So I was walking home on the street and there's this guy selling peaches sitting on the sidewalk. He calls over to me in Mandarin:
"Sir, would you like to buy some peaches?"
I turned around - I hadn't eaten all day, and realized I hadn't had fruit ever since my stash from Sanya ran out a few days ago. "How much?"
"I sell at 5 RMB ($0.75 USD) per 斤(approximately half a kilogram, roughly a pound)."
"No that's too expensive. I'm sorry, but I only have 10 RMB ($1.51 USD) to spend on food today." It was true - I've run up a tab of 78.7 RMB for the week, leaving only 21.3 RMB out of my 100 RMB budget with two days left. I could not afford to throw money away. I start walking away.
"Oh come on! How about 4 RMB per 斤??"
I continue walking. "Thank you for your offer, but 4 RMB is too much."
"Okay, okay, stop right there. Why don't I give you 3斤 for 10 RMB?"
I stopped walking. "I told you I only have 10 RMB to spare. I haven't eaten yet today, and I plan to get a big bowl of noodles for 5 RMB. There's no way I can afford to subsist on only a few peaches."
"They'll last for a week! Don't be stingy - buy more now and save them for later! Here, try a piece!"
The man clearly wasn't understanding what I was saying, but he was persistent. He cut a sampler piece from a sample peach for me and handed it to me with his grimy hands. I tried it. I found it to be suprisingly sweet. Or maybe it's because I hadn't eaten all day.
I started to reconsider a little. "Okay, what if I just bought 1 peach? How much would that be? One peach is slightly less than 1斤, right?"
"No man, no one buys just one peach! That's ridiculous!! I'll give you 4 peaches (slightly more than 3斤) for 10 RMB, how about that?"
"I told you I have to eat something substantial today - peaches won't do. I only have 10 RMB. I'll buy 2 peaches for 5 RMB."
"Oh come on! I'm giving you a special deal! No one sells for this low!"
"There's no other way." I handed him the money, but all I had was a 10 RMB bill.
"See! You have 10 RMB!" He tries to give me two more peaches instead of my change. "Just buy a couple more! You won't regret it!"
"How about this, if these peaches are good, I'll come back in a few days and buy some more from you."
"I won't be around then! It's National Holiday Week and I'm not going to be doing business for the next several days. Look, you shouldn't care about this kind of pocket change, you should be focusing on figuring out how to make big money!"
"Uh huh, just give me my change." He reluctantly handed me 5 RMB and I walked away with 2 peaches.
Then I went to the noodle shop near my house and decided to get some fried rice with my remaining 5 RMB instead. It smelled so good; the hot, salty, fluffy-textured substance was perfect.
The peach vendor was right - most of the time, I should allocate my time more efficiently and not worry about 1 or 2 RMB here or there. However, this period of time is one I have designated for the purposes of this particular goal, and I was not about to break off from that, regardless of my own hunger, even less so because of what other people think.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
100 RMB A Week, Part 1
Back in Shanghai. So a friend was telling me about how there was a newspaper contest to see who can live off of 100 RMB (roughly $15 USD) a week. Given my lack of an income, I decided to give it a try myself, though I restricted the spend commodity to just meals and sustenance (I ended up needing to shell out considerably more just to get my camera repaired).
We'll see how I manage to fare...
We'll see how I manage to fare...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Chinese Learning Joke
Disclaimer: The translations of the various forms of "I" from Chinese to English was done by yours truly. Since there is no direct translation, many of these are rough stabs that try to convey the literal translation, which I hope will add more color and flavor to the joke for English audiences. While many of them may sound crude and unrefined, keep in mind that that is more a reflection of my best effort translation rather than a reflection of the culture.
Once upon a time, there was a foreigner who arrived in China to study Chinese with a professor of Chinese culture. On the first day, the student wanted to start from the basics, and so he asked his teacher what he thought was an easy question: How do you say "I" in Chinese?
His teacher explained, "China is a country where your status is very important, so depending on where you stand and who you are speaking to, the word "I" is will be different, just like how adjectives in English change depending on how many comparisons you are making (e.g. big, bigger, biggest).
For example, you just came to China, so given the fact you don't have any standing, to most people, you can refer to yourself as: ""我(I - most common)、咱(dialect)、俺(dialect)、餘、吾(Classical Chinese)、予(Classical Chinese)、儂(dialect)、某、咱家、洒家、俺咱、本人(my own person)、個人(my individual person)、人家、吾儂、我儂。"
If you are addressing a teacher, an elder, or anyone who is more senior than you, you should use: "區區 (I the Trivial One)、僕 (Servant)、鄙(I the Lowly One)、愚 (I the Humble One)、走、鄙人 (Your Humble Servant)、卑人 (Your Modest Servant)、敝人(Your Lowly Servant)、鄙夫 (I the Lowly Man)、鄙軀 (I the Lowly Human Body)、鄙愚、貧身 (My Poor Body)、小子(I the Little One)、小可、在下、末學 (I the Insignificant Scholar)、小生、不佞、不才(I, Without Talent)、不材 (I, Without Ability)、小材 (I, With Little Ability)、不肖 (I the Unworthy)、不孝 (I the Ungrateful)、不類、走狗 (I the "Running Dog" / Lackey)、牛馬走 (I the "Running Beasts of Burden")、愚小子 (I the Foolish Little One)、鄙生、貧生、學生(Student)、後學、晚生、晚學、後生晚學、予末小子、予小子、餘小子。"
If you rise to an official post, and you meet your superiors or even the Emperor, you should call yourself: "職 (I - of this Office)、卑職 (I - of this Humble Office)、下官 (I the Minor Official)、臣 (I the Official)、臣子、小臣 (I the Small Official)、鄙臣 (I the Lowly Official)、愚臣 (I the Humble Official)、奴婢 (I - your Servant Official)、奴才(Lackey)、小人(I of Small Standing)、老奴 (I the Old Servant)、小的 (I the Small One)、小底 (I the Small One at the Very Bottom)。"
If you meet those at your level, you can call yourself: "愚兄 (Humble [Older] Brother)、為兄、小弟 (Your Younger Brother)、兄弟(Your Brother)、愚弟 (Humble [Younger] Brother) 、哥們 (Your Buddy)。"
If you meet those below your level, you can call yourself: "爺們、老子 (I the Elder)、大老子(I the Great Elder)、你老子(Your Daddy)、乃公。"
If you really do well and get to the very top, like an Emperor or something, then you should call yourself: "朕 (I the Sovereign One)、孤、孤王、孤家、寡人 (I the Royal One/We)、不轂。"
If you decide not to seek an official post, and decide to become a monk or a priest, you can call yourself: "貧道 (I the Poor Priest)、小道 (I the Small Priest)、貧僧 (I the Poor Monk)、貧衲、不慧 (I the Not-So-Bright )、小僧 (I the Small Monk)、野僧、老衲、老僧 (I the Old Monk)。"
The last point is one you should remember - once you retire, have relinquished all your power and status, and can no longer stand up straight when you meet people, you should refer to yourself as: "老朽 (I the Old and Useless One)、老拙 (I the Clumsy and Dull One)、老夫 (I the Old Fellow)、愚老 (I the Humble Old One)、老叟、小老 (I the Little Old Man)、小老兒、老漢、老可、老軀 (I the Old Body)、老僕 (I the Old Servant)、老物 (I - this Old Thing)、朽人 (I the Senile One)、老我、老骨頭 (I, this Bag of Old Bones)。"
Of the above 108 forms of "I" covered so far, most of them are only commonly used by men. I can cover the other forms of "I" tomorrow.
