Where was I?

Ah yes, the shopping adventure.


Needless to say, Beijing’s electronic center is both massive and daunting. Matt Damon and I price checked and wandered through several of the seven buildings before I settled on a Chinese brand called “爱国” which directly translates to love country, and more figuratively means patriotism. Camera + all of the fixings came out to somewhere right around 150$. Year long warranty, ten days to exchange for whatever I want.

It’s a good thing it comes with ten days, cause the little bugger started acting up on me and I’m hauling it in for that exchange tomorrow. Shame. (I'm taking Mongolian homeboy with me to make sure it gets taken care of the right way. huzzah!)


Next on the fateful shopping day was a trip with the lovely Risbeth to the Silk Market. Not so much a market as an enormous building with floor after floor of well done knock off goods at cut rate ghetto prices, the place was packed. Now, not all the goods were knockoffs. Though the bottom most floor was filled with fake Sevens and True Religions (and Joes, R&R, Citizens..) and the floor after that the same, there was an entire floor dedicated to silk, above which was the jewelry floor- fully half of which was jade.

Just a comment on the fakes: really, really well done. I’m not sure they’re so good they could have gotten past Shane back at Nordstrom, but I definitely would have let a couple slip past me without noticing. [then Shane or Rose would have found them in the return pile and scolded me for not paying more attention, but that’s ancient history now :) ]


What did I buy? Oh, well, I picked up a gorgeous silk scarf, pale and creamy with scenes of provincial life, enormous envy green D&G knock off shades, flats, a guanyin bodhisattva jade necklace, and a jade bracelet akin to the one Alea gave me (small jade discs connect by string).
Let me dwell for a moment upon the importance of bargaining (and of using your Chinese when you bargain. I am utterly convinced that you can get a lower price in Mandarin than in English)

Scarf
Asking: 160rmb After Bargaining: 20rmb
Shades
Asking: 180rmb After Bargaining: 30rmb
Flats
Asking: 260rmb After Bargainig: 60rmb
Necklace
Asking: 250rmb After Bargaining: 50rmb
Bracelet
Asking: 140rmb Paid: 30rmb


Total I spent 190rmb, which equals roughly $27. For everything.


So, what is the lesson of today? When in China, bargain. Hard. Be prepared to walk away if they won’t match your price. If they say 160, counter with 16 and go up from there. Why were the flats so relatively expensive? I don’t know, all the shoes I price matched were priced that way. But that was my Sunday in a nutshell. How did i feel about the enormous building dedicated to the spectre of consumerism? Well, i liked it more than shopping centers im used to because the exploitation was more thinly veiled. If I'm going to be participating in consumerism I'd like to see my exploitation upfront- not only does it cut down on middle man costs but it allows me to own up to the fact that this great machine called capitalism is a living, breathing, human relfection (cause lets face it, Communist or not China is one of the biggest hitters on Capitalism's starting line). I'd like to look this demon in the proverbial face. When you shop in a big department store (or the dainty specialty shops) it's easy to ignore everything that goes into your end product. It's easy to ignore that human stain on the products you buy. At the Silk Market, not so much.

Does that make sense, or is it all socialist drivel?

I'll expand later. My bus is leaving for the Great Wall.
Yea, I'm pretty disgusted by that too. I'll talk about historical sites being turned into amusement parks when i get back.

<3