Whomping Wallets!

So! I've told you the awesome boots story. In fact, I'm wearing the boots right now. The style I've seen here is wearing cool boots over (bootleg cut) pants, or wearing stockings, shorts and boots that go together. I'm wearing the later style. I've already gotten one compliment from a student. I guess I look "cool" or something...

Upon leaving Qipu market, as I went through the exit I had opened my handbag to take out my scarf. I was only carrying one bag (with the boots in it), but I remember saying to myself, "just be careful, Amy." I did not heed my own warning. I closed my bag and walked down the steps to catch up with my friends. A beggar was heckling me (very aggressively) and I walked away from him. The next thing I know I look at my bag and it's open. I thought to myself, "Did I forget to close it? Oh no. CRAP." I checked inside and my wallet was missing.

I told my friends. They asked, "Amy are you sure?" I double-checked. Yes. Some guy who was just sitting on a parked motorcycle said he saw it happen. I asked him what the thief looked like (in Chinese) and where did he go? The guy was frustratingly apathetic, a total jerk. JiangJiang asked him in Chinese for the details, and he just said "他是一个新疆人。" (He is a XinJiang person.) Xinjiang people are a minority group from Western China.
The people from the region are predominately Muslim. They are a minority group that has had constant bouts with the Han Chinese. Usually some of the XinJiang people migrate to cities to find work, but the Chinese impression of them is that they can't be trusted. They usually have

The man on the motorcycle was most likely in on the scheme but there is no way to prove it. He told me the thief ran in one direction when he could have easily gone either way. I was so angry at the time and I still am. My friends then called the police who arrived within about 5 minutes.
Previously I have been very scared of the police because in a country where I don't really know my specific rights, I honestly just don't want any altercations with people in uniform. But I really want to give props to the Chinese government. The police officers actually responded to the call, arrived quickly, and did what they could to interview the man on the motorcycle and try to fix the incident. The motorcycle guy said the thief took the money out of the wallet and put it on a motorcycle that zoomed off. I don't believe this story because it would make sense for the thief to get away first and then inspect his spoils, not hang around the incident where the theft occurred. After all of this, the police drove us all to the police station and were very patient trying to look up my passport number (which I didn't have with me), in order to identify me. They also helped me with the police report and were incredibly kind. They said they would do what they could to help find my wallet, and hopefully someone would turn it in.

At the station, I called Natalie who was nice enough to call my dad (who answered the phone at 5:30am, already awake), to tell him to cancel my credit card and debit card. I also called my Chinese bank and changed my pin number and canceled the card.. or something. It was complicated. Jiangjiang said that if it was Xinjiang people they usually work in groups, and it was better they took my money than hurt me. One of our mutual friends (Eva) had watched a child (who was a Xinjiang person) try to steal. She told the person who was going to be stolen from, and an older (xinjiang) man went up to her, kicked her, and told her to mind her own business. Now I don't want to sound racist, but I'm just explaining things that have been told to me about this particular group of people.

After we left the station, Jiangjiang and Tianwen gave me some money so I could go home. I took a cab and spoke to the driver a bit about Xinjiang people. He didn't seem to like them either. He told me that they shouldn't be trusted. I didn't quite understand everything he was saying, but I did understand he wasn't particularly fond of them.

Sunday afternoon Jane (the LS principal) called me saying the police called her because someone had turned in the wallet. Jane was kind enough to arrange transportation for me to go into Puxi (I didn't really have enough cash to get there myself), and I got my wallet back. The policemen at this station were also very friendly, and happy I could say a few words in the Shanghai dialect. I got everything back except my transportation card (which only had 15 kuai), and I lost about 300-350 kuai (about $45-$50). It could have been worse, but not I have to deal with the debacle of getting all of my cards re-issued while abroad. Ugh.