Ryan, an amateur bar tender, is assisting his friend Mark to make cocktails at Shelter Bar in Kunming, capital of southwest China’s Yunnan province. He met Lynn, a reporter from InKunming, and talked about his experiences here as well as the cultural differences between Kunming and the States. Having been living in Kunming for just six months, he is satisfied with the pleasant weather and the relaxing lifestyle here.
IK: Why did you choose Kunming at first?
Ryan: Well, I spent one semester in Qingdao University when I was 17 years old. I found a job in Luoyang City, Henan province, but it was a terrible city. It was dirty with a lot of pollution. Then I asked my friend where he lived, he told me Kunming. He said it was a beautiful city with nice weather and a lot of beautiful Chinese girls.
I love the weather here, and the air is good. There are lots of pollutions in many Chinese cities, but it's very comfortable here. The life here is easy. I like here a lot. I've been all around in Kunming, but I have no time to other places in Yunnan. I'd like to go to Dali because it is as relaxing as Kunming, but I still like Kunming best. I have a very nice apartment. Besides, the food in Kunming is good. The lifestyles are easy. I'm going to live here at least until January next year. I'd like go back to Amercia and eventually become a graduate.
IK: What was your major in Chinese university?
Ryan: East Asian Study. Actually I focused about China. I came to live in China when I was sixteen and became interested in Chinese culture. China is becoming more and more important in the world, so it is important to speak Chinese as well as to understand Chinese culture. Originally I focus on minority study, such as Bai, Dai and Tibetan. I lived in a village called Mafang in Fujian province where I did some researches on Daoism and Fengshui.
IK: Would you like to talk about differences between life in China and in America?
Ryan: The differences are everywhere. The culture is completely different, the way people behavior, the way people walk. Everything is different. Take an example, in China, young people here are in such a hurry to get where they are going to, they don't take time to look around and breathe the fresh air. In America, at least in where I lived in America, only whose jobs related to business do like that.
IK: Tell me something about your job.
Ryan: The first thing is to be organized, and one should know everything about it. You should know what a customer wants and how to give them what they want as quickly as possible. Secondly, just be friendly, in China, everything is about friends or Guanxi (relations). Take the most important thing for a bar tender in China is to be able to go to people's table, Ganbei (to toast) and greet them. Thirdly, be welcoming is also a key. At present, most of our customers are Chinese. There are so many bars in Kunming, and foreigners usually have their favorite bar and just go to the favorite bar. We are convincing people to leave their favorite bars and come here. We have light music on the regular bases. On Friday, we are going to have a foreign band from Dali. We try to have party and event almost everyday. On Sunday, we are going to have a barbecue here, 150 yuan includes all the food you can have and all the drinks.
IK: Are there any differences between Kunming customers and foreign customers?
Ryan: Yes, a big one is that the Chinese customers don't want to drink cocktail. They only want beer. I think, generally cocktails are new things in China. They have cocktails in bars maybe in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. If you go to a Chinese bar in Kunming, they won't have cocktail, they only have beer. Another Chinese culture when it comes with alcohol is that they order many beers, and they drink it up at once. In America, we order a cocktail, we drink it slowly. We have professional cocktail maker at Shelter Bar. We have couples special tea drinks, including the normal drinks and some special teas. We also do some special tea drinks light on fire, everybody likes tea drinks light one fire. I think we have the largest types of cocktails in Kunming.
Right now, my main job is about improving the menu and we are redecorating the bar so we can better service the customers. I like working here a lot. Mark is a great boss, everyone here is friendly. There is a great atmosphere here. (Reporter:Lynn, editor:Minnie)
