Conflict Resolution in the City of Kings

Xi'an, China

Experience in Xi'an was mixed. It turned out to be a bit like other ancient walled cities I had visited, just much bigger. Walking the city walls illustrated this: You could stand on one corner turret and the wall would just extend in a straight line in both directions, stretching into the distance, eventually disappearing into the city's haze. And I read the city's size was even reduced when the imperial government moved away. With battlements as wide as a two-lane carriage way it's definitely the mightiest fortification I've ever stood on.
Of course, as impressive as this is I wasn't here just to see the city walls. The main attraction lies under ground - the terra-cotta army of China's first emperor 秦始皇 (Qin Shi Huang). Since there are many sights scattered around the countryside I decided to book a tour at the hostel. The price was a bit steep, a juicy 320 RMB, and I don't normally like to be herded around in a tour group. But it also promised not only the terra-cotta warriors but also the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, a neolithic dig site and hot springs. And all this with the convenience of your own minibus and an English-speaking tour guide. How could I resist?
The guide, a girl in her early twenties, was fairly new on the job, I could see that. Even while we were just departing Xi'an she was already anxiously looking for something to say lest people get bored. Another Chinese woman in the back of the car, apparently her superior, must have been watching her and she was accutely aware of that. She started talking about the city walls, then told us about her native dialect, which wasn't Mandarin, and even sang a local folk song. She tried to get people to participate by asking questions and seemed exasperated when she didn't get any response. She looked friendly, just very nervous, so I tried to chat with her in Chinese. I told her not to worry and take a rest.
When we got to the first attraction, the Neolithic Village, I already realised why I hated tours. We were a bit behind schedule, so there was hardly time to look around before we were shooed back onto the bus.
The next stop was the "Underground Palace". This confused me because I hadn't seen it on the list of destinations. What was this? The Tomb of Qin Shi Huang? No. But yes. It was a reconstruction since the real tomb had never been excavated and couldn't be visited. But weren't we going to visit the real tomb? Yes, later. Oook then... We were quickly walked through a Disney World version of what the real tomb may or may not look like inside, complete with paper mache figures of Qin Shi Huang's concubines and dead workers.
The next stop was also unscheduled: a visit to the terra-cotta warrior factory and exhibition hall. Here, we were led around a facility where, we were told, replica terra-cotta figures were produced in the same way as in ancient times. To prove it some women sat in the front hall apparently working on rough molds. Everything was hand made, we were told. Looking around I saw a production volume that four little ladies could never have handled. They seemed more like actors that started working when a tour group was around. We were also shown kilns that had evidently not been fired in years - there was fresh grass growing inside them. And on top of everything - as if I hadn't expected it - we'd also be able to buy authentic, original, high-quality souvenirs here. Yay. Admittedly, I did have an interesting talk with one of the staff about Chinese mythical creatures. On the whole, however, I don't believe there was much hand-made-ness about the merchendise and we wasted one precious hour of the day.
Then came lunch - already - and I got a good dose of Western tourism. We were going to a restaurant that other foreigners had already liked. Small local places, our guide explained, were no good because they would be crowded and the food wouldn't be as good. My objections were in vain. I had such a bad feeling about this ... We were having a set meal with such classics as sweet and sour pork or mixed fried noodles. Why had I known this? There were no Chinese patrons in sight - only one other table occupied by another tour group of foreigners for that matter. The food was so-so, way too oily and over-priced. Sigh. Now on to greater deeds ... ?
No, first we would pop over to the conveniently adjacent silk factory and sales outlet. This time noone was in the mood for even looking at the silk pillow cases or dressing gowns, no matter what their marvellous qualities were. Would just make me look like Hugh Heffner on vacation anyway. It was already one in the afternoon and we had only visited a single one of the attractions! The place was like a maze and it took another 30 minutes or so to find our way out. Two Dutch guys in the group did the right thing: they had never gone in but sat outside sunbathing.
Now we finally moved on to the main attraction, the Terra-Cotta Army - with only half the scheduled time. It was hard work to take some photos and take it all in.
Then the really interesting times began. As promised we stopped at the real tomb of Qin Shi Huang. Our guide would give us some time for photos if we wanted but kept repeating that the place wasn't interesting. Me and the Dutch guys were curious nonetheless - it was the tallest barrow mound I'd ever seen, the Lonely Planet said it was UNESCO world heritage and looked like a nice walk. We talked to our guide, told her we would like to go in and would she buy us tickets. There was nothing to see, she argued. Well, we were interested. Besides, the poster had said "tickets included". One of the guys had even taken a photo of it. Good man! Her superior answered this: no. We showed her the photo. This had to be discussed with her boss then. I would. I asked her to get him on the line for me. Everyone else was quiet, seemed to wait what would happen. I argued with him - quiet at first trying to be reasonable, then louder, both in English and Chinese. It wasn't just that I wanted to see this attraction. It had also become a matter of principle. The poster had said "Tomb of the First Emperor", not "reconstruction thereof". We wanted tickets. He wasn't cooperating. And I was getting angry. We were just wasting time, the guide told me. She was right. Other people also looked impatient. Fine. I gave up. But I would speak to his manager and I would tell the hostel about this, I told him. Go ahead. He had the nerve to taunt me! Hell yes, I would. Furious I hung up on him.
It was now late in the afternoon and we still hadn't been to the hot springs. As it turned out, noone else had paid for it and they weren't interested either. I was. The senior women in the back was talking to the guide in Chinese. She suggested dropping me off at the hot springs. He can take the public bus back, I heard her say. They were obviously used to dealing with foreigners and being able to talk over their heads. Careful, lady, I understand you. I prepared for another fight. This time I was worrying too much though. The guide assured me she would accompany me and transport home would also be paid for.
So, it was only her and me now. She was being very apologetic. She was very worried that her boss would scold her, maybe even fire her over this. She was still new on the job and customers were unhappy. Why, I asked, we hadn't complained about her services. Well, she was the guide, she was in charge, customers were complaining, so the boss would blame her. He would never acknowledge that he himself might be at fault. I offered that I would make it clear that I had no problem with her, that she had done a good job, that the problem was with the management. She wasn't to be convinced. Couldn't I just forget about it? She seemed increasingly anxious. At the same time I wasn't sure how much of this I could believe. She could have told me anything; when doing business people here do tend to tell stories ("everyone else already bought one"). But the dispute was only about the minor sum of 35 RMB (the price for the ticket to the real tomb), she insisted. In the end, I agreed to drop the issue of the money - if only to reassure her. The problem was only that they couldn't go on telling people they were going to the real tomb when they weren't. I tried to explain to her that many foreigners might be unsatisfied with this. Finally, she seemed to relax a bit. We even agreed to have dinner together and she would take me to a place with Xi'an specialties.
Back at the hostel I finally met her boss in person. I prepared to show my teeth again but there was no need this time. He was also very apologetic, immediately offering to refund me 35 RMB for the ticket to the tomb we didn't visit. Furthermore, they had already begun correcting the wording on the tour poster (by pasting over it) and I gave them the correct English for it: "Underground palace (Reconstructed)".
It's good to see that things can be settled. I don't think our guide did get fired. And we had a nice dinner together with some very tasty snacks.
All's well that ends well, I guess.