Dishes for the illiterate and for the educated - social inequality in a Chinese cafe (7 photos)

All people are equal, and the educated are more equal than others. That's what a snack bar in Zhanjiang, China, decided. And it began to label its dishes for its poorer and richer customers.





There are no prices here, only your level of education. Go with your child and tease him that he can only eat cheap food!

But the most interesting thing is HOW they labeled the menu. Because the dishes are ranked depending on the education level of the customers.



The paper menu doesn't even have prices written down, just "degree" written in Chinese characters.

And with this unique pricing strategy, dishes that cost 10 yuan are labeled as "kindergarten."

Dishes that cost 13 yuan are classified as "elementary school."

And those that cost 16 yuan are called "junior high school."

Dishes that cost 18 yuan are called "senior high school."

And the ones that cost 20 yuan are called "vocational college".





There is a sign like this on the menu and on the wall, so there is no mystery about how much the food costs

"A bachelor's degree at a first-tier university" is equivalent to 26 yuan. While the same degree at a "second-tier university" means the dish costs 23 yuan.

And at a "third-tier university" it is 22 yuan.

A “Master’s Degree” costs 28 yuan, while a “Ph.D.” dish costs a whopping 29 yuan.



He’s a college graduate, but he ate like an academician!!

At the top of this pricing system is the title of “Academician,” which refers to members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences or the Chinese Academy of Engineering. This prestigious award is considered the pinnacle of scientific achievement in mainland China, and dishes with this title cost 32 yuan.

Funnily enough, the cheapest dish in the restaurant, priced at five yuan, is labeled “Bai Ding,” which means “illiterate” in Chinese.



Large portions in a Chinese cafe, that's what wins you over, not three fettuccine smeared on a plate

For example, a plate of shrimp dumplings is relatively expensive, it is sold at the "PhD" rate of 29 yuan.

A restaurant employee said that they have been using this unique pricing system for several years. The authorities do not see any violation in this, as long as all price information is sent to the client in full before ordering.

Funny or humiliating?

The authorities have no opinion, but the public is very outraged. Because this is the most painful point of the Chinese - education and discrimination in education.



In general, in such cafes the prices are quite reasonable for a good dish

You know, and I wrote that children in China are simply exhausted, because they study from morning to night on a bunch of courses and at home. Parents see education as the only social lift and the road to life, and since the competition is simply huge, not all smart children can get higher education.

What can we say about ordinary children, who are constantly required to jump above their heads and not be happy. And such a menu looks like a mockery to them (and you just left the house to eat in silence without your grandmother's reproaches).



So, don't give these dishes more expensive than 5 yuan!

Besides, there is a direct parallel here - the higher your academic degree, the higher your income.

In general, if this were not an extremely painful topic for Chinese society, then such an ironic menu would not have appeared. As a person from the post-Soviet space, where janitors can be PhDs in philosophy, for me this is not so offensive, but simply funny. This topic would not even have gone viral here, well, they did it and did it. And in China there is shock and scandal.