Day Two - First Bargaining Lessons

Right now I'm sitting with my roommate, Annie, in a cafe around the corner from the hotel, drinking a mocha and eating yet another luna bar. Rewinding back to this morning...

We woke up this morning, leaving enough time to go downstairs to breakfast, and were so happy that we did. The Weinjin's breakfast is probably among the best, and most interesting, that I've ever had. Items spotted: fried chicken, fried rice, scrambled eggs, dragonfruit, sushi, fresh pineapple, pineapple juice, cocoa krispies, noodles, various soups, breads, etc. I knew I would be eating rice for 3 meals a day...haha.



We then met up with three students from Tsinghua University in the lobby and split off into groups and headed down to the campus for a tour. Parts of it reminded us of UofM (there was a building that looked like Rackham Auditorium, for example) but other parts were way beyond that (such as the park where I snuck photos of locals fishing, doing walking meditation, and painting). Katie, Erin & I got Tsignhua University T-shirts from a park vendor for the cost of an iced coffee - worth it. Now we can officially look like we "go here." I'm excited to go to lectures there, the campus is beautiful.



We wandered around the "park" for a while (it looked like some resort or temple grounds) and then went to lunch at the campus cafeteria. I couldnt eat much there, but I snagged some green plastic chopsticks that they had in their dining hall...



We all couldnt fit on the shuttle back to the hotel so about half of us walked back, trying not to get run over by countless cyclists. We noticed how a lot of couples have the man biking with the woman sitting sideways behind him on the bike, holding a parasol for shade. It was pretty cute.



Once at the hotel we rested for a few minutes, rounded up 14 people, and mapped out a subway route to the Pan Jia Yuan market, an outdoor market that sells rows and rows of antiques, beads, statues, and jewelry. (aka exactly what I wanted to browse). I ended up finding a Siddhartha metal statue, which is colorfully handpainted in parts. We learned our first lessons about negotiating with the Chinese today...cut their asking price in half, at least, and then walk away until they chase after you with their calculators and agree to sell it to you at their price. We have video footage of other bargaining efforts..and it's pretty hilarious. Basically, if you turn down someone's product and walk away, they will find you later and grab you, and sometimes start yelling..it was an interesing experience. Oh I also found a turqoise pendant thats carved into a little buddha. Also had to bargain for that - but they tried to rip me off by giving me less change back. They didn't win.



We then took the subway to the Silk Market, which is actually connected to the subway stop, and were amazed by the six-floor structure. Different floors had stall after stall of purses, shoes, knock-off brands, and eventually, tailor-made suits and silk items. We all agreed that it was so large that we needed to make another trip back sometime to be able to see everything. I found a new hipscarf for bellydancing (and got one for half the price they are back home!), so that was an unexpected find. At that point we were pretty sure that we had walked at least ten miles - and had to brave the crowded rush-hour subway on the way back to the hotel.



Once we got back, we had planned to all meet up and go out to a club or something, so Annie & I went back to our room for a minute to rest. We noticed that the bottoms of our feet were black from the city street dirt, so we helped eachother wash our feet..haha. we then collapsed on oir beds and accidentally fell asleep..untl 10:30pm. So much for going out? We forgot to eat dinner so we desperately roamed the hotel in search for a cafe that was still open..but intstead came upon a dark, shady floor that had a cute tea room (that was pitch black) but decided to run back downstairs after hearing indeterminable noises from a couple rooms over..

So we ended up at this corner cafe, with our laptops and our appetites, and decided to crash here for a while. They're closing in a few minutes, so I'll upload a couple of main photos later.

Tomorrow we have a full day of sightseeing at places like the Forbidden City, followed by some sort of acrobat show at night. Should be interesting. I don't think that classes start until Thursday, so thus far, this feels like some sort of group vacation/intensive summer camp. I'm loving it.


So, tips for bargaining in Beijing:
1 - stick to your price and dont back down. ever.
2 - if they insist they are giving you a good deal, had a friend say, pitifully, "___ amount is all that he/she has"
3 - always mention how other people are offering you better deals
4 - dont ever look too interested
5 - if people refer to you as "lady" or "young girl," keep walking
6 - count your change


Until then,

Karen