Without realizing it’s already coming to 8-months I’m in Beijing and I’m only putting pen to paper (or rather fingers to keyboard) now; despite intending to share so many of my observations right from day 1 (which happens to be 1st of May 2012).
Now, after 8-months in this huge country of my ancestors; I may find it hard to recall my initial ‘culture shock’. Nevertheless for those that I can still remember, these 8 months gave me the opportunity to compare how it felt at 1st impression and my views now after understanding the people, history and culture more (my views may not be a correct assessment but I guess it’s my ‘coping’ mechanism to understand what I observe). So I’m driven to write again.
When my friends and family ask the usual “So how’s China?” or “So how are you doing there?” or more often than not “So how is a ‘banana’ like you coping there?” – I often pause before replying because I don’t know where to start! How to compress the myriads of experiences my family & I went through in just 1 to 2 short sentences before people got bored with your rambling of “My Life in China”? So I ended up summarizing into this 1 standard answer “I never anticipated getting culture shock in the country of my ancestors. I’d expect it from Europe / Middle East / even Japan, but never China… But I am… Be it good or bad…”
Not knowing where to start, I thought I’ll dedicate my 1st entry after my long hiatus from blogosphere to “Shopping in China”…
I’m sure I’m not the first to write on this and neither will I be the last… But how can one talk about China, the mass manufacturer of the world, without touching on shopping?! When shopping in tourist spots (like Wangfujing) in a seemingly proper shop (not a street side vendor / stall) and when told it’s a departmental store / supermarket; hence no bargaining allowed – you’ll be kinder to your wallet to just walk away from it, no matter how much you “crave” the item. Don’t even turn if they call you back with offer to slash the price by half. You’ll still be paying through your nose (unless it’s somewhere around RMB10 – it seems to be the standard low for most, but not all, items).
Despite the many warnings on the internet, we bought some items (I must add that it was ‘offered’ at buy 4 free 1 promo), that we thought may be good for the folks back home; only to find 6-months later (after we’re more savvy), that we’ve paid not double or triple but 5 times the actual retail price – even after averaging the one given for “free”!!! When we found out, I really felt like dragging the sales person to consumer court (if there’s even such a court in existence here) to be prosecuted. Come to think of it, even if they have such a court; I’d expect its large halls and the huge open spaces outside of the courthouse to be jam-packed with people such likes those seen on American Idol auditions / overnights queues for the latest Apple products.
When I shared this experience to the locals, asking their opinion and don’t they feel irked by this; I’m met with condescending smiles. In China, everything is open for bargaining and the key is not to take the whole bargaining process too seriously. Well, it’s not about paying the extra yuans that bothered me. It’s the feeling of being conned, duped, mocked as “another foreigner who fell into the trap” and the most painful of all is being cheated into thinking you’re welcomed in your ancestors’ homeland. As normal Malaysian Chinese, hubby & I spoke to each other in Cantonese – the sales person caught on and said “Oh, you’re ‘home-coming’ Chinese?! That’s great!! You’re staying here for 4-years?! Oh, you’ll get to know your heritage better in this 4-years (though I belief we preserve our heritage better back home, but that is subject to a different discussion)!” You get the picture…. So the fact that we got fleeced doesn’t show much ‘home-coming welcome’ isn’t it? Now, I’m more inclined to buy from someone who took me as just another ‘lao-wai’ than fellow Chinese race, because at least all I lose is a few extra yuans.
If I ignore the other small minor incidences, the second time I felt really duped was in Hangzhou. We went on a 1-day trip around Hangzhou. To be fair, we are ok with the 2-3 shopping stops as long as the things sold there are genuine and reasonably priced. So back to Hangzhou, naturally we were brought to the silk factory. We’ve been to the silk factory in Suzhou and similarly there’s also this one in Hangzhou – both claiming to be better than the other. However, since the one in Hangzhou has bed sheet for “Super King” size bed (which my housekeeper kindly informed us the measurements), so we decided to purchase 1. When we reached home, the sheet was only able to cover the surface of the mattress and can’t be tucked under. My housekeeper said she saw the measurement on the label to be correct (i.e. more than 2m long), but strangely it’s smaller than what was printed. Unfortunately she did not think of keeping the labels for evidence and threw it away. Otherwise I’d have brought it up to Hangzhou tourism board / ministry to ensure such misleading sales doesn’t occur again. Though I have little faith my complaint would be entertained; but if everyone kept quiet, we have no one but ourselves to blame if we continue to stumble upon unscrupulous traders. In summary, I hate to tarnish the beautiful image of Hangzhou with this incident; but we’re only human…
After reading through this far, some might say – so what’s new? It’s the expected image of China. Some of our relatives didn’t even want to come to China to visit us (despite offer of a free accommodation) for this very reason! Well, let me share an upside to shopping in China… And it all started with our son’s (Sam) slow cooker…
Sam’s daddy thought that his skin is thick enough to withstand the heat of the porcelain pot in the slow cooker and so took the pot out to be transferred to the sink. Naturally, he can’t stand the heat and the pot smashed to pieces. So what is he to do? Sam needs his porridge and the slow cooker can’t operate without a porcelain pot. So off he went to the front desk for information on the nearest electrical store to get a new one. He was met with blank stares – not because they don’t understand Malaysian English, but more because no one in this age and time (in their opinion) specially travel to an electrical store just to buy such small electrical appliance as a slow cooker. So where do locals buy then?
Answer: On-line shopping
Ahh…. Err…. We don't have a local credit card (another long story)?
Another blank look and then the reply – It’s cash on delivery, sir…
Ahh…. Err…. But I need it quite soon; I can’t wait a week or so for the delivery to happen!
By this time, I think they figured out we’re a bunch of dense ‘lao-wais’ and indulge us by explaining that the delivery can be as soon as within the same day / next day. That’s when it all started – thanks to Little Tang Kun Sam’s slow cooker (it’s referred to as Sam’s slow cooker because it’s exclusively used to cook his porridge).
So we’re now happily doing lots of on-line shopping (handbags, shoes, electricals etc – all except groceries, for now…), minus the hassle, minus the haggling and lots of customer feedback to read before purchasing an item. No wonder it’s all the rage!
Now, after 8-months in this huge country of my ancestors; I may find it hard to recall my initial ‘culture shock’. Nevertheless for those that I can still remember, these 8 months gave me the opportunity to compare how it felt at 1st impression and my views now after understanding the people, history and culture more (my views may not be a correct assessment but I guess it’s my ‘coping’ mechanism to understand what I observe). So I’m driven to write again.
When my friends and family ask the usual “So how’s China?” or “So how are you doing there?” or more often than not “So how is a ‘banana’ like you coping there?” – I often pause before replying because I don’t know where to start! How to compress the myriads of experiences my family & I went through in just 1 to 2 short sentences before people got bored with your rambling of “My Life in China”? So I ended up summarizing into this 1 standard answer “I never anticipated getting culture shock in the country of my ancestors. I’d expect it from Europe / Middle East / even Japan, but never China… But I am… Be it good or bad…”
Not knowing where to start, I thought I’ll dedicate my 1st entry after my long hiatus from blogosphere to “Shopping in China”…
I’m sure I’m not the first to write on this and neither will I be the last… But how can one talk about China, the mass manufacturer of the world, without touching on shopping?! When shopping in tourist spots (like Wangfujing) in a seemingly proper shop (not a street side vendor / stall) and when told it’s a departmental store / supermarket; hence no bargaining allowed – you’ll be kinder to your wallet to just walk away from it, no matter how much you “crave” the item. Don’t even turn if they call you back with offer to slash the price by half. You’ll still be paying through your nose (unless it’s somewhere around RMB10 – it seems to be the standard low for most, but not all, items).
Despite the many warnings on the internet, we bought some items (I must add that it was ‘offered’ at buy 4 free 1 promo), that we thought may be good for the folks back home; only to find 6-months later (after we’re more savvy), that we’ve paid not double or triple but 5 times the actual retail price – even after averaging the one given for “free”!!! When we found out, I really felt like dragging the sales person to consumer court (if there’s even such a court in existence here) to be prosecuted. Come to think of it, even if they have such a court; I’d expect its large halls and the huge open spaces outside of the courthouse to be jam-packed with people such likes those seen on American Idol auditions / overnights queues for the latest Apple products.
When I shared this experience to the locals, asking their opinion and don’t they feel irked by this; I’m met with condescending smiles. In China, everything is open for bargaining and the key is not to take the whole bargaining process too seriously. Well, it’s not about paying the extra yuans that bothered me. It’s the feeling of being conned, duped, mocked as “another foreigner who fell into the trap” and the most painful of all is being cheated into thinking you’re welcomed in your ancestors’ homeland. As normal Malaysian Chinese, hubby & I spoke to each other in Cantonese – the sales person caught on and said “Oh, you’re ‘home-coming’ Chinese?! That’s great!! You’re staying here for 4-years?! Oh, you’ll get to know your heritage better in this 4-years (though I belief we preserve our heritage better back home, but that is subject to a different discussion)!” You get the picture…. So the fact that we got fleeced doesn’t show much ‘home-coming welcome’ isn’t it? Now, I’m more inclined to buy from someone who took me as just another ‘lao-wai’ than fellow Chinese race, because at least all I lose is a few extra yuans.
If I ignore the other small minor incidences, the second time I felt really duped was in Hangzhou. We went on a 1-day trip around Hangzhou. To be fair, we are ok with the 2-3 shopping stops as long as the things sold there are genuine and reasonably priced. So back to Hangzhou, naturally we were brought to the silk factory. We’ve been to the silk factory in Suzhou and similarly there’s also this one in Hangzhou – both claiming to be better than the other. However, since the one in Hangzhou has bed sheet for “Super King” size bed (which my housekeeper kindly informed us the measurements), so we decided to purchase 1. When we reached home, the sheet was only able to cover the surface of the mattress and can’t be tucked under. My housekeeper said she saw the measurement on the label to be correct (i.e. more than 2m long), but strangely it’s smaller than what was printed. Unfortunately she did not think of keeping the labels for evidence and threw it away. Otherwise I’d have brought it up to Hangzhou tourism board / ministry to ensure such misleading sales doesn’t occur again. Though I have little faith my complaint would be entertained; but if everyone kept quiet, we have no one but ourselves to blame if we continue to stumble upon unscrupulous traders. In summary, I hate to tarnish the beautiful image of Hangzhou with this incident; but we’re only human…
After reading through this far, some might say – so what’s new? It’s the expected image of China. Some of our relatives didn’t even want to come to China to visit us (despite offer of a free accommodation) for this very reason! Well, let me share an upside to shopping in China… And it all started with our son’s (Sam) slow cooker…
Sam’s daddy thought that his skin is thick enough to withstand the heat of the porcelain pot in the slow cooker and so took the pot out to be transferred to the sink. Naturally, he can’t stand the heat and the pot smashed to pieces. So what is he to do? Sam needs his porridge and the slow cooker can’t operate without a porcelain pot. So off he went to the front desk for information on the nearest electrical store to get a new one. He was met with blank stares – not because they don’t understand Malaysian English, but more because no one in this age and time (in their opinion) specially travel to an electrical store just to buy such small electrical appliance as a slow cooker. So where do locals buy then?
Answer: On-line shopping
Ahh…. Err…. We don't have a local credit card (another long story)?
Another blank look and then the reply – It’s cash on delivery, sir…
Ahh…. Err…. But I need it quite soon; I can’t wait a week or so for the delivery to happen!
By this time, I think they figured out we’re a bunch of dense ‘lao-wais’ and indulge us by explaining that the delivery can be as soon as within the same day / next day. That’s when it all started – thanks to Little Tang Kun Sam’s slow cooker (it’s referred to as Sam’s slow cooker because it’s exclusively used to cook his porridge).
So we’re now happily doing lots of on-line shopping (handbags, shoes, electricals etc – all except groceries, for now…), minus the hassle, minus the haggling and lots of customer feedback to read before purchasing an item. No wonder it’s all the rage!
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