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The first rule that many foreigners hear about doing anything in China is that you will need guanxi - relationships that help you clear the jungly bureaucracy, receive preferential tax treatment, or "free" land. Of course, the follow-up rule that is never stated in polite company is that guanxi means money, a greased palm, a sop, and a board seat. However, as useful as some relationships can be, they frequently outlive their usefulness and become nothing more than baggage.
That certainly seems to be the case for the so-named SMS information service Guanxi, which charges 1 RMB per request. What's worse is that the user is frequently charged at least 2 RMB or more, because it costs additional kuai in order to clarify a search or request the result in Chinese. And guess what, we just got the following SMS from them:
GuanXi SMS city guide is back! We have a new unified no. 95882929. Pls.
Well, to begin with, we never noticed they were gone, and apparently, this is not the first time they've changed their number. Also, this latest number change comes just after Guanxi needlessly complicated its query format. So what's a Shanghaiist to do?!
A better alternative is the Shanghai Call Center. By dialing 962288, you will be greeted by an English speaking operator (not a machine, so no need to prepend your query with a "2"), who can provide you with assistance in location, basic translation, and ticketing for live performances and other events in Shanghai (e.g. Cirque du Soleil, Shanghai International Film Festival, etc.). Additionally, the operator also saves your name and number, so that you can be addressed properly the next time you call. The service is provided free of charge by the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office, and we are very pleased with the results so far.
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I have been using this for a long time now - its great. You can literally say to them " I am at location X, where is the nearest (whatever - type of restaurant, bank, etc)" and in just a few seconds you have an answer. It has saved me some headaches trying to find things in the city.
Highly recommended.
Hello everyone,
I overheard that guangxi was somehow taken over from china-mobile acouple months ago. Thats why they where gone/changed the number!? And that was also the satrt of the prefix of "2" for english! (Also a lot of venues where out of the database somehow!?)
Now, with the new number 95882929, the prefix is not necessary anymore and it works great again!
I think its a great tool if you want a quick address!
cheers
I like using 411.
I know that there was an interruption to the Guanxi service caused by China Mobile and a Chinese Partner. Having to put the 2 in front of the message was not the Guanxi service it was an (inferior) stolen copy.
Guanxi is now up on a new number 95882929 this is the one number for all China Mobile and China Unicom phone numbers. It has the most up to date info in the database and is working perfectly.
Also with Guanxi i can easily show a taxi driver where i want to go. Not sure about this phone service but the prospect of handing my phone so the taxi driver can talk to an operator doesn't appeal at all.. I am happy to pay 1 or even 2 RMB for such convenience.
Who needs Guanxi? Me!!
@Pete: can you dial 411? I know 114, but 411?
@Fan too: I definitely agree about getting the address in Chinese, showing the cabbie, and being able to save an address and keep it with you. Very useful. Of course, the SH Call Center operator can always talk to the driver, but it's much easier just to pass him your phone.
Also, if you want to give an address to friends, it's just much easier to forward the location from GuanXi, especially if your friend has limited language skills.
If you have the address on your phone, you can forward it to your friends so they know where to go. Very convenient.
guanxi is ok when you are not near your computer. if you are, and need an address in chinese on your phone, why not just send an email or sms with the address to your phone from your computer? one kuai is ok, but i found that often guanxi was so cumbersome, searches took five or six SMSes. pretty cheeky the way they limit the search results (and often the search results aren't very intuitive). as internet on the phone becomes more prevalent, services like guanxi will become irrelevant.
why not just get a cmwap/cmnet data package (starting at 5rmb (8rmb cmnet) for 25mb) and surf all day for a penny?
visit mini.opera.com/beta on your phone... (as a bonus, all blocked sites including (previously blocked) wikipedia are un-blocked)
at RMB 1 per, guanxi has to be one of the biggest rip-offs going...esp. w/ the complicated menu structure that makes you send up to a half dozen sms's to finally get what you want...and no guarentee that you won't be getting stale information at that...have gotten several instances of out-dated or just plain wrong info...
and if you have to pass your mobile to a cabbie, why not let them talk to a live person to ensure you act. get to where you're trying to go...
free & live vs. hassle & RMB 6 - no contest...
I think the call center is helpful, but it's just annoying to have to talk to someone each time you call. With Guanxi there's no calling, waiting, talking and explaining. You just get what you want. The new number they sent me added 1066 to the original number, 9588-2929. Now it's 1066-9588-2929.
I just went to www.cityweekend.com.cn You can now send to your mobile any listing on the CW site for free. Just click on any restaurant and there's a logo/link in the top right. I tried it and it works pretty quick. You can even edit the message. If you want Chinese, though, you have to copy and paste the characters into the message field.