A Chinese saying goes that a poor person keeps a strip of pork
skin to polish his lips after a meal in order to show others he has
meat everyday. He does so because he does not want to be looked
down upon.
Do not laugh. The reality is that some do judge people by the
clothes they wear or the transport they use.
Guards at a hotel in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, went to extremes
when they stopped a member of the provincial committee of the
political consultative conference from entering the hotel, where a
conference was in session, simply because he went there by bicycle
rather than a limousine.
The guards refused to let him in even after he showed his card
as a member of the conference. The guards eventually compromised by
letting the member in through a side entrance used by the hotel's
employees.
The member, who is the head of Nanjing University's
environmental research institute, put forward a proposal at the
conference that star hotels allow cyclists in and provide parking
facilities.
It is quite common nationwide for such hotels to refuse cyclists
and do not provide parking facilities for cyclists although such a
practice cannot be justified under any legal code.
Apparently, it is a matter of face. With the appearance of more
motor vehicles, bicycles become synonymous with poverty and low
social status in the eyes of some. Bicycles that park in front of a
hotel are considered an embarrassment to the management. Some even
have signboards telling visitors that bicycles are not allowed.
As a matter of fact, only a few people visit hotels on bicycles,
but this should not be a reason for hotels to prohibit them. This
practice could constitute discrimination should a cyclist take the
matter to court.
It is common knowledge that car emissions contribute to
environmental pollution, and global warming. And that cars cause
traffic jams. The prohibition of bicycles by star hotels is
obviously against the State policy of saving energy and reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. The hotels are discouraging people from
using environment friendly transport.
To realize energy saving and a reduction in the discharge of
pollutants, we need to let every citizen know it is an obligation
on their part to achieve this goal.
What is happening to cyclists at star hotels suggests we still
have a long way to go.
(China Daily January 30, 2008)
