Let's make a deal

Okay, Cory here. Jeanne is in bed so I figured it is my turn to keep everyone in the loop.

Today was shopping day. The first stop, a silk facory. We were given a tour and shown how they make silk. Very interesting, they actually raise silk worms and obtain the silk from their cocoons. They had some beautiful, quilts and comforters but we decided that we were already pushing it for luggage space for the trip home so we passed. I think every lady in the silk store came to see Cohen. They would all crowd around him and talk in Chinese with big smiles on there faces. He is a real chick-magnet!!!





Next stop was a market with 5 floors (...I think, we never made it past the second floor). We had lunch in the food court in the basement. Noon hour in a Beijing food court is not like anything I have ever experienced. The food counters are similar to what you would see in a mall in Charlottetown, but the number of people is crazy. We almost had to sit with Chinese strangers until M's parents made room for us at their table. ("M" is Cohen's girlfriend. More on that in another post.) Once lunch was finished, it was on to shopping. Each floor had its own type of merchandise...one floor had clothes, one had jewelery. etc. This is a market where haggling is expected and this provided me with some practice for the rest of the day. The shopkeepers were all reserved and polite. I did the haggling for us and got some good deals on gifts to take home, including a couple of traditional chinese outfits for Cohen. I have also been looking for a certain type of headphones for my iPod. I happened to find some knock-offs at one of the stores. After haggling for a while, I got them for what I thought was a good deal. I then moved on to the next store and they had the same thing. I asked how much they were and the girl said she would give me the same price as the last store did. I told a little fib and said that I paid half of what I really paid at the other store and the girl was happy to take that price for a couple more sets. Doh! I obviously paid too much the first time. Oh well, I'll have some for friends back home. For those of you keeping track, yes, I lied. But that seems to be how it goes in these markets. I actually had one girl switch headphones for a cheaper set when she was putting them in the bag. Luckily I had the sense to check what was in the bag before leaving the shop. Ah, fun and games.

Next, it was off to a pearl market. This market had everything in it, but was called a pearl market because it had a few nice pearl shops. Jeanne wasn't too kean on the market thing and decided to stay on the bus with Cohen, so Daddy went haggling. The shop keepers were far more aggressive in this market. At one point I had 1 girl on each arm dragging me into their store to look at shoes. They said that business was slow and they needed a sale. Unfortunately, I didn't need any shoes but it was fun having girls trying to drag me away!!! I then came across a store selling jackets. The girl had North Face jackets so I gave her a few minutes and she found my size. It fit perfect and it was a "Summit Series" 3-in-1 ski jacket. She started out with a price of 1650 yuan (about $250 CAD) I told her that I didn't really need it and wasn't looking to spend that kind of money (even though you would pay $400 for the same thing back home). She would not take no for an answer, saying "You don't need now, but you are smart man. You know you need it in the winter. Canada is cold!!!" So I gave her a rediculous offer...100 yuan. She gave me the obligatory "Ooooh, you are killing me!" shpeil and then came back with an offer of 250 yuan (just for me, noone else, wink, wink). Hmm, so I wasn't too far off after all. When it was all said and done, I got a darn nice ski jacket for 185 yuan (about $30 CAD). Fake or not, you can't beat that!!

Once finished shopping, we came back to the hotel, showered and were off to a Chinese acrobatic show. The show started at 7:15 and Cohen fell asleep on the way there. He was out cold for the bus ride and remained out until about 15 minutes into the show. Once awake, he seemed to be captivated by the performers. There was no squirming or wrestling with him he just sat there and watched the show.

Today was the most interaction I have had with the people here and I have to say that I have tremendous respect for them. It seems that most people really care for children and love to interact with them and make them smile. We have had complete strangers, men and women, come up to us and other families and play with our babies until they smile, then they move on. Then there was the cement truck driver playing patty cake with Cohen across 2 lanes of traffic. You don't see that every day. Even the markets are a fun place to go and deal. The shopkeepers are agressive, but it is still a playful atmosphere. People really perkup when you try to speak their language. A "ni hao" or "xie xie" goes a long way.

Well, that was our day today. Tomorrow is the Forbidden City and Tianmen Square. Then its time to pack up to head home. Can't wait to to get Cohen home and running around our yard to burn off all of his energy.

Until next time, 再见 (zia jian).