Cabbie Yang picked me up and could tell immediately “[I] wasn’t from around here.”  Thrilled to speaking to a foreigner, he started showing off that he was “multi-lingual”.  He could speak English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.  This is what he could say:

“Annyong haseyo?”

“Ni Hao Ma?”

“Welcome to Beijing!  Airport, Great Wall, Summer Palace, Hotel. Where are you going?

“Sayonara.”

Then, after a short period of learning some English vocabulary from me, he asked me which is better:  China or the United States.  I told him I felt like the air quality, hygiene, pace of life was better in the US, but that China was at an interesting time in terms of development.  And he said:

“I hear people have rights in the United States. Independence.  It sounds beautiful.  Especially California. (Big Sigh) I’ll never get to see such a place.”

Internet dating is quite prevalent in China. I’m not sure how well fancy dating websites do in China, but a popular for people to meet and romance in China is over QQ. QQ is the most popular instant messaging program in China. I’ve come across many who have met their significant others though QQ and here are some of their stories. A cabbie told me he met his wife over QQ. It was a random chat and he said in the first month he knew that he loved her. They never exchanged pictures, but met in person after 2 months and married within a year. “There is more to love and companionship than appearances,” he said. “Even on QQ there is yuan fen (fate).” I met a local journalist who also fell in love over QQ. His wife lives in Shenzhen and he is based in Beijing. They carried on a QQ romance for 2 years before they traveled to meet each other. But they continue their marriage over QQ - “we met online so it seems natural to continue online.” A friend of mine also met his wife over QQ. He was quite the playboy in his youth, but during the wee hours of being bored, he’d randomly chat and then met a woman who captured her heart. They didn’t live in the same city and the minute that he laid eyes on her, he knew there would be no one else for him.