Rules for Shopping

This morning we headed out to an old “restored” fishing village just outside of Shanghai. Tongli was not exactly what I had anticipated. I thought it would be sort of like Williamsburg- people in period costumes reenacting an old way of life in the name of preservation. Instead, it turned out to be more like Gatlinburg- a beautiful setting with lots of potential and lots of crap for sale. Don’t get me wrong. I bought my fair share of crap this morning while wandering through town. But I didn’t like how you were bombarded by shop people calling out, “Hello! Hello! You like? Hello!” It got a little old if you were just in the mood to window shop. It also reminded me a little of “Welcome to Moe’s!”


Rule No. 1: It is the custom here to bargain for prices. Our tour leaders said to offer the store keepers 10% of what they were asking. I have a hard time doing that. Yesterday, a lady offered me two terracotta figurines for 50 yuan. I offered her 30 yuan (which is way more than 10%). She laughed in my face, and said, “No, lady. I offer you best price I got.” Like a fool, and afraid I had insulted her, I forked over the 50 yuan (which is equalivent to like $7). Today Mrs. Brock and I found the same stinking figurines for 5 yuan a piece! When the woman told us the price, I got mad, didn’t say anything, and walked away. She followed us shouting, “No good? I give you cheap! 3 yuan! 3 yuan!” So, that’s the secret. No matter how interested you are in whatever the wares may be, you walk away. Fear of missing a sale will cause them to follow you. And if they don’t, there is another vendor just around the corner selling the EXACT same thing who is willing to offer you a better price.

Rule No. 2: You have to be careful. A better price doesn’t necessarily mean that you got a good deal. I’m still learning how to negotiate in the markets here (and can’t wait to get to Japan where you don’t have to bargain!). Today I walked into a shop where the man carved some sort of nut into beads shaped like Buddha heads and made them into bracelets. I absolutely loved them. I asked him how much, and (not speaking English) he pulled out his calculator and typed in “680” meaning it cost 680 yuan. That’s like $115, so of course I said, “Boo ya,” which means “don’t want.” (Boo ya isn’t spelled “boo ya,” by the way. That’s just how I remember how to say it.) The next store I went in had the same beads. The man who ran the shop and I went back and forth until we agreed on the price of 215 yuan, which is like $35. Much better price! When I got to lunch, I realized they were plastic. I was so caught up in the moment, excited that I was bargaining, that I didn’t pay attention to the quality of what I was buying. Buyer beware.



On a different shopping front, we flew to Beijing today. Out hotel is just off Tiananmen Square and adjacent to a huge pedestrian mall. Right on the corner, just outside our hotel door, is a McDonalds. Yeeeessssss!!!! I had not eaten much since my potatoes and spaghetti for breakfast- yes, spaghetti, don’t ask- so I was starving. I ate two large fries and a chocolate milkshake for dinner. It was heaven!





Then a few of us went walking through the shops.

Rule No. 3: Always carry your man bag. It truly is a cultural phenomenon here! And I got confirmation that they are not just carrying their girlfriends’ purses. I saw several groups of all guys, and many of them had very feminine looking man purses. Granted, many of them also had small versions of the messenger bag, but I did spy several pink leather knock-off purses as well. Let’s play I Spy, shall we? Let’s see if you can spot the man bags in the pictures below:













Here are a few more pictures from today: