Silk Street

Yesterday I went to Silk Street in the Chaoyang District of Beijing. I have been needing some shoes for a long time and have been told a lot of foreigners shop at Silk Street and there should be shoes my size there. Chaoyang District is the more modern and international part of Beijing. I had never been there before because it is on the east side of town and I live in the northwest. As I was going in I saw lots of new, modern looking buildings with names I recognized splashed on the sides such as Microsoft, Price Waterhouse, Toyota etc.

I saw lots of foreigners...some businessmen and some families. I found it interesting to watch other foreigners, the businessmen, older men and women rather than other students like myself, and how they acted around the Chinese.

I was surprised to discover Silk Street is a big building. I hear it used to be a street with lots of shops, but everything was moved indoors. There were five floors packed with little shops. Every shop was manned by one, two or three sales people who called at you. Look, Look! Do you want a new coat? Do you need a sweater? A bag? What do you need? If you stop to look at the products then the staff starts to just put stuff in front of you. They tell you they will give it to you for a cheap price. Some are more aggressive than others, but surely more than in the US, where the most someone might say is "Can I help you find something?"

Finally, if you are interested, then you ask "Duoshao qian?" or how much? But the staff member will first give you some ridiculous price. For example they make ask for 800 RMB (Renminbi, the official name of Chinese currency) for a bag you can buy in another store for 60 RMB. Then when you say not interested for that price, then they ask you for the price you're are willing to pay. Once you say something more realistic, they give you a smirk or a nasty face and say "Ok, let's be serious here" or "stop joking." But in actuality it is them who are trying to rip you off here.

Anyway, you have to evaluate the item yourself and offer a price. This is not easy. And as an American I am used to higher prices. I ended up buying some things for prices I thought were decent in US dollars, but maybe I could have got for even cheaper. You really have to have guts, a clear head, and a cold heart to get a real deal in that place. But they offer a lot of the things foreigners want so they already have a edge. Anyway, I got my shoes, a belt, new gloves, and a bag. I forgot to mention they are all name brand goods, but fake. Even regular stores sell fake goods in China so you get used to it. Name brands such as North Face gloves, Timberland shoes, Levi jeans and belts are all copied and sold all over China. Copyrights and protection of brand names is a big giant joke in China. The quality difference can vary, some are very good.

Another thing is one of my American friends showed me a counterfeit 20 RMB bill yesterday. It was given to her somewhere, and we she tried to use it for a purchase the sales person recognized it and told her. I had never seen a actual counterfeit bill in the real world before.