'50 Yuan - I gave 50 Yuan yesterday!''Oh right. Eh...well done.'
'And I might give more. I might give more tomorrow. I'll just put in the box when I have time!' said my excited coworker, hiding behind her hand in a vain attempt to hide her giggle. 'Have you donated yet?'
I have, as it happens. I threw a few quid into a box manned by enthusiastic students who shouting 'Bless China!' with an odd air of delight. In return for my good will, I was given a t-shirt and told I could sign my name and the amount I donated.
Is this what charity was meant to be about?
Donation boxes have popped up across Beijing since last week's devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province. And people have responded.
In fact, they really get a kick out of pushing Mao-covered pieces of paper into but red boxes.
The thrill of signing your name and thus getting recognition for your charity - a return on your investment - has people lining up to hand over their spare cash.
Charity is a big deal this week, but that may be partly because it's a relatively new phenomenon.
In the radio station where I'm currently moonlighting, we run hourly stories about people who have raised funds or handed over their life savings to help rebuild schools.
The last time an earthquake of this magnitude hit, it was 1976. This was in the years before 'opening up'; when China was still genuinely communist and nobody had a pair of red cents to rub together. Donating 'spare change' to others was not an option.
Now that middle-class Beijingers are feeling flush, they are indulging in spa treatments, posh restaurants, fancy cars and, now, philanthropy.
I plan to donate 100 Yuan this week but I think I'll do it in several trips so I get the most mileage out of it. And maybe another few t-shirts.
[p.s. The pic is of Chinese soldiers serving in the Congo. That's why they are stuffing the donation box with dollars rather than Yuan. Or perhaps it's because dollars aren't worth much these days anyway...]
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