You Need This!

Yesterday, I went shopping for the first time here in Beijing. I visited a market out near the Boxing venue, that had been recommended to me. It is very much like the famed "Silk Market", except that the surrounding area is a home to many ex-pat foreigners, so you are not automatically treated like a tourist, the vendors aren't nearly as aggressive, and the quality of merchandise and pricing is the same or better.

The market is essentially a 4-story mall, with hundreds of vendors hawking everything from trinkets, to silks, to jewellry, to clothing and electronics (including knock-offs of many famous brands).

Walking the aisles is an adventure in itself. Each cubicle store is staffed by pretty girls in pink tops who call to you to come look at their merchandise (it reminds me of the Greek Sirens, don't get too close or you end up in trouble). If you make eye contact or say hello, they step up the sales pitch.

"What you want?", "You need this!", "Look at my pearls", "I give you best price" - they are persistent to a fault. Most of this, however, is done with a smile on their faces, and as long as you keep smiling back, you can get away by saying "Just looking", or "Not interested". I kept many of them at bay by saying I needed to look around and that I would come back (although most of the time, I didn't).

From some of the vendors, I (supposedly) learned how to tell real jade from fake (they demonstrated using a real jade bracelet to scratch glass), and how to tell real pearls from fake (scraping a real pearl with the blade of a pair of scissors creates pearl dust, without doing any visible damage to the pearl, while scraping a fake pearl reveals the glass ball under the paint). Even it the tests are fake, it was still an impressive demonstration.

I tended to shop at the places that allowed me to browse without harassing me too much (polite banter was fine), or without shoving things I had no interest in under my nose. As soon as you show interest in something, though, they lock in on you and try desperately to close the sale.

From here, these are the tips I was given:

- always ask to see the "higher quality" version (maybe a couple of times) as much of what is on display is the lowest quality

- take what they give you as their asking price and divide by six for your opening offer, don't settle for more than 33% of their original price.

- be prepared to walk away (maybe a couple of times) and they will literally chase you with a better price

- you get a better deal if you buy more than one item from the same vendor

- be firm, but polite and friendly, never stop smiling, bargain hard knowing that they will not sell you something if they aren't making money on it

- but remember that they are trying to make a living too (in a land where almost half of the population lives on less than $2 a day) and be satisfied when you feel you have gotten good value

The negotiations take place almost entirely by calculator. They type in their asking price, you "hmm and haw" a bit and look disturbed, then you type in your offer. They will look shocked and say "You killing me!", "Too low!", and respond with their second offer.

This can go on for awhile, each of you moving tiny increments (or not at all), until you threaten to leave (or actually leave), then the price drops quickly by as much as half. Now you are getting close, and they start to say "Just a little bit more" for each of your offers. Eventually you will settle, and it is smiles all around.

I bought lots of jewellry for Susan, including two jade bracelets as shown above, and a few things for the kids. I also got two gorgeous necklaces with matching bracelets, one set with jade, and another with onyx and pearl, both with sterling silver (or so I am supposed to believe). These four pieces started at 2300 Yuan, but I ended up getting all four of them for 750 total (about $124).

I was very happy with the look of everything I bought. Who knows if I got a good deal or not? Even if what I bought wasn't genuine, I think you'd be hard pressed to buy costume jewellry that looks as nice for anywhere near that price at home.

It must sound like a harrowing experience, but in all honesty, it was the most fun I have had since I have been here. I thoroughly enjoyed it - so much so, that I ended up spending all my money, and had to take the subway home because I didn't have enough for cab fare!