After listening to his teacher's explanation, the foreign student was so terrified of Chinese that he could not fall asleep that night. The next morning, he bid farewell to his teacher and said, "I, Your Student, the Humble One, the One Without Talent or Ability, the Insignificant Scholar am leaving。" And so he returned his apartment, bought an airplane ticket, and flew home.
Original Chinese Version:
有一個老外為了學好漢語，不遠萬里，來到中國，拜師于一位國學教授門下。第一天老外想挑一個簡單詞彙學習，便向老師請教英語"I"在漢語中應該如何說。
老師解釋道：中國是一個官本位國家，當你處在不同的級別、地位，"I"也有不同的變化，就象你們英語中的形容詞有原級、比較級、最高級一樣。
比如，你剛來中國，沒有地位，對普通人可以說："我、咱、俺、餘、吾、予、儂、某、咱家、洒家、俺咱、本人、個人、人家、吾儂、我儂。"
如果見到老師、長輩和上級，則應該說："區區、僕、鄙、愚、走、鄙人、卑人、敝人、鄙夫、鄙軀、鄙愚、貧身、小子、小可、在下、末學、小生、不佞、不才、不材、小材、不肖、不孝、不類、走狗、牛馬走、愚小子、鄙生、貧生、學生、後學、晚生、晩學、後生晚學、予末小子、予小子、餘小子。"
等到你當了官以後，見到上級和皇帝，則應該說："職、卑職、下官、臣、臣子、小臣、鄙臣、愚臣、奴婢、奴才、小人、老奴、小的、小底。"
見到平級，則可以說："愚兄、為兄、小弟、兄弟、愚弟、哥們。"
見到下級，則可以說："爺們、老子、大老子、你老子、乃公。"
如果你混得好，當上了皇帝或王爺，則可以說："朕、孤、孤王、孤家、寡人、不轂。"
如果你不願意當官，只好去當和尚、道士，則應該說："貧道、小道、貧僧、貧衲、不慧、小僧、野僧、老衲、老僧。"
最後一點必須注意，一旦你退休了，便一下子失去了權利和地位，見人也矮了三分，只好說："老朽、老拙、老夫、愚老、老叟、小老、小老兒、老漢、老可、老軀、老僕、老物、朽人、老我、老骨頭。"
上面一百零八種"I"，僅僅是男性的常用說法。更多的"I"明天講解。
老外聽了老師一席話，頓覺冷水澆頭,一個晚上沒有睡好覺。第二天一大早便向老師辭行："學生、愚、不材、末學、走。"退了房間，訂了機票，回國去了。
Once upon a time, there was a foreigner who arrived in China to study Chinese with a professor of Chinese culture. On the first day, the student wanted to start from the basics, and so he asked his teacher what he thought was an easy question: How do you say "I" in Chinese?
His teacher explained, "China is a country where your status is very important, so depending on where you stand and who you are speaking to, the word "I" is will be different, just like how adjectives in English change depending on how many comparisons you are making (e.g. big, bigger, biggest).
For example, you just came to China, so given the fact you don't have any standing, to most people, you can refer to yourself as: ""我(I - most common)、咱(dialect)、俺(dialect)、餘、吾(Classical Chinese)、予(Classical Chinese)、儂(dialect)、某、咱家、洒家、俺咱、本人(my own person)、個人(my individual person)、人家、吾儂、我儂。"
If you are addressing a teacher, an elder, or anyone who is more senior than you, you should use: "區區 (I the Trivial One)、僕 (Servant)、鄙(I the Lowly One)、愚 (I the Humble One)、走、鄙人 (Your Humble Servant)、卑人 (Your Modest Servant)、敝人(Your Lowly Servant)、鄙夫 (I the Lowly Man)、鄙軀 (I the Lowly Human Body)、鄙愚、貧身 (My Poor Body)、小子(I the Little One)、小可、在下、末學 (I the Insignificant Scholar)、小生、不佞、不才(I, Without Talent)、不材 (I, Without Ability)、小材 (I, With Little Ability)、不肖 (I the Unworthy)、不孝 (I the Ungrateful)、不類、走狗 (I the "Running Dog" / Lackey)、牛馬走 (I the "Running Beasts of Burden")、愚小子 (I the Foolish Little One)、鄙生、貧生、學生(Student)、後學、晚生、晚學、後生晚學、予末小子、予小子、餘小子。"
If you rise to an official post, and you meet your superiors or even the Emperor, you should call yourself: "職 (I - of this Office)、卑職 (I - of this Humble Office)、下官 (I the Minor Official)、臣 (I the Official)、臣子、小臣 (I the Small Official)、鄙臣 (I the Lowly Official)、愚臣 (I the Humble Official)、奴婢 (I - your Servant Official)、奴才(Lackey)、小人(I of Small Standing)、老奴 (I the Old Servant)、小的 (I the Small One)、小底 (I the Small One at the Very Bottom)。"
If you meet those at your level, you can call yourself: "愚兄 (Humble [Older] Brother)、為兄、小弟 (Your Younger Brother)、兄弟(Your Brother)、愚弟 (Humble [Younger] Brother) 、哥們 (Your Buddy)。"
If you meet those below your level, you can call yourself: "爺們、老子 (I the Elder)、大老子(I the Great Elder)、你老子(Your Daddy)、乃公。"
If you really do well and get to the very top, like an Emperor or something, then you should call yourself: "朕 (I the Sovereign One)、孤、孤王、孤家、寡人 (I the Royal One/We)、不轂。"
If you decide not to seek an official post, and decide to become a monk or a priest, you can call yourself: "貧道 (I the Poor Priest)、小道 (I the Small Priest)、貧僧 (I the Poor Monk)、貧衲、不慧 (I the Not-So-Bright )、小僧 (I the Small Monk)、野僧、老衲、老僧 (I the Old Monk)。"
The last point is one you should remember - once you retire, have relinquished all your power and status, and can no longer stand up straight when you meet people, you should refer to yourself as: "老朽 (I the Old and Useless One)、老拙 (I the Clumsy and Dull One)、老夫 (I the Old Fellow)、愚老 (I the Humble Old One)、老叟、小老 (I the Little Old Man)、小老兒、老漢、老可、老軀 (I the Old Body)、老僕 (I the Old Servant)、老物 (I - this Old Thing)、朽人 (I the Senile One)、老我、老骨頭 (I, this Bag of Old Bones)。"
Of the above 108 forms of "I" covered so far, most of them are only commonly used by men. I can cover the other forms of "I" tomorrow.
After listening to his teacher's explanation, the foreign student was so terrified of Chinese that he could not fall asleep that night. The next morning, he bid farewell to his teacher and said, "I, Your Student, the Humble One, the One Without Talent or Ability, the Insignificant Scholar am leaving。" And so he returned his apartment, bought an airplane ticket, and flew home.
