Negotiating China

We had the day off today, and I used it to go shopping. On my shopping list were sandals with straps so that I can run in them, a Chinese Chess set, and 2 light-colored T-shirts. My planned route was to go to West street (the pedestrian zone where the westerners hang out), then circle around to the kiosks by the river, then end with a stroll down the pre-boom main street of town, where locals still feel comfortable.

West street was pretty much built in the last five years, once Guilin, the previous holder of the title of prettiest city in China, became overdiscovered. We are an hour upstream from Guilin. West street is 1/3 bars, 1/3 trinket shops, and 1/3 clothes. There is nothing else there. Our hotel is across the creek over a bridge at one end of West street. I walked to the north end of West street, and turned on to an alley that serves as the local's West street. I strolled through but had a difficult time identifying a store where I could just buy a couple of T-shirts. I guess I was looking for a Mervyn's. Near the end of that street I passed a kiosk run by our Tai Chi instructor for that morning. To supplement his income, he does calligraphy and makes custom stamps. I asked for a stamp with the family name 'Ross' written on it. I got the 'friend' price, which means we didn't haggle - they didn't try to see if I would pay twice the going price out of ignorance. We also talked a little about Kung Fu, and he showed me a very nice Chinese Chess set. I really did feel like I had bought something from the store of a friend.

The next part of my loop brought me back to West street, where I saw one member of our group who had earlier shown up with two beautiful hand-painted T-shirts. She showed me the shop where she had bought the shirts. I was told I was getting the special 'friend' price by Stephanie, but somehow didn't believe it, and when I pointed out the shirt I did want the shopkeeper said that that was a more expensive shirt that the one Stephanie had bought. I didn't negotiate, and ended up paying twice what I should have.

Next I went to the far end of West street, where all the day kiosks were. I went to the first kiosk, and started negotiations on a Beijing Olympics T-shirt. She said 90, I said 20, she dropped to 70, I kept saying no, and we finally settled on 30 Mainland dollars (about $4 US). I have been wearing that shirt since then, and finally feeling cool.

I then started hunting the biggest game of the day, the sandals. I knew from the previous night out with the Eastwoods that I could get minimum quality sandals for around 50, so I was hoping to pay only that. I went to a store on the local's main street, and found Tevas there. Tevas are a lot nicer than what I was initially hoping to get, so I bargained for them. He started at 250, I countered at 50, and we got stuck between my 70 RMB and his 85 RMB. I went looking for another shop that had Tevas, since I had tried the Tevas on at the first shop and liked how they felt. At the second shop, which was on touristy West street, the bidding started at 450! I again countered at 50, and she asked me which currency I meant. I couldn't get her below 100, so I walked away. That brought her price down by 200, which brought my offer up by 10. We got stuck again and I walked away again, and the price dropped to 100 RMB. I had done more work with her and not gotten as far, so I decided to go back to the first store and pay 85. As I rounded the corner he saw me and said "welcome back". I did feel welcome, and paid my 85 and left happy.

Postscript: In Shanghai they post prices even in stores in the most touristy districts, and while negotiation is possible up to maybe 20%, its a lot easier to buy things in Shanghai. The prices are reasonable compared to the volatile Yangshuo negotiated prices. In the future I would just buy my trinkets in Shanghai.

PostPostscript: Xi'an is the place to buy trinkets. Marked prices, volume discounts, and no aggressive hawkers.