FALLING SHORT
When the Guide finally came out I wrote this in Dispatch (5)2, Feb, 2006.
FALLING SHORT
“Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.” —Some Zen Wisdom
Well it’s out! the long-awaited, “Sanya City Guide.” And what a disappointment. Oh, it will get by all right – after all it is the only thing out there in English with any real information in it. A nice enough look, albeit grossly deficient in many ways. Photos, for instance, most are counterfeit pictures not even of Sanya at all. They would not even look at the many authentic photos I have (and I have literally thousands).
As I had feared, considering the naive myopia of the editor, this guide continues to reinforce the stereotype of Sanya only being an up-scale resort destination (over ninety percent of the information on accommodations is on the exclusive resorts on the 7 kilometer stretch of Yalong Bay). Sanya is NOT only Yalong Bay. The photos of the resorts are obviously from the corporation’s promotional folio.
This image is continued with the over-emphasis on spas. Yes, there are some nice spas in Sanya, but there is also many other wonderful things for a large variety of people to enjoy (and I am NOT talking about the overly abundant tourist traps). Clean, convenient, inexpensive massages are available throughout the entire city; street-side barbeque stands are great places to meet with friends and watch the passing city life and one of my favorites, the outdoor roof-top dance hall under the stars; all making Sanya more than just a retreat for pampered rich-people.
As for advertising, there is a decided lack of paid advertising (clearly a problem of myopic greed – remember I had 5 full page ads and a number of others that they lost). I wouldn’t be surprised that the one ad that I did give them wasn’t the only paying advertiser. While I can’t be sure, I would bet you that the others appearing are “free-in-kind repayment” for: 1) complementary accommodations and treatment in the high-end resorts and 2) the contribution of the travel service who I mentioned in the last Dispatch as the one that I would no longer use after finding out that they did NOT have the interests on the visitor in mind.
As for the tourist sights— the unimproved Nature of Sanya is the best it has to offer – the “sights” are basically unnecessary human contrivances that the Guide dutifully describes. The descriptions could have been written by the local tourism board (and probably were).
Then there is the actual copy editing which I can personally attest to. All writers are used to the editor’s prerogative to alter their piece to accommodate length and style concerns. But altering the story and its meaning is going to far. In one of my pieces, they have the wrong Russian drinking vodka (much to the subject’s personal embarrassment and mine – he is a non-drinking health advocate), while the descriptions in most of the others have been reduced to mere trivia.
All and all this universally incompetent organization continues to uphold its sub-standards.
Oh, Did I tell you — still no payment. Another month after sending my bank information for the second time (the first time was a month before that) no deposit has been received. Surely just another simple example of “miscommunication.”
Afterword: A Major first, They delivered ! A month late I receive payment, over 10% short – probably a “transfer fee.” I am not even going to ask, I am closing the book on this miserable experience. It cost me 5 times what I was paid to deliver what I said I would, on time, not to mention the frustration and damage to my blood pressure. IT’S OVER !
“There’s a HUGE trust. I see it all the time when people come up to me and say, ‘I don’t want you to let me down again.’” —George W. Bush
END QUOTE
For those of you who might be curious of more of the content of the Guide (as I wrote it), I included much of what I initially submitted to the publisher in my Dispatch 4 (8), Dec. 2005.
Several years later, a Second Edition came out changing little of the first except for the telling example commented on below. The abhorrent Sanya Taxi situation prevails ! Must be some very powerful political interests involved here.
“CONTINUING SANYA TAXI OUTLAW BEHAVIOR”
Taxis have always been problematic here and they are often the first impression a visitor gets of this beautiful tropical paradise. And it is not a good one.
Consider a first time visitor’s arrival at Sanya’s International Airport. There is a saying, “You only have one chance to make a first impression.” – and, in this case, Sanya does not do it well.
