No More Shopping in China

That's it. I'm done. The department stores are significantly more expensive than the US, so the only place to go for a cheapskate like me is the market. And I've known that I had to go for a long time, but have been putting it off, terrified. Yesterday, I wondered, "Why so scared? Just do it."

Now I remember why.

I went to Hongqiao, because it's got the most junk for Westerners per square foot that I found in the last 2 months. Last time I went, I went with an expert Beijinger, so we got a little more respect. I did not realize that, alone, I would be screamed at, heckled, and ripped off as much as I was.

As I've said earlier, people yelling at me to buy their stuff is the first thing that will get me to never buy it, even if I like it. But good gravy, I couldn't find anywhere to shop in peace. Each little booth on Hongqiao had like 3 ladies in blue in front of it, all yelling "HELLO. BELTS!" or "YOUBUYAWATCHHELLO!" This, multiplied by a dozen at a time, was a barrage I could barely tolerate. My patience with other people--as you know--is short. I almost turned out, but figured it wasn't going to get any better unless I convinced another workmate to come with me. But somehow, it was important that I do it myself. It would end up costing me a lot of money and aggravation.

To this day, I do not know why the "HI! HELLO! YOU BUY MY THING!" strategy works at all, and I blame white people as a whole for it. But my stoicism left enough of an impression on a few people that they shut up for a few seconds to let me browse their wares without serious interruptions or assaults on my personal bubble. Nonetheless, I made a few haggling mistakes that hurt. The first: I told them how many I wanted, before asking for the price. Always bad. If you ask the price, and then say "well, I'll buy more if you make it cheaper," that will help you get the initial price lower. The second was that I did not walk away enough. Sometimes, to get a deal, one must walk away 2 or 3 times. So from one lady, I got her to 10% of her original asking price on one of her wares and 20% on the other, but still knew I was getting ripped off. I should have walked away near the end.

But it's very frustrating being white in a Chinese market. The squaking of sales-ladies is bad enough, but being offered a price more than 10x what is reasonable is just insulting. Sadly, it's been 2 months, and I needed some of this stuff (including luggage), and wasn't willing to actually walk away without it.

But man, I am done shopping.