Original Chinese Version:
有一個老外為了學好漢語，不遠萬里，來到中國，拜師于一位國學教授門下。第一天老外想挑一個簡單詞彙學習，便向老師請教英語"I"在漢語中應該如何說。
老師解釋道：中國是一個官本位國家，當你處在不同的級別、地位，"I"也有不同的變化，就象你們英語中的形容詞有原級、比較級、最高級一樣。
比如，你剛來中國，沒有地位，對普通人可以說："我、咱、俺、餘、吾、予、儂、某、咱家、洒家、俺咱、本人、個人、人家、吾儂、我儂。"
如果見到老師、長輩和上級，則應該說："區區、僕、鄙、愚、走、鄙人、卑人、敝人、鄙夫、鄙軀、鄙愚、貧身、小子、小可、在下、末學、小生、不佞、不才、不材、小材、不肖、不孝、不類、走狗、牛馬走、愚小子、鄙生、貧生、學生、後學、晚生、晩學、後生晚學、予末小子、予小子、餘小子。"
等到你當了官以後，見到上級和皇帝，則應該說："職、卑職、下官、臣、臣子、小臣、鄙臣、愚臣、奴婢、奴才、小人、老奴、小的、小底。"
見到平級，則可以說："愚兄、為兄、小弟、兄弟、愚弟、哥們。"
見到下級，則可以說："爺們、老子、大老子、你老子、乃公。"
如果你混得好，當上了皇帝或王爺，則可以說："朕、孤、孤王、孤家、寡人、不轂。"
如果你不願意當官，只好去當和尚、道士，則應該說："貧道、小道、貧僧、貧衲、不慧、小僧、野僧、老衲、老僧。"
最後一點必須注意，一旦你退休了，便一下子失去了權利和地位，見人也矮了三分，只好說："老朽、老拙、老夫、愚老、老叟、小老、小老兒、老漢、老可、老軀、老僕、老物、朽人、老我、老骨頭。"
上面一百零八種"I"，僅僅是男性的常用說法。更多的"I"明天講解。
老外聽了老師一席話，頓覺冷水澆頭,一個晚上沒有睡好覺。第二天一大早便向老師辭行："學生、愚、不材、末學、走。"退了房間，訂了機票，回國去了。
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Deer Turns Around with Fräulein Bärbele
So I found my Fräulein Bärbele who kindly accompanied me to Lu Hui Tou (鹿回頭) for the day. Ironically, I was a bit sick as well, and the weather was not so great because of the typhoon that had arrived in Guangzhou. Nonetheless, the day was just so relaxing and enjoyable. While watching the sunset behind the cloudy sky, the stillness enveloped the atmosphere.
Lu Hui Tou, which literally means "Deer turns around", refers to a park at the top of a hill on a small peninsula sticking out into the ocean. Its name comes from a legend where a Li (黎 - one of the minority groups in China) hunter chased a deer for several days, trapping it on one of the cliffs of the hill. Left with no recourse, the deer turned around and transformed into a beautiful maiden.
My camera is not functioning still, but between the two of us, we had one that worked. Views of Sanya City from Lu Hui Tou:
Lu Hui Tou, which literally means "Deer turns around", refers to a park at the top of a hill on a small peninsula sticking out into the ocean. Its name comes from a legend where a Li (黎 - one of the minority groups in China) hunter chased a deer for several days, trapping it on one of the cliffs of the hill. Left with no recourse, the deer turned around and transformed into a beautiful maiden.
My camera is not functioning still, but between the two of us, we had one that worked. Views of Sanya City from Lu Hui Tou:
Phoenix Island (鳳凰島), linked to Sanya City by a bridge:
An old and yet still formidable tree near the top of Lu Hui Tou:
The view of the peninsula and ocean out from the top of Lu Hui Tou:
Sunset behind the clouds:
Afterwards, we had dinner at a small shop that served very authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice (though the dish seems to be more popular in Malaysia and Singapore than Hainan):
There was also a very tasty (but perhaps odd looking) local dessert called 雞屎藤 (Ji Shi Teng), which comes from one of the herbs we saw up on Lu Tou Hui.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Hilton Sanya
I arrived in Sanya actually on 9/21, and have been staying at the Hilton near Yalong Bay (亞龍灣) using my points. Somehow the Hilton Sanya Resort is only classified as a category 3 for points (the scale goes roughly from 1-6, where a 1 would be the hotels with the fewest amenities, and a 6 would be the five star, top of the line hotels), which seems like a real bargain. There's also a point stretcher promotion for the Hilton Sanya during pretty much most of September and October, which means it only costs 15,000 points per night instead of 25,000 points.
Anyhow, due to my Diamond VIP status with Hilton thanks to my many business trips to Minneapolis and Chicago, they upgraded me to a room with an ocean-side view. In addition, I got free fruit everyday, complimentary breakfast, and a bottle of wine that made for a good gift.
Some pictures that were taken on 9/21. The room:
Anyhow, due to my Diamond VIP status with Hilton thanks to my many business trips to Minneapolis and Chicago, they upgraded me to a room with an ocean-side view. In addition, I got free fruit everyday, complimentary breakfast, and a bottle of wine that made for a good gift.
Some pictures that were taken on 9/21. The room:
The view from my balcony:
The rest of the resort:
Sunset at Yalong Bay beach, right by the resort:
Hessian Dream
A few months earlier, one of my friends had recommended a book for me to read once he heard of my plan. It's called Knulp, by Herman Hesse, and the subject is one that is perhaps fairly common in many of Herman Hesse's works.
The story is that of a man who is a wanderer and goes from village to village, relying on nothing but himself and the kindness of friends and strangers. He is well-educated, well-versed in the details of various trades, and adept at many sociable talents such as singing or whistling folk tunes, storytelling, and dancing. Everyone knows of him and delights to be in his presence; his friends are honored to house him for the night and to share their meals. He is well-mannered in the social graces of the time, is neat and orderly, and is self-sufficient in the personal maintenance of his few belongings. All who meet him find him to be a likeable character, like a spot of sunshine of freedom amongst the general dreariness of a rainy day.
To simplify things, Knulp is what I am not. He epitomizes all that I have not been, and all that I seek to become via this journey. One of my goals is to pursue my Hessian Dream: To wander around aimlessly without anxiety, to meet and befriend strangers with ease and harmony, and to be well-versed enough in the talents that act as social lubricants such as song and story to brighten someone else's day. It means I consciously take time to observe and improve upon other areas of my life that are not typically my focus, to start new habits, and increase my comfort zone.
And this tale of Knulp, regardless of the merits of the story, provides me with a roadmap.
The story is that of a man who is a wanderer and goes from village to village, relying on nothing but himself and the kindness of friends and strangers. He is well-educated, well-versed in the details of various trades, and adept at many sociable talents such as singing or whistling folk tunes, storytelling, and dancing. Everyone knows of him and delights to be in his presence; his friends are honored to house him for the night and to share their meals. He is well-mannered in the social graces of the time, is neat and orderly, and is self-sufficient in the personal maintenance of his few belongings. All who meet him find him to be a likeable character, like a spot of sunshine of freedom amongst the general dreariness of a rainy day.
To simplify things, Knulp is what I am not. He epitomizes all that I have not been, and all that I seek to become via this journey. One of my goals is to pursue my Hessian Dream: To wander around aimlessly without anxiety, to meet and befriend strangers with ease and harmony, and to be well-versed enough in the talents that act as social lubricants such as song and story to brighten someone else's day. It means I consciously take time to observe and improve upon other areas of my life that are not typically my focus, to start new habits, and increase my comfort zone.
And this tale of Knulp, regardless of the merits of the story, provides me with a roadmap.
Monday, September 22, 2008
The End of the Earth
Sanya (三亞). The southernmost city in China. Here there is a spot called "Tianya Haijiao" (天涯海角 - literally "limit of heaven, corner of the sea"), which in Chinese literary tradition, refers to the End of the Earth, the very limits of the Civilized World:
Self-timed picture:
The sunset was amazing. To the west, the mountain seemed like it was burning, on fire with a radiance beyond the horizon that was surely far greater than anything mankind could summon, even with all our weapons of mass destruction combined. The sky looked painted with breathtakingly beautiful colors laid on top of God's canvas; so round and so perfect was the curvature of the world with the radiant atmosphere bending around it. Laying upside down on the rocks, the clouds were below my feet, and with the strong wind, blowing against my face, it felt perhaps like freefall; an everlasting descent into the eternally distant clouds.
