhou.
I headed out right before they closed with enough time to watch 5:00 traffic creep by as I walked along. On the subway, I lost a dear friend.

My poor Sanuks have seen many countries and crazy events, from Bonnaroo to France to California and the Grand Canyon, but it looks like they won't make it home to Memphis this time. I appreciate your condolences. They will be missed.
Grace and I have been dying for Mexican, so we celebrated getting paid (we only get paid once a month) at Casa Zoe. The food was great, but the only reason I had been wanting mexican was for some queso. Alas, fajitas, burritos, enchiladas, and nachos, even a little salsa, but no cheese dip.
I know, it's a crime.
We finished with enough time for her to go with me to get a hair cut. Since she speaks Chinese I really needed her help so they didn't chop all my hair off.

Mexican on a "Coffee Time"  plate

The funny thing about getting a hair cut in China is that you pay according to skill. If you want the front line person, you only pay 50 RMB ($8 USD), the middle person is 108 RMB ($15) and the manager is 168 ($25). For someone who pays about $50 for a haircut in the states, I was pretty ecstatic and decide to stay in the middle. The guy did an awesome job and was very nice. He even thought my torn shoes were "cool," believing the giant hole to be part of the design.
Ha.