bus duos

from what i can gather, from my two long distance bus rides (to and from dardo) is the bus is usually run by a husband and wife team. the man usually drives the bus while the woman deals with the business.














on our way back from dardo, our bus was run by a perfectly charming (i gotta believe) married couple. it seemed like they had been driving the chengdu-dardo run for their entire lives. a long distance bus ride, like almost anything else in china, has a fair amount of bureaucracy. before we even left the dardo bus station we had two officials board the bus, the driver initial some documents, and the wife, or the laoban (what you call a manager of any business, be it bus or restaurant), hand one official a 20 kuai bill. (suspicious, no?) but they handled the red tape like clockwork.

we would approach an bureaucratic station which would usually be an official sitting behind a desk in a shop front (once it was a man sitting behind a wall he was using for a desk underneath an umbrella in a garden). as we drew closer, laoban would stand next to the door, and when the bus stopped, the door would pop open, she would walk over and have some paper stamped or pay someone some money.

the whole time they had been joking, laughing, and talking to each other, and it seemed like they had a really good thing going.at one point during the ride, the wife yelled to her husband that she was hungry. the bus driver gallantly pulled over to where some country people were selling roast corn, and bought her one. while we were there, quite a few passengers took advantage as well. no one complained about the unscheduled stop, it was clear we were going to get there when we got there, and not a moment before.

when we left dardo, we did not have a full bus, and at any point during the trip a person would wave at the bus and laoban would begin to barter with the wouldbe passenger. the going rate was a hundred kuai, and it was clear she wasn't moving from her price. in that situation, it's clear who has the upper hand. one woman tried to get 90, and laoban wouldn't come down. eventually the woman paid the hundred and boarded. another time, an old man tried to get 80, and the bus driver began to pull away even before he had a chance to offer more.

by the time we were 4 hours away from chengdu, our bus was full, and laoban had given her seat to the final passenger. she took a red cushion she had had next to her seat and laid it on the console next to her husband. for the next 4 hours, they sat next to each other, her peeling and cutting apples, and him sharing them. occasionally she would swing over to her tape bag to change the music. it was like they were on a road trip, with a few 60 extra hangers on. it was quite sweet.when we returned to chengdu, our supposedly 8 hour ride (which took 9 on the way there) took a measly 6 and half hours, including a lunch stop. i was a big fan of their team, but i couldn't figure out how to express myself. i settled for a big smile and a hearty xie xie (thank you).