Guangzhou waiter taps into big picture with African customers
Steven Peng Yongxin, 28, works as a waiter at African Food, a restaurant and bar in Lujing Road in Guangzhou's Little Africa - known to irreverent locals as 'chocolate city' - thanks to the number of African vendors who trade, live and eat there. The cafes and small eateries offering African and halal Arabic cuisine are the closest tastes they can find to those of home. Peng (pictured) came from Fujian four years ago with a journalism degree hoping to become an investigative reporter, but after two months as a cadet at the New Express, a Guangzhou tabloid, he left because of low pay. Since then, he's had 30 various jobs. Today Lujing Road is the cradle for his future career. His business card in Chinese is for local clients looking for good massage therapy, his card in English is to introduce women to his non-Chinese speaking clients, and he has a third business card for clients needing translations and merchandising suggestions.
How would you describe the part of town you work in?
This is a business hub and yet it seems to be another country within China. It's unique and exotic; there is no other place like it. Every time I walk across the railway bridge to the entrance of the business area, I feel as if I am passing customs to enter a different country. This part of Guangzhou has its own scents and sights. Our restaurant is packed whenever an African sports team is playing. It's a way for Africans living in Guangzhou to party, celebrate their continent and be proud of their race. But it can be quiet some nights, such as when the police do random visa inspections, which send many of our customers with invalid visa documents or passports into hiding.
How do you mix with your customers?
Sometimes it's really hard to get local waiters to work among African customers because of the language barrier. Once when I was training some of the new waitresses, I asked if they knew the meaning of 'how are you', and one told me it meant 'I love you'. I think 70 per cent of the Africans are very nice, although the local mentality is that most of them can be quite impolite, and a small number even approach girls in public areas in a lewd way and get into fights, which can be quite disturbing. But I think most of them are nice if you show them respect.
I try to make an effort to remember their names, where they are from, what their businesses are, and remember what they usually order. That way, I build up a good rapport with them. A few of my customers are now my close brothers. I think I've really learned a lot from my customers.
Out of the so many dozen jobs I've had in the past four years, nothing is more rewarding than waiting on tables here. In two to three years, I think I can make a lot of money.