Ch 8: The Dirty North

Beijingers and what I'm finding from most Chinese from the north have a definitive accent. They end all there words with an "er" sound. For example, even when I read the address straight from the Chinese many if not most the cabbies will not understand unless I had the accent. For example (this conversation has been translated into English):
Me: I want to go right there (pointing)
Cabbie: Where, I can't understand you?
Me: Oh, I want to go right "Ther"
Cabbie: Right Ther, I know how to get there, why didn't you say so.

That's why I call Beijing the "Dirty" North.