Each vendor calls to you, trying to have you come look at their merchandise. If you dare glance for a second in their direction, they immediately start speaking to you, sometimes tugging you into their “shop (cell)” to take a look.

 

Once they have you in their shop, the questions begin. “What you need? Need a tie? I can give you a good deal. No? No tie? OK. Got a girlfriend? Need jewelry? No girlfriend? How ‘bout mom? Your mom like jewelry? No? ….” It goes on and on. “Oh, you like this? You want this? What size? What color? You want to try on?” Their fitting rooms consist of a pole with a curtain serving as a shield. They hold the pole horizontally, the curtain hangs downward, and that is the fitting room.

 

Then, at last, completing the transaction. I asked how much the item was. It was a traditional Chinese shirt, and she was trying to convince me the retail value was a minimum of 250 yuan, which is roughly $31. I figured in America I would pay that price for a traditional Chinese shirt, but I did think I needed to bargain the price a little bit. I suggested somewhere around 150 yuan ($19). She went down to 225 ($28). I said 150. She said 225. I repeated 150. She said, “OK. I will give you a good deal. Just you. I don’t do this for anyone else: 200 ($25). I said no. I stayed strong with my price, 150. After arguing again and again, slowly it become closer and closer to my price.

 

Luckily, my Chinese friend came to the rescue just in time. When I was about to agree to 160 ($20), she interrupted our transaction and told me to forget it. As we walked away, the sales associate yelled at me, “OK! OK! Come back! 150! OK! 150!” But my friend said that was much too expensive. We went to another “shop” down the same aisle, found the exact same shirt, and she bargained the shirt down to 40 yuan (a little less than $5). I was amazed. I couldn’t believe how low she bargained it for! She told me that was a good price for a traditional Chinese shirt. If I wanted a regular T-shirt, she said never pay more than 30 yuan, and if you buy in bulk, demand for an even lower price. Who would have thought that it could be so complicated? It really isn’t, once you get used to it. But for the first couple of weeks I was there, I had a lot to learn.

 

— By Allan Solomon