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What if I make a break for the US border? Will they bring me back to the Canadians?

I would also add that talking about it in English might be difficult for them to express the nuance of the situation.

If the Westerner was willing to talk in Mandarin, perhaps they would be more willing to discuss the issue.

I know frames are a racket but what about lenses? Are Carl Zeiss lenses really that much better than other brands?

That's basically what I do. I have a spare phone with a pay as you go number that I give out and use for other services that want my number. It's basically a dedicated spam phone/number.

I was just in China and when I first met my colleagues they started to tell me what I would need to bypass the Great Firewall.

Also, just about every taxi I took, the taxi driver would complain about the government.

Maybe your colleagues just didn't want to talk about it in a professional setting?

Oh yeah, I don't like it either. Just saying this is another revenue stream for companies.

What I find funny are the people that accept it when it's a Western company doing it, but then freak out with it's a Chinese company doing it (especially when they don't even live in China).

> why do they need to know where I'm at after I get dropped off?

In China, there's a company that provides a free loyalty point program. The store signs up for it, and users download the app and can use it to collect points when a transaction is made at the store. The points can then be exchanged for discounts and other stuff.

All of this is free. How they make money is by selling the user behavior data.

One of the features is the app tracks where the user goes after a transaction is made, so stores can find patterns and possible ways to cross promote.

For example, it might show a trend that 60% of customers will go to the movie theater after dining at your restaurant. Or will go to the Nike store after visiting yours, so perhaps you want to adjust your prices, etc.