And they say Chinese people aren't creative...

Self-harm gang jailed over construction scam - Chen Qian

"A GANG of nine men who helped break each others' arms then pretended to fall off building sites were jailed yesterday for extorting 100,000 yuan (US$13,000) in compensation from construction bosses.
Jinshan District People's Court said the gang was led by two men from Anhui Province surmaned Cheng and Yang, who were both jailed for three years.
The other seven were given lesser sentences.
Cheng and Yang arrange for the seven men to get jobs in separate city construction sites.
Shortly after the men started work, Cheng and Yang would visit them and fracture their arms with iron bars.
The men then threw themselves off heights in the building site, pretending to have broken their arms in the fall.
After the construction worker was taken to hospital, Cheng and Yang would pose as relatives and demand compensation from site managers, claiming the fracture was the result of an industrial accident.
In October, Cheng and Yang extorted 16,000 yuan from a construction boss in Jinshang District after they broke the arm of a worker surnamed Su.
In November, they claimed 8,000 yuan from another construction site in the district.
The gang also extorted money from construction sites in Putwo and Luwan districts. Police said they extorted 100,000 yuan from seven bosses between October and January. Cheng and Yang told police they got the idea from Anhui friends, who told them the scam is very popular in Zhejiang Province."
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That story was recently published in Shanghai's daily English paper and while it may sound like an isolated incident committed by a group of desperate individuals...it isn't. There is constantly news of some group (whose members typically "hail" (I love that) from Anhui province, which I plan on staying as far away from as possible :P ) who scammed thousands of RMB in an equally unbelievable ways. Living here has prompted me and John to be ultra-suspicious of everyone and everything; while scams like this certainly happen between Chinese people, being a foreigner is like walking around with a bull's eye painted on your forehead.

Anyway, I told you that story to tell you this story. Recently, while I was walking Cleo, one of our neighborhood's security guards approached us. In the past, Cleo had interacted with him several times and they had become friendly. Before I go on, here are some facts concerning dogs, China, and Cleo

1. Chinese people are terrified of dogs, especially big ones. (Yes, I know mass generalization, but you know what they say about stereotypes...there is typically some truth behind them)
2. In addition to the one child policy, there is also a one dog per household policy. And in addition to that, all canines must be registered with the government. Failure to do so, can result in death for said dog.
3. Most dog owners do not register their dogs, b/c of the heavy cost associated with doing so. Depending where you live, it costs approximately 1000-2000 RMB/year ($120-220 USD). This is very high for a city whose per capita is approximately $7000 USD/year. On a side note, this is very high compared to other cities in China.
4. Cleo is not yet registered.

OK, moving forward. While the guard was playing with Cleo, who throughout this entire ordeal is on a leash, she gets excited and stands up on her hind legs. In doing this, she inadvertently scratches or bites the guard's wrist. It wasn't serious, but a drop of blood(and when I say drop, I mean drop) did break through the skin. While concerned, the security guard shrugged it off after I provided him with a copy of Cleo's vaccinations.

THREE weeks later our property management company calls us into a meeting w/ the manager of the security company (all security is outsourced and guards are rotated every 2 months). The manager (who btw looked more like a vagrant than the manager of a security company) proceeded to tell us that the guard was requesting compensation via him.

1. Medical expenses: 20, I say again, 20 vaccinations/hospital visits, including transportation costs. Approximately 3500 RMB ($450 USD)
2. Time off work: 30 days, i say again, 30 days off work for which we should cover his normal salary. Approximately 3000 RMB ($390 USD)
3. Pain & Suffering: A per diem for time off work to compensate him for the horrible ordeal we put him through. 2000 RMB ($260 USD)

Enter confusion (and I won't lie...a little bit of rage). Are we even talking about the same guard? Because $1,000 USD for a scratch seems a little (actually WAY TOO MUCH) compensation for someone who in all likelihood makes 1500 RMB/month, not 3000 RMB/month. John and I happily agreed to pay for medical costs provided all relevant receipts were provided and that money did not go through an intermediary (i.e. we could deal with the guard directly). For items two and three we requested time to stall...oops, I meant think it over.

Funny enough, after insisting on dealing directly with the injured guard, and a mention of contacting our lawyers...we have not heard back from either our property management group or the security company. Maybe they forgot? @_@

America spelled with an “H”…

That was the nickname John gave Hong Kong. >_< I guess after being in a country, where he is limited to communicating with <5% of the population, a weekend in Hong Kong was just what the doctor ordered. We visited with old IU buddies (Go Hoosiers!), were able to communicate in English, bought American snacks like Cool Ranch Doritos, and had a USD steak! Huge thanks to Maggie, who was the perfect tour guide and host!!

Previous to visiting, I imagined HK as a modern, but overly condensed and polluted city. And while it is modern, condensed, and even a “bit” polluted, it is also situated on mountainous islands and blue green ocean. Another oddity of the city is it’s obsession with material goods, i.e. shopping. The airport alone is like a miniature 5th Avenue. Needless to say, I am still recovering (financially) from that 2.5 day trip. @_@