Cell Phones

I (Matt) went with some others to get cell phones today. The process took over an hour, as our passports were processed. One the plus side, there was no two year commitment! For a one hundred yuan deposit (or 150 yuan deposit if our phone numbers included the number 4, which sounds like death and is inauspicious as a result) we received a SIM card that allowed for free group calls, free incoming, and six hundred minutes a month. A 10 yuan monthly fee (app. $1.30) will be deducted from the deposit, and when the money runs out, we merely recharge the phone at a nearby store. Are you envious yet??? We even received a free six pack of beer for each new account (5 in all), and accepted the gift as the failure to do so would constitute a loss of face for both us and the giver. Therefore, I carried a six pack under each arm for the half-mile walk back to the hostel in 100 degree heat. Have no fear, we all stuck to water after our return, though we had a chuckle over Chinese promotional gimmicks.