Ari's Planet

I met an Israeli girl at the hostel and got to speak more Hebrew in China in a day than I had in years. We went to the Temple of Heaven park on Saturday morning and watched people exercise. Chinese love to exercise. They play a hackie-sack like game well into middle age. This is no small feat. In the US usually only college-aged people play the game. They practice taichi, with or without swords. Push-hands (part of taichi). Paddle-ball, only a more sophisticated version where you have to match the trajectory of the ball with your paddle to catch it. Running. Badminton. All in the most filthy, polluted air. A big park, ordered trees.

From the park we went shopping in Sanlun (sp) market. The place to get bargains. A big building with many small stalls, each selling the same knock-offs. Shoes, jackets, nadbags, nicknaks, silk, shirts, on and on. You can't walk by a stall without being accosted. Brands like The North Face have managed to get the government to chase their brands off the shelves, so you see lots of stuff by Peak. Just ask, and TNF jackets are produced from behind. More can be brought from the storage rooms. Now bargain.

I read on wikitravel how to bargain. Walk into a stall. Name a price much lower than what you think the item is worth. Haggle for a while till they stop at some price. Go on to the next stall. Repeat 3 or so times. Now you know what the item is worth. My companion knew the approximate prices for items like jackets (100-150Y), shirts (20-30Y), etc. We went around playing this game. The vendor offers an absurd price, say 1500Y for a jacket. You say 100Y. The vendor drops quickly to around 500Y. Then you meet resistance. The vendor pulls sad faces, the tone gets hurt, they ask you to stop making jokes. Just stick to your original price. Ok, they're down to 200Y. Walk away. They run after you, it drops some more, 180Y, 170Y. You can walk back, maybe inch up a bit if you really want the item. Finally you make a deal, they act hurt. Money exchanges, "you're real tough", smiles. The game is over, on to the next customer, victim, trophy. We buy 8GB USB cards for 100Y each (about $2/GB), I just hope their up to spec and not bad memory.

My last day in Beijing I look for Fedex to send something I need tracked home. On the way I pass the Silk Street Market, which is similar to Sanlun Market. In front are Western-style cafes filled with tourists. Around the side are open-air food vendors selling to Chinese. I wander around, my eye is caught by a man making noodles. He grabs a big chunk of dough and pulls it a few times until it shreds. No noodle press. He throws it into a pot of boiling water tended by a woman (perhaps his wife), add veggies, move to another pot, add some broth, a bit of meat, for 3Y you have a meal made fresh on the spot. I take some pictures, but then decide it's a good spot to eat. The food is pretty good.

The street the LP guide says FedEx is on is being completely overhauled. I find the building, but they're no longer there. The other shipping company (DHL, UPS), their building is being gutted. I go to the China World Trade Center and find UPS, which is pricier for slower service, but it should work.

Back to Silk Street, which is really a 5-storey building filled with vendors and stalls. I wander around. The basement, in a corner, a shoe store with many hiking boot models. A low-pressure salesman. Asks me what I payed for my Solomon's, $6. They're normally $110, but REI had a remainder sale. They don't have my size. They never have my size. When you ask for a shoe in your size, show them your shoe, they want you to try on the floor model, or whatever they have in stock, regardless. Only after you try it on will they run in back to check. Of course, they don't have my size. The shoes are cheap knockoffs priced at rediculous prices. No support for the foot, not well made.

Maybe I'll buy me a fake jacket. I find a beard trimmer, a hard thing to find, my first bargaining today, I'm sure they get 3x what it is worth, but I have what I need. I try for a present (can't reveal it here), bargain the price down. Move on to another stall, repeat. A third stall. No one will match the first price, I must have hit what they are willing to sell it. I buy. She really wants 5Y more, tries to renege, I insist. Finally, I go for a jacket. A model catches my eye. North Face, windstopper, soft shell. We bargain, 180Y. No good. Next, next, next. One vendor says they have it, we agree on 155Y, but it arrives as Peak, he drops to 120Y, says he can have TNF tomorrow. That means he can have someone sew a TNF label and put YKK zippers on. Whatever, I want 100Y, move to another stall, another. Finally, I come back. I decide that buying a fake TNF is not kosher, trademark is a fair rule, like a moral right to be identified as the author of a work. I get my cheap jacket ($15). The hazard cost is around $5 for TNF, or at least the premium they want to charge tourists.