Shanghai Shopping
I set up this blog as a way to share our adventures with you folks back in the States. I hope you enjoy seeing all the photos and enjoy reading the tales of our time here in China. I have to admit though, there is a darker side to this blog as well. In true Chinese propaganda style, the ulterior motive behind this blog is to subconsciously convince you all to purchase plane tickets to Shanghai.
With all the things that David and I have seen and done in the past three weeks, it's hard to know where to begin this blog. So I guess I'll begin with what has been consuming most of our time here thus far. Shopping. Who said China isn't a Capitalist society? We haven't made it to any cultural site whatsoever, but we did find time to shop. It seems like Shanghai is filled with nothing but markets. You really get a sense of Shanghai and Chinese culture when you visit each of these places and interact with the people working there. I'll break down the different types below.
The Antique Market
Located along Dong Tai Lu, this market really feels like my preconceived notions of China. It is one long street with small antique vendors lining either side.The building are much shorter than the ones you find elsewhere in the city and not nearly as new. They sell everything from knick knacks to beautiful furniture to Chairman Mao statues. Many of the stores have the same things. This makes bargaining very easy. They know that if they don't give you a good price you'll walk two feet further and give your business to some else. In China you can not accept the first price offered because it is always tremendously inflated. I've learned to bargain with a smile on my face. I bought a beautiful red "leather" (I'm not convinced that it is) for 250 rmb ($31 US). They originally wanted me to pay 800 rmb ($100)!!! I found the more I smiled and tried to joke around with the vendor, themore willing he was to lower his price.
The Flower Market
This is one of my favorite places to go so far. The market is divided into different sections. There are sections for cut flowers, house plants, huge outdoor potted plants, and fake flowers. There are several orchid shops that sell the most lovely orchid plants that I have ever seen. We've recently bought a very lovely bonsai tree and an orchid plant. It's amazing how quickly a few plants can make an apartment feel like a home.
The Soft Spinning Fabric Market
Ah, this is a woman's dream. Picture three floors of tiny fabric stalls. Each stall specializes in different types of fabric and has a clothing specialty. There are separate stalls that make custom order suits, beautiful cashmere coats, button down office type shirt, dresses, and skirts. You name it and it's there. I went and had two shirts made. One out of a red-orange silk and a purple one. I pick them up this weekend. You can get them down to $10 or so per shirt depending on the type of fabric.
The Cricket and Bird Market
This is my least favorite of the markets, but it is still really interesting. Most of the market is filled with cricket vendors. There are hundreds of small metal and plastic containers all over this market. Each one contains a cricket. The vendors open the jars from time to time to feed and poke them. Yes, poke them. I guess it makes them meaner. The meaner the better because these are fighting crickets. There are superstitions that crickets from certain areas or who have certain marking are fiercer than other. I'm not sure if I buy it. I think it's that Capitalism thing again.
The Electronics Market
Again, picture a three level mall filled with electronics vendors. All of whom are more than willing to cut you a deal. We looked at LCD projects. The guy first quoted 16000 rmb. We said no and he quickly dropped his price down to 8000. I'm sure that if we were really interested that we could have gotten him to go much lower.
With all the things that David and I have seen and done in the past three weeks, it's hard to know where to begin this blog. So I guess I'll begin with what has been consuming most of our time here thus far. Shopping. Who said China isn't a Capitalist society? We haven't made it to any cultural site whatsoever, but we did find time to shop. It seems like Shanghai is filled with nothing but markets. You really get a sense of Shanghai and Chinese culture when you visit each of these places and interact with the people working there. I'll break down the different types below.
The Antique MarketLocated along Dong Tai Lu, this market really feels like my preconceived notions of China. It is one long street with small antique vendors lining either side.The building are much shorter than the ones you find elsewhere in the city and not nearly as new. They sell everything from knick knacks to beautiful furniture to Chairman Mao statues. Many of the stores have the same things. This makes bargaining very easy. They know that if they don't give you a good price you'll walk two feet further and give your business to some else. In China you can not accept the first price offered because it is always tremendously inflated. I've learned to bargain with a smile on my face. I bought a beautiful red "leather" (I'm not convinced that it is) for 250 rmb ($31 US). They originally wanted me to pay 800 rmb ($100)!!! I found the more I smiled and tried to joke around with the vendor, themore willing he was to lower his price.
The Flower Market
This is one of my favorite places to go so far. The market is divided into different sections. There are sections for cut flowers, house plants, huge outdoor potted plants, and fake flowers. There are several orchid shops that sell the most lovely orchid plants that I have ever seen. We've recently bought a very lovely bonsai tree and an orchid plant. It's amazing how quickly a few plants can make an apartment feel like a home.
The Soft Spinning Fabric MarketAh, this is a woman's dream. Picture three floors of tiny fabric stalls. Each stall specializes in different types of fabric and has a clothing specialty. There are separate stalls that make custom order suits, beautiful cashmere coats, button down office type shirt, dresses, and skirts. You name it and it's there. I went and had two shirts made. One out of a red-orange silk and a purple one. I pick them up this weekend. You can get them down to $10 or so per shirt depending on the type of fabric.
The Cricket and Bird MarketThis is my least favorite of the markets, but it is still really interesting. Most of the market is filled with cricket vendors. There are hundreds of small metal and plastic containers all over this market. Each one contains a cricket. The vendors open the jars from time to time to feed and poke them. Yes, poke them. I guess it makes them meaner. The meaner the better because these are fighting crickets. There are superstitions that crickets from certain areas or who have certain marking are fiercer than other. I'm not sure if I buy it. I think it's that Capitalism thing again.
The Electronics MarketAgain, picture a three level mall filled with electronics vendors. All of whom are more than willing to cut you a deal. We looked at LCD projects. The guy first quoted 16000 rmb. We said no and he quickly dropped his price down to 8000. I'm sure that if we were really interested that we could have gotten him to go much lower.
posted by kimnyc at 8:04 AM
3 Comments:
Looks like NYC's chinatown! Are you sure you're in China???
Hope your having fun!
Jason & Erica
Shanghai is very hot and muggy right now. Today was actually one of the nicest days we've had so far. Our place is really lovely. It's smaller thatn we had originally thought it would be, but it's still plenty big for us. I'll be posting some photos of the view from our balcony. It's very pretty. It's a bit too manicured for my tastes, but still very comforting to look at.
Jason & Erica,
It is very much like New York. David and I have been saying to each other that it doesn't fell like we're in China. Much of it feels like Flushing or Chinatown, only much cooler and with more communication problems. How are things in your neck of the woods?
xoxox
k
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