Tao Jia Huan Jia

Monday, August 20, 2007

One of the highlights of living in China for me is tao jia huan jia (bargaining) aka shopping. Usually I go to large shopping centers to observe people and explore. I am not a big shopping fan, but here in Beijing I often find myself bargaining for fun at places such as Wangfujing, Xidan, Silk Market, Yashow, non-tourist flea markets, and indeed it is a lot of fun when you almost always get the price you call, literally. I think I'm starting to learn the tjhj secret. =)

The fun started when my friend and I accidentally walked the wrong direction and ended up at the Silk Market! This is aka foreigner's "shopping heaven" because even if you are a bad bargainer, you can get a lot of fake stuff with decent quality for a cheaper price than the US. To name a few: ski gear, scarves, fake branded clothing, sunglasses, purses, shoes, watches, jewelry etc...pretty much anything you can think of in 6 different floors.

I did not plan to buy anything that day but wanted to practice some chinese so I started calling off very ridiculously low prices just to see where it'll take me. One shop after another, I was able to buy everything at the price I first called, not a kuai more. All it took, I learned, sticking to your price and walking away. =) You need to stubborn and not fear what the vendor will say (ie. are you kidding me? you must be joking. this is the best price). If you can do a few of these things, then I think you're golden. Also, I forgot to mention, it's like playing The Price is Right because you'll need to have an idea of a ridiculously cheap price for whichever item. These are some starting prices and the price I bought the item for so you can have an idea:

1. white purse: 650 yuan --> 60 yuan. (less than 1/10 of price)
2. decent quality tie: 460 --> 40
3. exercise pants: 220 --> 45
4. toy cow: 125 --> 25
5. hair clips: 120 --> 10
6. baseball cap: 350 --> 20
7. I admit to one failure at the Silk Market: a shirt 140 --> 20 (he would only sell it for 25, and I stuck to 20, so suan le, I didn't need it...just buy for fun)

Here are some pictures of some famous shopping centers:

Xidan - fun, crowded
Wangfujing - a nice place to stroll around
McDonalds and many people at Wangfujing
Big shopping centers all surrounding Beida and the night life.
Many people like to go shopping at night. The weather's cool, and the girls don't have to hide from the sun to stay pale.

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