Self-timed picture:
Walking alone:
Unfortunately, my camera got sand in it and now it cannot focus, which means I may not have any easy means of taking any more pictures. However, with the sunset coming up and no camera, I couldn't help but look to alternatives - I bought a disposable camera to capture the beautiful scene:
The sunset was amazing. To the west, the mountain seemed like it was burning, on fire with a radiance beyond the horizon that was surely far greater than anything mankind could summon, even with all our weapons of mass destruction combined. The sky looked painted with breathtakingly beautiful colors laid on top of God's canvas; so round and so perfect was the curvature of the world with the radiant atmosphere bending around it. Laying upside down on the rocks, the clouds were below my feet, and with the strong wind, blowing against my face, it felt perhaps like freefall; an everlasting descent into the eternally distant clouds.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Portrait of Mr. Chiu
I met Mr. Chiu in the OCT (Overseas Chinese Town) Park, a theme park/residential area that houses man-made Shenzhen attractions such as Windows of the World, Splendid China, Chinese Folk Culture Village, and Happy Valley. He was pulling weeds out of the flower bed by the road when I decided to stop by and help him. I had been walking for over an hour and was going to see more of the park before heading back, but decided it was better to look for something else to do (I forget sometimes I have no schedule and can do whatever I please - this is one instance I actually remembered and was well rewarded for putting my plans aside).
Mr. Chiu would not let me help him initially, so we just chatted at the beginning. He first apologized for his poor Mandarin even though it was mostly intelligble to me; he said he hasn't spoken Mandarin in a long time, as everyone around him including his supervisor spoke Cantonese. Mr. Chiu was from Maoming, Guangdong in the South and had come to Shenzhen after his boss at the factory told him of the new opportunities here. However, the work is hard, and he is already in his early 50s. In the mornings he cleans the streets and works on maintaining the gardens in the afternoon until 6:10pm. He works everyday outside of national holidays, and earns about 1100 RMB a month, roughly 35 RMB (about $7 USD) a day, though he is given free meals and lodging. His wife also works in the complex, but their 3 sons are in Guangzhou.
I asked Mr. Chiu about his background, and he said that growing up, he did not like to study. Consequently, he only went to school until 3rd grade before he quit and helped out on the family farm. His sons also were not fond of studying, and had all quit in middle school. They enjoy playing mahjong, and, Mr. Chiu says proudly, are quite good players; however, perhaps they are not good enough, as they have lost much money gambling away their money. Mr. Chiu also said he wasted quite a bit of money on cigarettes, a habit he had picked up since he was 19 through friends. The supervisor gets mad when he smokes while he's working, but nonetheless he can't help himself sometimes.
I asked Mr. Chiu if he had dinner plans, and he said that usually he eats in the cafeteria with all the other employees of the OCT Park. The food there is quite terrible, but it is enough. I asked him what he liked to eat, and he said that sometimes if he has a bit of extra savings, he would buy some pork lard/oil to add flavor to his rice.
After talking for quite some time, I convinced him to have me help him weed the garden, as he was falling behind due to our conversation. We worked at it for some time until about 5:40pm, when he said he was going to call it a day. I invited him out to dinner, but he repeatedly declined me out of politeness and also because he felt embarrassed to be dressed in workman's clothes in a nice restaurant. I told him it was no bother - my shorts were not so clean either after all the gardening, and my t-shirt was nothing formal. We compromised in the end - I would buy him dinner but it would have to be take-out. So we washed the mud off our hands at the nearby water faucet and headed over to the plaza.
We asked around the various restaurants, but Mr. Chiu was clearly intimidated by the high end restaurants even when we were only inquiring about take-out possibilities. In the end, there appeared to be not too many take-out places in the area, and so we settled on getting some prepared food to go from the supermarket. I got a plate of cold noodles, 4 chicken drumsticks, and a couple cold drinks for the two of us, all for about $27 RMB ($4 USD). We ate together outside and chatted some more before exchanging phone numbers. He offered to take me to the subway stop via his bike, and so I pedaled to the subway with him in the back - quite an experience, due to my lack of experience biking with a load and with the local traffic patterns - where we parted ways.
On reflection, I think it's time I get out of my own world and do my best to really connect with people from different backgrounds, to understand them better. This reminds me to greet and be nicer to the people we often tend to never see or talk to - the garbage collectors, street cleaners, etc - and not take for granted their hard work in maintaining the various parks, city commons, etc. At the same time, such interactions may be delicate, and it is important to try to approach from a humble position in order to avoid natural class biases and unbalanced social interactions.
Mr. Chiu would not let me help him initially, so we just chatted at the beginning. He first apologized for his poor Mandarin even though it was mostly intelligble to me; he said he hasn't spoken Mandarin in a long time, as everyone around him including his supervisor spoke Cantonese. Mr. Chiu was from Maoming, Guangdong in the South and had come to Shenzhen after his boss at the factory told him of the new opportunities here. However, the work is hard, and he is already in his early 50s. In the mornings he cleans the streets and works on maintaining the gardens in the afternoon until 6:10pm. He works everyday outside of national holidays, and earns about 1100 RMB a month, roughly 35 RMB (about $7 USD) a day, though he is given free meals and lodging. His wife also works in the complex, but their 3 sons are in Guangzhou.
I asked Mr. Chiu about his background, and he said that growing up, he did not like to study. Consequently, he only went to school until 3rd grade before he quit and helped out on the family farm. His sons also were not fond of studying, and had all quit in middle school. They enjoy playing mahjong, and, Mr. Chiu says proudly, are quite good players; however, perhaps they are not good enough, as they have lost much money gambling away their money. Mr. Chiu also said he wasted quite a bit of money on cigarettes, a habit he had picked up since he was 19 through friends. The supervisor gets mad when he smokes while he's working, but nonetheless he can't help himself sometimes.
I asked Mr. Chiu if he had dinner plans, and he said that usually he eats in the cafeteria with all the other employees of the OCT Park. The food there is quite terrible, but it is enough. I asked him what he liked to eat, and he said that sometimes if he has a bit of extra savings, he would buy some pork lard/oil to add flavor to his rice.
After talking for quite some time, I convinced him to have me help him weed the garden, as he was falling behind due to our conversation. We worked at it for some time until about 5:40pm, when he said he was going to call it a day. I invited him out to dinner, but he repeatedly declined me out of politeness and also because he felt embarrassed to be dressed in workman's clothes in a nice restaurant. I told him it was no bother - my shorts were not so clean either after all the gardening, and my t-shirt was nothing formal. We compromised in the end - I would buy him dinner but it would have to be take-out. So we washed the mud off our hands at the nearby water faucet and headed over to the plaza.
We asked around the various restaurants, but Mr. Chiu was clearly intimidated by the high end restaurants even when we were only inquiring about take-out possibilities. In the end, there appeared to be not too many take-out places in the area, and so we settled on getting some prepared food to go from the supermarket. I got a plate of cold noodles, 4 chicken drumsticks, and a couple cold drinks for the two of us, all for about $27 RMB ($4 USD). We ate together outside and chatted some more before exchanging phone numbers. He offered to take me to the subway stop via his bike, and so I pedaled to the subway with him in the back - quite an experience, due to my lack of experience biking with a load and with the local traffic patterns - where we parted ways.
On reflection, I think it's time I get out of my own world and do my best to really connect with people from different backgrounds, to understand them better. This reminds me to greet and be nicer to the people we often tend to never see or talk to - the garbage collectors, street cleaners, etc - and not take for granted their hard work in maintaining the various parks, city commons, etc. At the same time, such interactions may be delicate, and it is important to try to approach from a humble position in order to avoid natural class biases and unbalanced social interactions.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
In the South - SZ
So I was in Shenzhen to visit a friend I met back in Sichuan, 2004. Back then, we had gone up to Emei Shan (Emei Mountain) together and hung out with monkeys for a day. Unfortunately, Shenzhen, one of the newest and fastest growing cities in China, had less to offer in that respect, though it offered quite a different experience.
