China Part 1 - The Shopping -

I have so much to say and share about our trip to China, but let's face it.... the thing you are all probably MOST curious about is how we made out with all the great shopping! So, that is where I'll start.

We visited several markets in China. We were told to go to the Pearl, Silk, and Lido markets. Somehow we only made it to Lido because our driver, or whoever we got to translate a note to our taxi driver, kept taking us to the wrong markets. Of course it took us a while (each time) to figure out we weren't where we were supposed to be, but we still can't complain because the shopping was still great! We toured the Lido Market (don't recommend it), Silk Street Pearl Market (which is neither the silk OR pearl market... but I can see how confusing it could be), and Yashow Market.

Yashow Clothing Market

This market was one of our favorites. It is mainly a clothing market with things like polo, Spyder, North Face, Columbia, etc... We also got some sunglasses and pashminas here, too.

The vendors at all of the markets carry all KINDS of stuff. Clothes, purses, scarves/pashminas, souvenir items, electronics, jewelry, etc. It's really quite overwhelming because in one market alone (Yashow, for example) there were 5 floors of shopping to sort through in only a short amount of time! The markets are all typically several floors high and they are set up in a similar way to craft fairs back in the states. It's best described as a ton of little cubicles where the vendors can display their goods as they choose. Some stalls/booths are more lavish than others (prime retail) and others are very simple and messy.

The vendors are mostly all very young (late teens, early twenties) Chinese women. The Chinese people are generally not as friendly or courteous as the Korean people. As you walk around the vendors are all shouting out at you "Lady, Lady, come here pretty Lady! I give you good deal. You need pashminas?" It's quite loud and the vendors CAN be very aggressive, although they are not always. Sometimes you might walk by and they'll grab your arm and try to pull you in to their booth. They usually quote you a price that is outrageously high at first... after much (much!) haggling you can usually walk away only paying about 4-10% of their original offer. Yes, you read that correctly! I really think the haggling is a game to them.

John found a good bargaining technique and he was quite the expert by the end of the trip. I will say that my husband has never really enjoyed shopping before, but I think he had more fun than I did on this trip! It really was a game to him. He start joking around and laughing at, and eventually with, the vendors. Almost like flirting with them, just cutting up and joking around about how crazy their prices are, etc... and before long he'd have them talked down to a decent amount, but still more than what we knew we could get it for... so we'd walk away. One step, two steps, three steps (come back sir), four steps, five steps, (okay, $20), keep walking, six steps, seven steps, (okay $15), keeping walking, and walking, ($14), and walking ($13), and then finally you hear the words you want to hear "Okay, okay, okay... come back, you win!"

So, what exactly did we buy in China? Too much! Ha, ha! But we had such a good time!

Here is a run down of our purchases:

Mens Spyder Ski Suit

Spyder Goggles

Spyder Gloves (2)

Sunglasses: Armani, Chanel, Ray Ban, Oakley

Cashmere and Silk Pashminas/Scarves (19)

Children's Spyder Ski Jackets (3)

Tiffany Necklace and Bracelet set

Chopsticks and a Beijing Magnet (our touristy type souvenirs)

North Face Hiking Backpack (small size)

Louis Vuitton Large Bag and matching wallet

Jimmy Choo Bag

Gucci Bag

Chanel Bag

1 set of Callaway Golf clubs complete with head covers, carry bag/travel bag, umbrella, and hat

Things we could have bought but didn't:

Uggs and many other name brand shoes (pumas, etc)

North Face/Columbia Ski Apparel and Jackets

Silk Blankets

Pearls (I heard a story about a girl who bought a set for $200, it appraised in America for $2000)

Jade jewelry and carvings

Ipods and other electronics

Polo shirts/pants/etc

Silk ties

and the list goes on and on

John trying on his Spyder ski pants with his favorite vendor of the whole trip, JoJo.

John sort of made friends with some of the vendors, JoJo being one of them. She told us that Americans are typically her best customers because they will pay a lot more for items than people from other countries. At the same time Americans are also her 'worst' customers because the ones that have done their homework prior to shopping know that you can get things for dirt cheap and know how to bargain. JoJo wrote out directions for us to visit another market where her sister works, selling sunglasses...

So, in a city filled with 17 million people, we set off to yet another market in search of sunglasses. On the fourth floor there were about 50+ vendors selling sunglasses. Imagine our surprise when we just so happen to chose the exact vendor where JoJo's sister works! Here is a picture of JoJo's sister (KoKo- notice a pattern?) in the purple elephant shirt, and the other vendor we 'worked' with whose name I do not remember.

Here I am with my friend, Kim, that I met on the tour shopping through a catalog of purses.

I will end this post with some "close up" shots of our loot!

Stay tuned for more from our China Trip!