Permission to Move Sir
Yesterday I did most of my moving into my new place, only two blocks from the old one. I was able to get all of my stuff over there in a few taxis rides, but taking 10 suitcases away freaked out the doormen at my old building. In order to move lots of stuff, apparently, a lot of buildings require that you register let them know what kinds of things you’re taking. The point seems to be to make sure that the plasma TV you’re taking is your own plasma TV.
Well, I don’t have a plasma TV, but that didn’t really stop anyone from freaking out. I had to go to the 物业(wuye), which is like the building management company. They called up the landlord to make sure I wasn’t robbing him blind, and then issue me a hallway moving pass. (The irony of all of this is that my landlord hasn’t paid his monthly dues to the wuye in five years. A few months back they asked me when my landlord might be stopping by and I told them I didn’t know. They looked kind of sad, knowing that they had no way of forcing him to pay. I felt sad too. We all felt sad.)
Back to yesterday. So I told the underfunded wuye that I wouldn’t be moving anything too valuable: no TVs, couches, desks or “electronics.” Well, that caused a problem. When I tried to move out a fan (the POS 264 model) the guard freaked out and told me that I wasn’t supposed to take out electronics. I assured him that it was mine, I wasn’t stealing it, and calling an 8-dollar fan “electronics” was really being too literal. He told me that he knew it was mine, but the real problem was I had said “no electronics”（it’s right here on the paper!). I did have to give him points for honesty: he knew it was absurd red tape–but he still had to follow orders.
If you’re wondering how to deal with this should it ever happen to you, follow my lead: just keep packing up the car and leave. Building guards in China are usually armed with a walkie-talkie and a pair of Keds. It’s safe to say they aren’t exactly Delta Force types. Besides he knew I wasn’t stealing my own stuff.
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Glen responds:
Posted: March 9th, 2008 at 11:41 am →
Don’t forget to register at the police station now!
theotherrichard responds:
Posted: March 9th, 2008 at 1:49 pm →
Hey, Josh - since you are moving can you return the counter-surveillance equipment… I really could use that satellite dish we disguised as a POS 264 room fan. I need to beam your ex-landlord’s bank account details to the wu ye supervision bureau….
Barrett responds:
Posted: March 9th, 2008 at 4:51 pm →
Freakin hilarious. This same thing happened to me a few months ago. Interestingly, I reacted in the same fashion by ignoring the guard. A little easier for me since my Chinese is horrible.
Jakob Montrasio responds:
Posted: March 9th, 2008 at 5:07 pm →
Haha, our landlord didn’t pay that wuye for years, too.
Caused a bit of a problem when our electricity went out once one night during a supercold time and the landlord was unreachable. Because the wuye company wont send any electrician unless the bills are paid and try to find a electrician at night in Pudong - good luck!