There were also some interesting statues in the area and people posing/sleeping next to them:
And then I met Mr. Chiu.
I went up Shenzhen's tallest skyscraper, the Shun Hing Square (地王大厦):
From there, you can see Lo Wu, the border checkpoint with HK:
We also visited Dongmen (East Gate), a pedestrian shopping district that looked very similar to certain areas in many other cities in China, such as Nanjing East Rd in Shanghai, Wangfujing in China, etc. Note however, the reference to Taiwan's Ximending (West Gate):
I then took the subway over to the "Windows of the World" station. The one-time subway pass, like Guangzhou's, is in an interesting token shape as opposed to the cards you see most everywhere else:
Windows of the World has a miniature version of a bunch of well known landmarks from all over the world, and is supposedly built to scale. It is managed by OCT (Overseas Chinese Town), a group that maintains the whole tourist park around that area. Here is the front entrance:
While I didn't bother going in (time was short, and I've traveled to quite a few of those landmarks in person already), I did tour much of the rest of the park, which was quite suitable for walking, running, or biking:
There were also some interesting statues in the area and people posing/sleeping next to them:
And then I met Mr. Chiu.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
In the South - GZ
Mid-Autumn Festival. Got into Guangzhou, and after meeting up with my friend, dropping off my things, and eating dinner, the first thing we do is head over to Karaoke - apparently my friend's friend was hosting a party in the presidential suite, and who couldn't turn down free Karaoke, eh? Well my friend could not, despite the protestations of his girlfriend. At Karaoke, there was the usual persuasions to drink and my usual persistence to drink water won over. It was actually a fairly pleasant place to pass the time at, as the ventilation system did a good job of clearing the cigarette smoke, there were some tasty snacks, and even a few random songs from Taiwan that I somehow knew. My friend's friend's friends were also fairly nice people to talk to. However, we did not stay long, as it was late and my friend's girlfriend was less than enthusiastic about having to hang out with a room full of strangers.
The next day, we went to a Water Park near Guangzhou, taking advantage of the day off that occurs after the Mid-Autumn Festival. I hadn't been in a water park since I was a kid, and I ended up having more fun than I thought I would - some of the slides were pretty interesting, and we ended having a fairly intense team battle trying to deflate each other's intertubes while on the normally placid intertube rafting circuit.
After our day at the Water Park, we came back to Guangzhou for dinner. Despite the taxi driver's efforts, we made it back at a reasonable hour and got to the Sichuan restaurant we were unable to go to the day before. The most memorable moment was when we had the waiter pour our tea in splendid fashion. Some pictures:
The next day, we went to a Water Park near Guangzhou, taking advantage of the day off that occurs after the Mid-Autumn Festival. I hadn't been in a water park since I was a kid, and I ended up having more fun than I thought I would - some of the slides were pretty interesting, and we ended having a fairly intense team battle trying to deflate each other's intertubes while on the normally placid intertube rafting circuit.
Picture of us at the Water Park:
The slides:
The main entrance with the corny hippo:
After our day at the Water Park, we came back to Guangzhou for dinner. Despite the taxi driver's efforts, we made it back at a reasonable hour and got to the Sichuan restaurant we were unable to go to the day before. The most memorable moment was when we had the waiter pour our tea in splendid fashion. Some pictures:
In the South - HK
I flew into Shenzhen a couple days ago, then crossed the border to Hong Kong in order to abide by the terms of my visa. From the Shenzhen airport, there is a bus that takes you to the border for 20 RMB. I helped an old woman with her luggage and she in return protected me when others accused me of cutting in line (which was untrue anyhow). We then chatted on the bus as she talked about her life in Shanghai as an accountant and her 30-something year old son, who went to Jiao Tong University and had also wanted to quit after working just 3 years.
When we arrived at Luo Hu bus terminal, near the immigration checkpoint between HK and PRC, it was initially a bit confusing figuring out where to go to get into Hong Kong. It was a bit of a nuisance with all these people trying to offer you rides to HK. Furthermore, it was understandably difficult to get cell phone signal on my Chinese cell phone after I crossed into HK. Luckily, I was able to get signal in the Lo Wu Metro Station once I stepped outside the building. From there, I was able to take the train to a friend's house where I stayed the night.
The next day, we had a very tasty lunch at the Aviation Club, before heading to Mongkok for some mango dessert. We then snacked on cold noodles in a bag mixed with octopus and other random ingredients:
After that, we headed to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. There was a Cantonese Opera section on display, and it was there that I realized I still didn't know very much about the diversity of Chinese musical instruments. For example, the only stringed instruments I had heard of were the erhu, pipa, and yangqin, but on display were more than 10 different instruments beyond that (e.g. the Zhonghu, Yehu, Zhutiqin, Sanhu, etc). I now feel compelled to dive into Chinese music a bit more, as my forays into musical composition thus far have all been based on Western music.
When we arrived at Luo Hu bus terminal, near the immigration checkpoint between HK and PRC, it was initially a bit confusing figuring out where to go to get into Hong Kong. It was a bit of a nuisance with all these people trying to offer you rides to HK. Furthermore, it was understandably difficult to get cell phone signal on my Chinese cell phone after I crossed into HK. Luckily, I was able to get signal in the Lo Wu Metro Station once I stepped outside the building. From there, I was able to take the train to a friend's house where I stayed the night.
The next day, we had a very tasty lunch at the Aviation Club, before heading to Mongkok for some mango dessert. We then snacked on cold noodles in a bag mixed with octopus and other random ingredients:
After that, we headed to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. There was a Cantonese Opera section on display, and it was there that I realized I still didn't know very much about the diversity of Chinese musical instruments. For example, the only stringed instruments I had heard of were the erhu, pipa, and yangqin, but on display were more than 10 different instruments beyond that (e.g. the Zhonghu, Yehu, Zhutiqin, Sanhu, etc). I now feel compelled to dive into Chinese music a bit more, as my forays into musical composition thus far have all been based on Western music.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Shanghai fun
A relatively uneventful week in Shanghai, though I had a chance to visit many old friends from Opera.
Xu Mingqiang and I at the Bund:
Zeng Yi and I at the Cheng Huang Miao:
Soup dumplings you can drink (!!) out of:
Dinner with Fred and Yi:
Xu Mingqiang and I at the Bund:
Zeng Yi and I at the Cheng Huang Miao:
Soup dumplings you can drink (!!) out of:
Dinner with Fred and Yi:
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Paralympics Opening Ceremony
Wow... in some ways, I think it was more inspiring than the actual Olympics Opening Ceremony...
While NBC apparently does not feel it is important enough or popular enough to be broadcasted in the US, you can find it online at: www.universalsports.com
If you don't have 2 hours to spare, feel free to take a look at a promo trailer:
The video of course in Chinese but I think the themes are universally understood.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Shanghai
I took the overnight train from Beijing to Shanghai and arrived at about 7am in the morning. Travel by train in China is quite typical, much more so than in the US, and they have fairly comfortable overnight compartments. In fact, there usually are 4 classes - hard seater, soft seater, hard sleeper, and soft sleeper. While cheap, it must be unnecessarily difficult to go overnight via hard/soft seaters, as the sleepers are much preferred for the 13 hour journey. However, they were out of hard sleepers (which cost a little less than 200 RMB), and so I had to settle for a soft sleeper. It was about 500 RMB ($70), which is a bit on the expensive side, but as I had never ridden soft sleeper before, I didn't mind paying a bit extra for the experience.
It turned out that the train I was on only had soft sleeper compartments, and each compartment could house 4 people. It also turned out that while there was a lot of extra room on the train, my ticket was for a bed in a full compartment. Not that I'm against having neighbors, but it ended up there wasn't a lot of room with all the luggage I had on hand.
