Here in China, company’s cafeteria serve three meals a day at very reasonable prices. Since other options are not really more attractive, it becomes a popular dinner solution. Employees usually leave work around 8pm after the meal. On this day, I strolled among them toward my hotel, a casual ten-minute walk, enjoying the winding down at the end of the day. It was already dark and I noticed a line of battery-powered lights along the sidewalk several paces ahead. I expected vendors pedaling toys, gadgets, cheap jewelries, DVDs, or whatever.
As I got close, I found it slightly unusual. The ones behind the table, tending the walkers-by, were young and dressed in suits. Those tables displayed pamphlets and forms, not cheap merchandises. There were people sitting on foot stools filling up forms. The business appeared to be good and my curiosity was aroused.
They were banks. On those cheap propped up tables were laptops powered by a far-away portable generator, which also powered the lights. A USB dongle provided the 3G broad-band connection to the Internet. Clients would sign up credit cards, mutual fund accounts, or other financial services right on the street.
Several paces down the road, there were another cluster of short-tables and stools. The same customers who just applied for a new credit card were probably here getting a bowl of spicy hot-pot (麻辣烫) on-the-go. The tables were about knee-high so the stools were for semi-squatting posture. The lighting was barely sufficient to make out the foods. The patrons were oblivious to the brisk pedestrians and car traffic not more than 5 feet away.
I imagined myself sitting down on one of those tables and shouted out, “One beer, a skewer of fish balls, beef noodles, and two Visa credit card application forms here.” I was amused by the thought, but kept on walking.
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