(Written by a former resident of Beijing)

          I've come to the conclusion that in China today, one can't always rely on public services and businesses to perform in an orderly and trustworthy fashion.  It's terrible to have to admit it, but my faith has been severely shaken.

          My troubles began on February 13, 2004 when a co-worker in the Shanghai home office sent a bonus to me in Beijing.  It took the form of a bankcard, and a pin number was enclosed in the packet that she sent using the post office's EMS express service.  She was undoubtedly expecting that it woud be delivered within two or three days, and no insurance was purchased, as its unavailable for that kind of mail.

          Five days later, however, nothing had been seen of the packet so I had to place a call to obtain a tracking number and begin a search.

          I called Beijing's inquiry line on February 19th, and they had no record of an acceptance.

          The Shanghai inquiry line informed me that the packet had been sent at 10 a.m. on February 14th.

          When I called the Beijing number again, I received the same answer - they had not received the package.

          I decided to start a formal appeal and at first it wasn't authorized, as I wasn't the person who had initiated the mailing.  It was necessary to obtain the home office's approval and then have the Beijing and Shanghai appeal services call them before I could proceed.

          The post office in Beijing then searched again carefully and returned with the usual statement that they had not received the package.  An appeal number was established for me in Shanghai, too, and they searched for the item in the inquiry office, an office that handles appeals, and a related business department.  The only thing I learned was that my mail and other goods that could not be found had all been placed in the same bag.

          The mysterious bag was not found though the Shanghai people searched for it many times.  They were certain that it had been sent out, and felt that it must have been lost in the transportation department at the Beijing airport.  They kept making the statement that "the transit had not been completed, that a mistake had occurred", but they didn't hold anyone responsible for it.

          Calls to the Beijing airport finally surfaced a man who knew of the bag in question.  He told me that it had been received and subsequently lost, but he asked that I not disclose that information to anyone else.

          The end result was that I had to accept the fact that the packet would never be found.  No apology was received from the post office nor was there an offer to make good on the loss I had experienced.

          I was fortunate that the home office re-issued the bonus.

          Seven days later, I mailed a very special calendar to a friend using the same EMS express service again.  It wasn't surprising that seven days passed, and my friend still had not received the gift.  It took fifteen days in all before she had it, and my concerns about the efficiency of the post office system in China were mounting.

          In August of that year, I bought by computer a 50 yuan charge card for my cellphone using my credit card.  Fourteen days later, I received the usual monthly bill from the Industrial and Commercial Bank and it included four items that had been purchased by other people.  The total they had spent was more than 5,000 yuan.

          It was apparent that someone with access to the information I had typed into the computer had obtained my name and the credit card numbers and was using them to make purchases.  Again I had been too trusting, and I vowed that in the future I would be much more cautious about purchasing anything through the computer.

          When I called the bank for an explanation, they informed me that they were merely an on-line service and that it would be best if I'd call the police.

          That night I went to District Police Bureau A to register my complaint, and the case was rejected, as the business involved was not within their district.  They told me to go to District Police Bureau B where the on-line service was located.

          When I went to District Police Bureau B, they insisted that I go to District Police Bureau C.

          The District Police Bureau C sent me to District Police Bureau D where they refused to accept the case.

          I then conferred with my friends as to the best course of action, and a friend who is a lawyer stated that the police had a special number - 110 - that one could use to report such cases.

          The number was called several times, and there never was an answer.

          As a final resort, I went to a bureau of the Beijing police force that monitors the internet, and they agreed to coordinate the case.  I was told to go back to District Police Bureau C, and after several attempts over a whole week, the case was registered there.

          While this was going on, I managed to obtain information from friends who knew people at the bank I'd used.  Through them, I learned that people in Sichuan and ZheJian provinces had made the illegal expenditures on my credit card, and I gave that information to the police.  I had no idea who the people were; had never had a contact with them.

          The bank advised me to pay the bill, as they said they could not bear the economic loss and there was no law in China requiring them to do so.  When I insisted that the thieves should pay upon the conclusion of the case, they said that the interest charges would be very high if that were done, as there has been little experience with cases involving the internet and the proceedings would probably extend over a long period of time.  They again recommended that I pay the bill.

          When I discussed the problem with my friends, they pointed out that the Industrial and Commercial Bank is really a part of the State, and that it's unfair that the individual - not the State - has to suffer the economic loss.

          I contacted District Police Bureau C several times to inquire about what they were doing to solve the case, and was told repeatedly that the case was hard to finish, as there was no money to travel to the areas involved.  Through the discussions I had with them, I determined that the true reason was that the amount of money illegally obtained was too small to warrant an investigation.  If ten times the amount of money had been stolen, they would have proceeded.

          In the end, I had to pay the bill, and, of course, I also cancelled the credit card.  I was very frustrated - both physically and mentally.  The simplest transactions were complicating my life, and I vowed to be more careful in the future.

          Unfortunately, I wasn't careful enough for later that year while in a supermarket, I lost a carrying bag that contained my purse, credit cards, cellphone, and various important documents.  I had to reapply for everything and it took weeks before I had everything together again.

          That was the last straw.  I had been too trusting.  Perhaps that was because I had been raised in a neighborhood where we all knew each other and you could count on people to do what they promised to do.  No one would think of stealing; if something was found, it was always returned.  Institutions such as banks, the police force, and the post office could be relied upon to perform as one would expect.

          But all of that was a long time ago - when I was a little girl.  Times have changed.  I'd have to become more suspicious.  I'd have to learn to be cautious about putting personal information ont he computer.  I'd have to keep an eye on my possessions in public places.  I'd have to think twice about what I sent through the mail.  In short, I'd have to adjust to modern life in a big city where the main aim now seems to be the acquisition of wealth, and the idea of providing justice for all is considered old-fashioned, is rapidly being lost.