Anyhow, I decided to go to the dining car to get dinner. I ended up getting Lion's Head (not literally, it's a Chinese meatball dish) and some vegetables, which were surprisingly good:
It turned out that the train I was on only had soft sleeper compartments, and each compartment could house 4 people. It also turned out that while there was a lot of extra room on the train, my ticket was for a bed in a full compartment. Not that I'm against having neighbors, but it ended up there wasn't a lot of room with all the luggage I had on hand.
Anyhow, I decided to go to the dining car to get dinner. I ended up getting Lion's Head (not literally, it's a Chinese meatball dish) and some vegetables, which were surprisingly good:
Afterwards, I slept pretty well in the soft sleeper and woke up about an hour before we arrived. At Shanghai station, someone was offering to give me a ride, and kept asking me where I was trying to go. I ignored him, and tried to find the official taxi stand. When he saw I finally figured it out, heading for the underground passage where all the taxis were lined up, he tried to dissuade me by telling me it's the wrong way - only the subway was underground. It didn't quite work, but it's interesting what desperate lies people tell to try to win business.
I took the taxi to my aunt and uncle's house way out in Pudong. It is in quite a nice development, but unfortunately the seclusion meant that the taxi fair was quite high. I was quite unaccustomed to have to pay 75 RMB for a taxi ride when rides usually were around 20+ RMB in Beijing. Even the crosstown rides were only about 50 RMB...
Unsuccessful Bargaining
"Excuse me... would you like to look at artist?" A saleslady appeared from around the corner. I turned around. "Are you Chinese?" she continued, in English.
"I can speak Chinese," I replied back in Mandarin.
"Ah, where are you from, Hong Kong?" the lady was relieved to be able to switch into Mandarin.
"No, USA - I'm an ABC."
"I see. Well we have an exhibition here - take a look around and see if there's anything you like."
"What artists are shown here?"
"We have a bunch of different artists."
I walked around some, but my eye was on this one amazing scenic painting on the wall to the left, near the corner. The bright, purple colors were arresting - they just jumped out of the picture. It was extremely rare to see such a color set in Chinese paintings, and it was so well done.
"That one looks brilliant."
"It is very nice. They are part of a set. Together, these are the four seasons."
"That's Summer?"
"Yes. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter" she said, pointing across, from left to right.
"I also like Spring. Very colorful."
"What about the other two... you don't like them?"
"They're okay... but Summer is definitely the best."
"You know, we also sell them here." Obviously I had noticed, as there was a small green card with a price at the bottom of every painting. The tag was on the Winter portrait, and it said 4200 RMB.
"Are they sold together as a set or individually?"
"Well... preferably a set. We do have individual ones over to the right."
The saleslady led me to the other corner of the room and pointed out a couple paintings. One was Spring, and the other was some indiscernible season. They were nice, but not as nice as the ones on the other wall.
We moved back to the original 4 Seasons set.
"So you really like these, huh?"
"I do, I do... but... I don't have any money!" I averted my eyes, looking down at the ground and laughed as I finished.
"Well... how much would you pay for these?"
"Hmm... if I were to buy... how much would they be...?"
"A single painting would cost 900 RMB, but I can give one to you for 700 RMB. If you buy all of them, I can actually give you a discount there as well. I can do it for this:" She types out 3600, then discounts it to be 3200.
I looked at her in disbelief. "I can't do that!! That's like $400 USD!!"
"But it's art!"
"But I have no income!!"
"Well, what do you do?"
"I don't do anything! I travel!"
“Come on, why don’t you offer a price regardless?"
“No, I’m really in no position to buy.”
“You know… we take credit card...”
“But I won't be able to pay off my credit card!”
She laughed. “Well, you know you can pay now, and just spend less later on.”
“But I have a budget!”
“These days a lot of people pay first... and cut future spend from their budget.”
“Yeah and that's how the US got in trouble...”
“What do you mean?”
“The US consumes all these goods... all stuff this stuff that China makes, and now look - China is getting rich and the US is in debt.”
“But we make all this really cheap stuff!”
“But it's all stuff we don't need! They just sit around for a few years and then end up in a garage sale where they're discounted by 90%. “
The saleslady laughed again.
I continued, "Look, my point is, I don't really want to offer a price... because I'm embarrassed.... I really don't have any money! This is really out of my league. You're looking in the wrong customer segment. I am unworthy to even consider buying such art. You shouldn't waste your time with me."
“But when you get a job, and have a house, you’ll have something to decorate it.”
“But right now I am on vacation, and while I am wandering, I have no use for it. What will I do with it? Where will I hang it? In my tent?"
I really didn't want to buy anything, given my frugal spending habits, but at the same time, it was a lot of fun just negotiating. And because I really didn't want to buy anything, I was negotiating really well, the words in Chinese were flowing out very naturally, and I was very convincing, mostly because I was brutally honest. Plus, haggling with the saleslady made for good conversation, and who knows, maybe I could afford to spend a little extra here and there...
“So if I were to buy... I think the most I can afford is... 400-500.”
“USD??”
“No!! RMB! If I could do $400 US, then I can afford to pay for it at 3600 RMB, and we wouldn’t need to talk any further.”
“Uh huh. Yeah, that’s too low…”
“Right, I know.”
I changed the subject.
“So, how is business here? So-so?”
She laughed. “Not all that great.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, we're about to close down and move out.”
“I noticed you have people outside trying to get people to come in…”
“You are quite observant.”
“Well, they spoke to me in English as if I was a foreigner, saying 'Hello, hello, would you like to come see our exhibit'...”
“You do have a different, more foreign fengge (風格) about you...”
“Oh really...”
“Although your Chinese is really good…”
“It's okay…”
“So what are you doing in China?”
“I was here for to watch the Olympics…”
“Isn't it expensive...?”
“No, not so bad... I have friends who got some tickets from the lottery. It was about $20 USD for volleyball, which comes out to be about 140-150 RMB.”
“Ah… so what are you going to do next?”
I tell her of my plans.
“Sounds like a good life…”
“Yeah… it will be interesting.”
“Well you'll have to go back to work eventually... right?”
“Who knows. You know, you can make a lot of money teaching English these days.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah the pay is pretty good."
“So you'll end up making good money. And when you do, and get a place, don't you want something beautiful to hang on your wall then?”
“But I have no income now!”
“Okay... how is this…" She types out 2400 RMB.
“$300 US?? You’ve got to be kidding. You know how many meals I can eat, how many days I can survive with that?”
“But how will you know you will find something you like somewhere else in China?”
“China is so big… I’m sure I’ll find something somewhere else.”
“It'll be hard to find something you like... it's unique...”
I decided to draw up an analogy. "Look, it’s just like with girls – there are lots of pretty girls out there, but I don’t go around trying to collect every single one.”
She laughs, “No, it’s different… it’s art!”
“I think it's similar enough.”
She relented. “Okay fine… how about this:” She types out 2100.
Prices were coming down, but it was still rather unaffordable. I decided to offer a price, one that I felt would be within my means. So I countered, “Okay, I think the most I can offer is 1000.”
“1000?? 1000 is way too little.”
“I know, but I don't have any money! It's already a stretch for my budget!”
“I'll tell you what... I can give it to you for 1200.”
There was a moment of silence. I began to get slightly scared. I didn’t want to actually have a real shot at buying the painting. What was I to do with those 4 magnificent scrolls? Seriously, hanging it in my tent was truly a joke!
“Okay… but I think that’s still a bit too much.”
“You know, the paintings are originally 4200! You know how much I dropped the price by?? 3000 RMB! You know how many English lessons I can buy? I can get like 3 months worth!”
