Shopping

Mall at the Wang Fu Jing Shopping Street
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Today we finally did some shopping. We headed to the Hong Qiao Pearl Market. It wasn’t quite what I remembered but it certainly had pearls. The building is five-stories tall with the basement serving as a seafood market, thus the smell isn’t the best. We went straight to the 3^rd floor where the pearls are sold. I didn’t have any particulars in mind although it probably would’ve been better if I did. I went armed with the advice to start bargaining at 30 percent of what they offered and how to check for fakes. The first lap through I glanced over the merchandise to see what was available. The second you walk in the vendors start calling to you and my mom got stressed. She does not handle bargaining well because she gets too stressed out. I knew I needed to start out small and check out different stalls. I had already accepted the fact that I’d probably get screwed the first time around but as I started buying more I’d get better at getting the best quality for the lowest price. I bought a jade necklace, two pearl necklaces, a bracelet and some other gifts. I was afraid I had gone overboard but upon returning to the hotel and adding up my purchases I was just over $50. Not bad for the amount of items I’d purchased. My bargaining skills were a little rusty but I had at least two vendors who were not happy to sell at the price we agreed. A good sign that the deal I’d made was in fact a good bargain. However, going to these places you’ve got to go in with the mindset of just having fun and not expecting too much.

After about two and half hours of shopping there my mom couldn’t take the smell anymore so we headed back out to a pedestrian mall, Wang Fu Jing Shopping Street, she wanted to see. We hailed a cab and were off…for about 10 feet and then the cab stalled as it tried merging onto a busy street. We immediately jumped out and hailed a newer looking cab. Upon arriving at the pedestrian mall it was clear this was no Pearl Market. We walked down about 100 feet until I couldn’t take the heat anymore and went into the nearest store. It ended up being the entrance to a mall much like American malls only with hundreds of Chinese and three white people. There was the obligatory Star Bucks as well as Dairy Queen and a few other fast food chains I didn’t recognize. The stores were a mix of European and American fashions; Coach, Kookai, La Coste, Adidas, L’Occitane, MANGO and Stuart Weitzman as well as a number of other stores that I wasn’t sure if they were Asian stores or European stores that haven’t come to America. Of course my mom wanted to walk down the area called Gourmet Way which was a mix of restaurants and fast food chains. And we had to stop in the grocery store.

After the mall we headed back to the hotel. During all three cab rides we took, my mom sat with her map open and followed the progress of the taxi driver. Upon arriving safely at the hotel she proclaimed the last driver, “the worst driver we’ve had.” Although in his defense it’s impossible to be a “good driver” in Beijing. You are constantly dodging other traffic and pedestrians and that means plenty of hard brakes and near misses. My long day of shopping had tired me out and more than anything it was nice to be back in the hotel room which has a distinct lack of odd smells. Something the rest of Beijing doesn’t seem to be capable of. My dad was packing for his side trip to Dalian. He had purchased a few things from the vendors that were attending the soybean conference. I’m fairly certain between the three of us we will need to buy a suitcase, yet again, to take all the things we’ve bought back. This happened the last time we were in China. And Steve and Mari, be forewarned you may receive some gifts that aren’t quite appropriate for your kids. My dad seems to have an odd fascination for buying random junk that he finds hilarious but no one would actually want as a gift.

Around 5 p.m. my mom went to walk around the area where the Olympics were held. I had repeatedly told her I was not interested in walking in the sweltering heat to see the Water Cube or the Bird’s Nest so she was a little huffy when she left. It probably didn’t help that we’d already had a fight about the TV being on. She always wants silence and I like to watch TV so it’s been a daily issue. Although in my defense I’d turn down the TV if she’d stop puttering around the room shifting papers, rattling bags and making noise so I can’t hear what is going on. Well when she came back she was settled down so around 7:45 p.m. we headed back to the food court for dinner. After surveying the different options we ended up with a plate of chicken fried rice for $2. And since I hadn’t eaten lunch today I decided I needed some Cold Stone Creamery chocolate ice cream. We started to walk back but then my mom wanted to walk further down and find the larger shopping area that we hadn’t been to yet. So we walked another half block and went into the North Star Shopping Center. Of course it had a huge grocery store and of course my mom had to wander around it for awhile. I think touring different grocery stores has become her new thing instead of touring churches since China isn’t huge on Catholicism. So I ended up trailing behind her for half an hour while she marveled at the food. The seafood area was particularly nasty. I got a good up-close look at what’s been my dinner the last couple of days. And as most people know, I prefer not to see my food in its original form. The jellyfish, whole fish and live shrimp were not pleasant sights. Finally we headed back to the hotel and after a long day of being out I’m ready for bed.