To see how the Chinese themselves see this, from another POV, look at this post:
I went to two famous bars in ChangChun city, one is called May Flower(you will find it is a sarcasm(ironic) name), the other is called Old Street. There are lots of foreigners there. One thing makes me very angry that all foreigners can have a discount card named so-called
[quote=“formosa”]To see how the Chinese themselves see this, from another POV, look at this post:
I agree that this is institutional racism, akin to the “No Chinese or Dogs Allowed” signs of yesteryear, but the fact that it’s being done by Chinese people is ironic. Maybe it’s because dealing with foreigners gives them a feeling of superiority over their fellow countrymen or something.[/quote]
The tired old “No Chinese or Dogs” legend was debunked as soon as it surfaced. I saw photographs of the purported sign from the 1920s. It was outside a PRIVATE park in the foreign concession of Shanghai. It said “No Non-Members or Dogs” (or perhaps “Members Only. No Dogs”…Iread the book 20 years ago! 
Regardless, Chinese were not mentioned. There is an article debunking this myth in The Journal for Historical Review Sep/Oct 1995 edition) AFAIK, there were NO public parks in Shanghai. They were all funded by members. Chinese think everyone is supposed to kiss their 5,000 year old ass and always like to trot this BS out to show how badly they are treated…instead they should look at how they treat foreigners.
Foreign workers protest for better rights
“Many migrant workers work 16 to 18 hours a day and can’t get overtime pay. Furthermore, many workers are not given any days off each week. Some female domestic helpers are even raped or physically abused by their employers. These workers are not only victims of the Taiwanese legal system but also victims of physical and sexual abuse,” O’Neil said.
“We have a case where a female domestic worker has been staying in our shelter for over two years. She is almost blind now as a result of being physically abused and raped by her employer. Her employer recently received an eight-year prison sentence but has filed an appeal, which means the case is still open. It is not uncommon that cases against abusive employers drag on for years,” O’Neil said.
I don’t know what it is like in Australia, but in California at least the out-of-state (and foreign) tuition rate is still very cheap compared to a good private university. And the UC system has a very good reputation too, especially Berkeley and UCLA.[/quote]
Don’t know if this has changed in recent years or not, but back in the early '90s, the rate for non California residents was 3x the rate for residents. But, as Jlick said, that is still cheaper than a private university. And, as another poster said, the reason for the difference is fair. Residents have been paying taxes to the state, where non-residents have not. The public universities are partly taxpayer funded. Back then, most non-residents would usually go through the process of establishing residency when they arrived, and after 2 years, they got to pay the resident rate, if I remember correctly.
[quote=“flike”]Well, 2 days ago (12/30) I got a quote of nt$14,500 for 3n/4d in Bali, air ticket included, travel this CNY. About 2 hours later, my travel agent called to say that the price had to be increased by nt$3000 because I’m an American.
That’s using a Taiwanese travel agent. Anybody have any names they care to share, travel agents that do NOT discriminate? (PM is fine, too)[/quote]
Did the travel agent charge you the extra nt$3000 or did the hotel in Bali? I did not have this problem when I booked my vacation in Bali last year; neither the agent nor the hotel/villa.
BTW, your Bali trip is actually really cheap, especially since it is during CNY.
Here in Germany (and many other European countries) higher education is essentially free; you pay a few hundred Euros a year for both tuition, fees, and books. This also includes the foreigners, but the foreigners have to first past a language requirement, which usually takes an extra one or two years of studying German to accomplish. However the system is essentially broke, and the quality is iffy sometimes. This is where a lot of my 50% income tax is going to.
Higher education from a socialist perspective.
Some people seem a little unclear about China’s policy for price discrimination. About five or six years ago, the government decreed that price discrimination at any government owned/operated establishment would end. It used to be that foreigners had to pay more for train tickets, telephone service, government owned tourist sites, etc. That has ended. This law applies to national, provincial and municiple government. If it is publicly owned/operated, then they can’t charge you a higher rate. In my experience, this has been enforced quite well.
Of course, private businesses still charge different prices for foreigners. The disturbing thing about this is that it applies to just about everything. When in Taiwan or HK, I’ve never been overcharged for a hotel. On the mainland, it’s very common. However, some big city governments are pressuring hotel operators to not jack up prices so much for outsiders. In many parts of the Pearl River Delta, HK people can get the same rate as a mainlander for things like hotels. I’ve heard that in some areas in Shanghai and Suzhou, Taiwanese get almost the same treatment as locals. These cities seem to feel the need to attract these investors and have finally realized that many of them expect fairer treatment. We whities are still pretty well shafted, though.
A consumer group in the UK today published their findings that European tourists could book cheaper holiday in the UK than local citizens. Rip off Britain - most certainly. Racism - I think not. Simple Economics.
Could the problem simply be that as a non-Taiwanese, you have to obtain a visa to enter China? I know that it is actually cheaper for a Taiwanese person to visit Mainland China than it is for most foreigners because Taiwanese can obtain something like a travel document instead of a visa.
I’m not sure if this is the problem or not, but it’s possible. I think the price of a visa for Americans is more than NT$3000.
No, that’s not the problem, I had to pay on top for the visa. I’m back now - made sure that I got value for money by pigging out on the breakfasts. Overall it was good value for money (about 16,000NT each for flights, transfers, 5 nights hotel and breakfasts) but still feel aggrieved at having to pay the extra.
Actually, I didn’t find I was overcharged for anything else (speaking OK Chinese definitely helps) though maybe I just didn’t realise it. Seeing all the foreigners throw their money around in the ‘Silk Market’ shows just why Chinese can get away with overcharging though.
Steve