“Well, let me think... An English lesson is probably around 200 RMB an hour, and so yeah, if you only get 1 lesson a week, you can get about 4-5 lessons a month.”
She looked embarrassed. “English lessons cost that much?”
“Yeah, good money, eh?”
“Well heck, if it was that easy I'd do it too... if I knew English.”
“Well after I teach you, maybe you can give your own lessons!”
“But I don't have any money…”
“That's okay - just give me a bigger discount on the painting!”
She laughed.
I tried to drop the whole thing and walk away. “Look, I was joking around with you, I just wanted to practice negotiating and practice my Chinese. I really don't want to buy it! I don't know why I'm even here, considering it!”
“It's because you really do like it. And also, I know you really don't want to buy, so I'm giving you a really good price. You know, they make excellent gifts, perhaps for your parents...”
“Well, since I like it so much, can I take a picture?”
She laughed dismissively at my joke.
“It’s too bad you like something so expensive.”
“I guess my tastes are too...”
“Too refined," she completed.
“I'll tell you what - I'll buy for 1100.”
“Come on, then! Why not 1200? It's just 100 difference! That's like 3 cups of coffee!”
“No, it's 200! I went up 100, so why don't you split the difference now.”
“You know, everything's more expensive now... even the paper.”
I decided to change the subject and ask about how the business model worked.
“So how does it work? Do you buy the paintings from the artist, or do you sell and split the earnings with the artist.”
“We split the revenue with the artist.”
“How does the split work?”
“That I would not know.”
“How does it work for you? Are you salaried or do you get a commission?”
“We have to hit a monthly sales target, but we're salaried.”
“So you don't have commissions? Like you get a cut of the sale?”
“No.”
“So then you shouldn't really care, eh?”
“Well it has to be reasonable! Within certain bounds…”
“Well is there a price that the artist sets for you?”
“Yes, I already gave that to you – you already have my lowest price!”
“Hmm, well you see, I still don’t really want to buy it. You see, I have to run to Wangfujing, and it would be inconvenient to carry these.”
“Oh we can put them in nice boxes. See they roll up easily, and we can give you a bag. It wouldn't be bad at all.”
I walked to the painting and felt the silk paper.
“You know, Wangfujing is expensive.”
“Yes... and so is the Forbidden Palace!”
She laughs. “But at least it’s cultured here.”
“I have to agree.”
“What are you going to go buy?”
“I’m going there to look for more Olympic souvenirs.”
“They are all overpriced.”
“Are they going to be around later?”
“They should be.”
“Do you think the prices will come down?”
“Um, they should… but I don’t know for sure.”
I contemplated buying the Olympic souvenirs later, perhaps for cheaper, and using the money for now. However, I really just didn’t want to pay extra to buy something I didn’t really want. So I decided to force her hand. I said, “I see. Well thank you for spending so much time with me looking around, but I really don’t think this is right for me, and it’s best I be going and not wasting any more of your time.” I started walking out, and the saleslady panicked and rushed besides, me saying, “Okay, okay, we’ll do it for 1100. But I have to go ask for permission – you stay right there.” Then she muttered to herself, “Ah, geez… It's just 100 stinking RMB…”
The saleslady talked to her manager, and they walked over to the painting.
“This one?” the manager asked, pointing to the set of four.
“Yes.”
“For how much?”
“1100.”
The manager compared it to the price on the wall and frowned, seeing it was really quite a difference.
“He's just a student, just graduated, and so he doesn't have much money.”
“Ugh... okay...”
I couldn’t help but be apologetic. “I’m sorry, 真的不好意思…”
“It’s fine. Note that there is a 5% tax, so the actual price is:” She multiplied thru and arrived at 1155 RMB on the calculator.
“Okay...”
We walked back out to the counter. The saleslady whispered to me, “You know, you got a very good deal... we never sold a piece for that low...”
“What do you mean? Every piece is different.”
“Yeah but for the same artist, all the pieces are usually around a certain price range.”
The sale was completed, and I was both happy as well as annoyed that I blew 1100 RMB in 30 minutes, while taking time away from the time I had allotted to go to Wangfujing with. However, it was a memorable experience, and I decided to capture it. “Do you mind if we took a picture?” I asked the sales lady.
“A picture?”
“You know, for memories...”
“With me?”
“Sure.”
I passed the camera to someone else and we posed for the picture:
As I walked out, the sales lady followed me a little past the front door.
“Are you still going to Wangfujing?”
“Not anymore. My train is at 7:30. When do you close up?”
“Oh, about 5:30pm.”
“I see. Well, I enjoyed speaking with you. Farewell!”
I walked out and we waved goodbye. I then ran to Wangfujing, now with 4 long boxes in a plastic bag between my two hands, and 1155 RMB poorer.
"I can speak Chinese," I replied back in Mandarin.
"Ah, where are you from, Hong Kong?" the lady was relieved to be able to switch into Mandarin.
"No, USA - I'm an ABC."
"I see. Well we have an exhibition here - take a look around and see if there's anything you like."
"What artists are shown here?"
"We have a bunch of different artists."
I walked around some, but my eye was on this one amazing scenic painting on the wall to the left, near the corner. The bright, purple colors were arresting - they just jumped out of the picture. It was extremely rare to see such a color set in Chinese paintings, and it was so well done.
"That one looks brilliant."
"It is very nice. They are part of a set. Together, these are the four seasons."
"That's Summer?"
"Yes. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter" she said, pointing across, from left to right.
"I also like Spring. Very colorful."
"What about the other two... you don't like them?"
"They're okay... but Summer is definitely the best."
"You know, we also sell them here." Obviously I had noticed, as there was a small green card with a price at the bottom of every painting. The tag was on the Winter portrait, and it said 4200 RMB.
"Are they sold together as a set or individually?"
"Well... preferably a set. We do have individual ones over to the right."
The saleslady led me to the other corner of the room and pointed out a couple paintings. One was Spring, and the other was some indiscernible season. They were nice, but not as nice as the ones on the other wall.
We moved back to the original 4 Seasons set.
"So you really like these, huh?"
"I do, I do... but... I don't have any money!" I averted my eyes, looking down at the ground and laughed as I finished.
"Well... how much would you pay for these?"
"Hmm... if I were to buy... how much would they be...?"
"A single painting would cost 900 RMB, but I can give one to you for 700 RMB. If you buy all of them, I can actually give you a discount there as well. I can do it for this:" She types out 3600, then discounts it to be 3200.
I looked at her in disbelief. "I can't do that!! That's like $400 USD!!"
"But it's art!"
"But I have no income!!"
"Well, what do you do?"
"I don't do anything! I travel!"
“Come on, why don’t you offer a price regardless?"
“No, I’m really in no position to buy.”
“You know… we take credit card...”
“But I won't be able to pay off my credit card!”
She laughed. “Well, you know you can pay now, and just spend less later on.”
“But I have a budget!”
“These days a lot of people pay first... and cut future spend from their budget.”
“Yeah and that's how the US got in trouble...”
“What do you mean?”
“The US consumes all these goods... all stuff this stuff that China makes, and now look - China is getting rich and the US is in debt.”
“But we make all this really cheap stuff!”
“But it's all stuff we don't need! They just sit around for a few years and then end up in a garage sale where they're discounted by 90%. “
The saleslady laughed again.
I continued, "Look, my point is, I don't really want to offer a price... because I'm embarrassed.... I really don't have any money! This is really out of my league. You're looking in the wrong customer segment. I am unworthy to even consider buying such art. You shouldn't waste your time with me."
“But when you get a job, and have a house, you’ll have something to decorate it.”
“But right now I am on vacation, and while I am wandering, I have no use for it. What will I do with it? Where will I hang it? In my tent?"
