Bargaining at the Silk Market: Friday, May 18th

Normally I am not a person who does a lot of shopping, especially on vacation, but shopping in China is not only an experience, but it is really fun. This market had six floors; each floor-containing booth after booth of anything you could think of. My favorite floor was the jewelry floor and I spent most of my time there. As you walk through the allies, you would hear attendants yell at you, “Hi Lady, take a look, I give you good price!” You learn quickly how to shop well: Once you find a booth you like, (and make sure you like it) you enter it and the attendant follows you around asking you what you are looking for. It is very important that you don’t talk to him or her at all until you find something that you want. If you change your mind about the booth, simply walk away and say nothing. This is more polite than talking to them and not buying something. Once you find something you want, you decide how much you would pay for it in American dollars and then cut that number in half. You ask the attendant how much is, they will look you up and down, think about it, and then give a crazy high number. The trick is to stick to your number no matter what. Usually they would start with a number like 150 RMB ($20) and I will get it down to between 20-30RMB ($3-$5), a common discount. Either they will eventually give it to you or they will let you walk away and you’ll find the better price somewhere else. Everyone is so friendly that it is really fun and you walk away with some wonder things.