The markets in China are fascinating...each one is different than the next. Imagine a huge warehouse with floors and floors of shopping...each floor is (generally) dedicated to one or two items - clothing, purses and luggage, jewellery, touristy stuff, etc...Each floor is divided into countless little booths with individual owners/salespeople...Bartering is normal and expected. Words cannot describe these places, so hopefully a few pictures will help :)
The general appearance of most - narrow aisles, a lot of people, crowded displays - a bit overwhelming when you first step in
The selection can be a little overwhelming...this is the shoe department ;)
A booth of swimsuits...all very decent
A couple of the MANY booths of purses I went through to find Willetta's! I hope you really love it, W! :)
The change room! If you want to try something on, they'll whip out their curtain (really hides me, doesn't it) and pin it up for you. Nice to know I'd never see any of these people again ;)
A fabric area in Erqi, where I got 2 skirts made...this area was absolutely HUGE!
This is Anchung (probably spelt wrong!), a large shopping mall, more like our malls, but also gigantic!
In the basement of Anchung is TrustMart, a branch of WalMart where Trichelle sometimes gets groceries.
This man was selling fresh (?) meats in one of the underground shopping areas by the qingway.
And to top it all off, there's also outdoor markets when the weather is nice enough. This was in Qinghuangdao, just outside the McDonalds. The puppies were a real hit for the kids and the kids were a real hit for the Chinese :)
Another outdoor market area, selling mostly food...oh the smells!
The markets were an enjoyable part of our trip :) but I would get tired of bartering all the time for everything. In TrustMart and Anchung, bartering wasn't as normal, but in the other markets, you could get fairly good prices for many things. Beijing's markets (the 2 touristy ones - Pearl and Silk Markets) were a bit classier looking and a bit more organized, but the salespeople were pushier and more in-your-face as they knew some English. Beside the Pearl Market, we also stumbled upon a toy market called Toy City, a 2-floor market of toys only! Pretty neat. We learned quickly that toys are harder to barter for - the salespeople will not budge on the prices as they usually get paid what they want.
Hope this gives you a bit of an idea of our shopping time out there!
3 comments:
I think I would enjoy a mind numbing day or two of that kind of shopping! It's incredible. TFS
So did you buy lots? You should put some pictures on here of all the stuff you bought:)
yes, I love, love, love my beautiful purple purse - it's perfect!
now we've see a glint of what the markets look like - I can't really imagine what they smell like!
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