What is the visitor likely to encounter? How are they to get to their ultimate accommodation? More likely than not, they will proceed to the airport’s ‘official’ taxi stand and take a taxi. If these travelers have just come from Shanghai, Beijing or any other civilized city, they might expect to get in the taxi, have the driver put on the meter, which will click off a standard fare as it proceeds to your destination.
But not in Sanya, you have just stepped into the throes of a sort of frontier capitalism. Every body is out for what they can get and they know that, generally, they can get more from foreign visitors. Taxi fares are particularly frustrating — There is NO standard. Even if they are running their meters, which most don’t, the same trip can vary considerably. Most of the time you are left to negotiate for yourself. You have to tell them or show them where you want to go and negotiate a price before you go. How is the first time visitor to do that? How are they to know what is fair? If you are not equipped with this information you are likely to pay 2 to 3 times what it should be. What kind of impression is this giving a new guest? How likely are they to return or suggest to others that they come to be subjected to similar treatment?
This is not service befitting a world class tourist destination. It does not remotely approach an international standard. It is not a good sign that an airport that portends to be a major international destination with “freedom of the skies” status can not even assure the traveler fair treatment by the taxis it furnishes. There needs to be regulation of the taxi system, with standard rates established and fines and lost licenses for violators.
A first line of remedy, while waiting for the inevitable regulation, is to disseminate the needed information — some guidelines for your negotiations.
So, I wrote in the “Travellers Tips” section in the first Sanya City Guide;
Quote:
TAXIS
Particularly frustrating are taxi fares – There is NO standard. Even if they are running their meters, which most don’t, the same trip can vary a couple kuai. Most of the time you are left to negotiate for yourself. Tell them or show them where you want to go and negotiate a price before you go. We have provided some guidelines for your negotiations below:
TAXI CHART —
| From | To | Standard Rate |
| Airport | Down town | 40-50 RMB |
| Airport | Yalong Bay | 80-100 RMB |
| Airport | Dadonghai | 50-60 RMB |
| Downtown | Yalong Bay | 25-30 RMB |
| Dadonghai | 5-10 RMB | |
| Nanshan | 50-80 RMB | |
| End of the Earth | 30-50 RMB | |
| Luobi Cave | 50-80 RMB | |
| Turned Round Deer Park | 5-10 RMB | |
| Dadonghai | Yalong Bay | 20-25 RM |
End Quote
It was a battle getting that section included in the publication. It offended the locaL tourist rip-off cabal and involved several strong disagreements with local tour agents and guides — they insisted that the fares were higher. I had personally taken the taxi ride to each of the destinations listed many times, so I knew it was the correct fare. If this Lao Wai is getting this fare, others, the locals and visiting Chinese can as well.
Now there is a new addition of the Sanya City Guide (City Weekend, June, 2007). I had nothing to do with it (although it still uses much of what I wrote, albeit somewhat altered).
Since the first edition, the taxi situation is getting a little better. Legislation now requires that taxis use their meters (what a revelation!!). If they don’t, they are supposed to be fined 1,000 RMB.
It would have been logical to expect that this new edition would report this important change with regard to the inadequate taxi service. But no, what do you suppose you get with this “new” edition — a repeat of my negotiating guidelines quoted above WITH THE FARES RAISED BY 20%. The local tourism source, my detractor on the first edition, has had her way and the Beijing publisher is complicit in the continuing Taxi rip-off.
The quoted fares simply ARE NOT TRUE! — If they use the meter, as they are now required to do, the fare is what I reported OR LOWER.
I should also report that many taxis still refuse to use their meters and continue to engage in their outlaw behavior (now, supported by the new Sanya guide in geting even higher fares).
My response now when drivers refuse to use the meter and start the bandit negotiations, is to take down the taxi number and get out and report them to the authorities. The last time at the airpost I took down six taxi numbers (which I reported the next day) before I could find a law-abiding driver.
Sanya is still an outlaw society and it isn’t going to change until people obey the law and the officials get the courage to enforce those that exist and make more that insure the common welfare of all its citizens and visitors. And ill-informed reporting from Beijing doesn’t help matters in the least.