I really didn't want to buy anything, given my frugal spending habits, but at the same time, it was a lot of fun just negotiating. And because I really didn't want to buy anything, I was negotiating really well, the words in Chinese were flowing out very naturally, and I was very convincing, mostly because I was brutally honest. Plus, haggling with the saleslady made for good conversation, and who knows, maybe I could afford to spend a little extra here and there...
“So if I were to buy... I think the most I can afford is... 400-500.”
“USD??”
“No!! RMB! If I could do $400 US, then I can afford to pay for it at 3600 RMB, and we wouldn’t need to talk any further.”
“Uh huh. Yeah, that’s too low…”
“Right, I know.”
I changed the subject.
“So, how is business here? So-so?”
She laughed. “Not all that great.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, we're about to close down and move out.”
“I noticed you have people outside trying to get people to come in…”
“You are quite observant.”
“Well, they spoke to me in English as if I was a foreigner, saying 'Hello, hello, would you like to come see our exhibit'...”
“You do have a different, more foreign fengge (風格) about you...”
“Oh really...”
“Although your Chinese is really good…”
“It's okay…”
“So what are you doing in China?”
“I was here for to watch the Olympics…”
“Isn't it expensive...?”
“No, not so bad... I have friends who got some tickets from the lottery. It was about $20 USD for volleyball, which comes out to be about 140-150 RMB.”
“Ah… so what are you going to do next?”
I tell her of my plans.
“Sounds like a good life…”
“Yeah… it will be interesting.”
“Well you'll have to go back to work eventually... right?”
“Who knows. You know, you can make a lot of money teaching English these days.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah the pay is pretty good."
“So you'll end up making good money. And when you do, and get a place, don't you want something beautiful to hang on your wall then?”
“But I have no income now!”
“Okay... how is this…" She types out 2400 RMB.
“$300 US?? You’ve got to be kidding. You know how many meals I can eat, how many days I can survive with that?”
“But how will you know you will find something you like somewhere else in China?”
“China is so big… I’m sure I’ll find something somewhere else.”
“It'll be hard to find something you like... it's unique...”
I decided to draw up an analogy. "Look, it’s just like with girls – there are lots of pretty girls out there, but I don’t go around trying to collect every single one.”
She laughs, “No, it’s different… it’s art!”
“I think it's similar enough.”
She relented. “Okay fine… how about this:” She types out 2100.
Prices were coming down, but it was still rather unaffordable. I decided to offer a price, one that I felt would be within my means. So I countered, “Okay, I think the most I can offer is 1000.”
“1000?? 1000 is way too little.”
“I know, but I don't have any money! It's already a stretch for my budget!”
“I'll tell you what... I can give it to you for 1200.”
There was a moment of silence. I began to get slightly scared. I didn’t want to actually have a real shot at buying the painting. What was I to do with those 4 magnificent scrolls? Seriously, hanging it in my tent was truly a joke!
“Okay… but I think that’s still a bit too much.”
“You know, the paintings are originally 4200! You know how much I dropped the price by?? 3000 RMB! You know how many English lessons I can buy? I can get like 3 months worth!”
“Well, let me think... An English lesson is probably around 200 RMB an hour, and so yeah, if you only get 1 lesson a week, you can get about 4-5 lessons a month.”
She looked embarrassed. “English lessons cost that much?”
“Yeah, good money, eh?”
“Well heck, if it was that easy I'd do it too... if I knew English.”
“Well after I teach you, maybe you can give your own lessons!”
“But I don't have any money…”
“That's okay - just give me a bigger discount on the painting!”
She laughed.
I tried to drop the whole thing and walk away. “Look, I was joking around with you, I just wanted to practice negotiating and practice my Chinese. I really don't want to buy it! I don't know why I'm even here, considering it!”
“It's because you really do like it. And also, I know you really don't want to buy, so I'm giving you a really good price. You know, they make excellent gifts, perhaps for your parents...”
“Well, since I like it so much, can I take a picture?”
She laughed dismissively at my joke.
“It’s too bad you like something so expensive.”
“I guess my tastes are too...”
“Too refined," she completed.
“I'll tell you what - I'll buy for 1100.”
“Come on, then! Why not 1200? It's just 100 difference! That's like 3 cups of coffee!”
“No, it's 200! I went up 100, so why don't you split the difference now.”
“You know, everything's more expensive now... even the paper.”
I decided to change the subject and ask about how the business model worked.
“So how does it work? Do you buy the paintings from the artist, or do you sell and split the earnings with the artist.”
“We split the revenue with the artist.”
“How does the split work?”
“That I would not know.”
“How does it work for you? Are you salaried or do you get a commission?”
“We have to hit a monthly sales target, but we're salaried.”
“So you don't have commissions? Like you get a cut of the sale?”
“No.”
“So then you shouldn't really care, eh?”
“Well it has to be reasonable! Within certain bounds…”
“Well is there a price that the artist sets for you?”
“Yes, I already gave that to you – you already have my lowest price!”
“Hmm, well you see, I still don’t really want to buy it. You see, I have to run to Wangfujing, and it would be inconvenient to carry these.”
“Oh we can put them in nice boxes. See they roll up easily, and we can give you a bag. It wouldn't be bad at all.”
I walked to the painting and felt the silk paper.
“You know, Wangfujing is expensive.”
“Yes... and so is the Forbidden Palace!”
She laughs. “But at least it’s cultured here.”
“I have to agree.”
“What are you going to go buy?”
“I’m going there to look for more Olympic souvenirs.”
“They are all overpriced.”
“Are they going to be around later?”
“They should be.”
“Do you think the prices will come down?”
“Um, they should… but I don’t know for sure.”
I contemplated buying the Olympic souvenirs later, perhaps for cheaper, and using the money for now. However, I really just didn’t want to pay extra to buy something I didn’t really want. So I decided to force her hand. I said, “I see. Well thank you for spending so much time with me looking around, but I really don’t think this is right for me, and it’s best I be going and not wasting any more of your time.” I started walking out, and the saleslady panicked and rushed besides, me saying, “Okay, okay, we’ll do it for 1100. But I have to go ask for permission – you stay right there.” Then she muttered to herself, “Ah, geez… It's just 100 stinking RMB…”
The saleslady talked to her manager, and they walked over to the painting.
“This one?” the manager asked, pointing to the set of four.
“Yes.”
“For how much?”
“1100.”
The manager compared it to the price on the wall and frowned, seeing it was really quite a difference.
“He's just a student, just graduated, and so he doesn't have much money.”
“Ugh... okay...”
I couldn’t help but be apologetic. “I’m sorry, 真的不好意思…”
“It’s fine. Note that there is a 5% tax, so the actual price is:” She multiplied thru and arrived at 1155 RMB on the calculator.
“Okay...”
We walked back out to the counter. The saleslady whispered to me, “You know, you got a very good deal... we never sold a piece for that low...”
“What do you mean? Every piece is different.”
“Yeah but for the same artist, all the pieces are usually around a certain price range.”
The sale was completed, and I was both happy as well as annoyed that I blew 1100 RMB in 30 minutes, while taking time away from the time I had allotted to go to Wangfujing with. However, it was a memorable experience, and I decided to capture it. “Do you mind if we took a picture?” I asked the sales lady.
“A picture?”
“You know, for memories...”
“With me?”
“Sure.”
I passed the camera to someone else and we posed for the picture:
As I walked out, the sales lady followed me a little past the front door.
“Are you still going to Wangfujing?”
“Not anymore. My train is at 7:30. When do you close up?”
“Oh, about 5:30pm.”
“I see. Well, I enjoyed speaking with you. Farewell!”
I walked out and we waved goodbye. I then ran to Wangfujing, now with 4 long boxes in a plastic bag between my two hands, and 1155 RMB poorer.
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