Today Kiki took me on a field trip to the Silk Market. I really wanted to go and Mike thought I might have a good time with Kiki, so I asked her if we could go shopping instead of our traditional tutoring. CTG had warned me that the place was overwhelming. The guide books said it was best to go during the week early in the morning to avoid the crowds. The place was madness, mania, overwhelming….whatever word you would like to use. Everywhere we went people screamed, “Lady! You want to buy children’s clothes?” or “Lady! You want to buy a jacket for your husband?” Just fill in the blank for what they were selling in their stall.
I was on a mission to find specific gifts and I was ready to bargain. Having Kiki there as a reference point for pricing and to help with the bargaining was also great. She told me that several shop keepers told her in Chinese when the transactions were over that I was a very good bargainer. The transactions were all very fun and some of the conversations were more entertaining than others. Most of the people there understand enough English to be following your conversation. Our last stop was at a clothing stall near the exit and I saw a really cute skirt, so we stopped. Here is the conversation that followed. SG = Salesgirl. All numbers in yuan. And I would like you to know that all of this occurred with me wearing a big smile on my face. It’s not good if you are mean or angry about it.
L: I like that skirt. Do you have my size?
SG: Please step in here and I will measure you…..yes I have your size.
L: How much?
SG: grabs calculator and punches in 450.
L: Foreigner PRICE!
SG: Okay because you have pretty Chinese friend I give you Chinese friend price. 390.
L: (In Chinese I say) That’s too much.
SG: What’s your highest possible price? (hands me calculator)
L: 110.
SG: (all drama now) No….that’s not enough.
L: Okay. Xie Xie. (thank you – and I start to walk away)
SG: Wait! (then she puts her arms around me and whispers) I’ll give you secret friend price 190.
L: No, 110.
SG: Oh please 180.
L: No, 110.
SG: Okay super secret price 150.
L: No. 110. (at this point I am ready to start laughing at all the girls facial expressions and antics!)
SG: Okay 110.
Now while all this is going on Kiki is behind me working a deal on a skirt for herself. We get all done and she asks me what I paid and told me I did good against the girl. Then she told me they asked her to please not tell me that she was getting hers for 90. HA HA!! So I didn’t feel bad at all about standing firm with the girl. There were a couple of things that I wanted and knew the price was inflated, so Kiki had me totally low-ball it and in many cases they agreed after much DRAMA and banging into the calculator trying to get me to change my mind.
One stall that had little girl clothes had the cutest Polo dress that I knew was a knock off and they girl gave me the starting price and I said no. Then she said, “Polo. Good brand.” I said, “Knock off!!!” She took 10 yuan off the price, so I sorta stuck my head out into the aisle as if to say, “I see this dress in 4 other stalls right here.” The girl started laughing and gave it to me at the price I asked. Only one guy seemed to get annoyed by my bargaining and I knew that he could understand me so I said, “You didn’t have to take the price I asked for.” And Kiki told him not to be angry and then he told her I was a good bargainer and to come back in 10 minutes for my item 🙂
All in all, Kiki and I had a great time and I feel that I did very well with the prices and got some really cool stuff. I had a little pearl bracelet made for Nadia at a stall the flight attendant recommended. I got myself a few things and quite a few more gifts for people back home. Kiki acted really impressed with my bargaining skills and laughed multiple times at how I held my ground.
Then in the afternoon I had my last Chinese Painting class and Jenny taught me how to do the traditional fish. Mike and Nadia came up to the school with me and everyone just loved her. Mike’s teacher got to meet her and gave her a little stuffed animal mirror thing. They wanted to get some photos of our family up at the school before we left this weekend. Once we were through she said that I did good and all the times she has taught this she has never had a student paint a fish that looked like a fish the first time. She said animals are harder than flowers because they must have some life to them. I felt very proud of such a compliment. Here we are after class.
