Good Deals in China

Things you can buy in China for...

...less than $2 USD (13.6 RMB):
- One rice burger in Wuxi (無錫) (12 RMB)
- 60 minute full body massage or 45 minute foot massage in Chengdu (成都) (12 RMB)
- A night's stay at Maoxian (茂縣) (10 RMB)
- A bowl of delicious rabbit noodle soup in Wenchuan (汶川) (7 RMB)

...less than $1 USD (6.8 RMB):
- One winter hat at Jiuzhaigou (九寨溝) (5 RMB)
- A pair of gloves at Jiuzhaigou (5 RMB)
- Bowl of Lanzhou noodles (蘭州拉面) (5 RMB)
- A huge "loaf" of bread (饃) (5 RMB)
- Huge plate of sliced & stir fried potatoes (土豆丝) (5 RMB)
- A ride around town (4.5 RMB + tip) and a story to tell

...less than half a US dollar (3.4 RMB):
- One bootleg DVD in Chengdu (3 RMB)
- 1 km taxi ride in Maoxian (3 RMB)
- An hour bus ride from Dujiangyan (都江厭) to Mt. Qingcheng (青成山) (2 RMB)
- Huge bowl of egg drop soup in Beijing (北京) (2 RMB)
- One glove at Jiuzhaigou (2.5 RMB)

...less than a US quarter (1.7 RMB):
- Tailor service to get your bag sewn and fixed (1 RMB)
- Key replication service for additional keys (1 RMB)
- An hour bus ride in Xiamen (夏門) to the airport (1 RMB)
- Plastic Bag (0.1 RMB)

...for nothing (priceless):
- 143km ride from Ruoergai (若爾蓋) to ChuanZhuShi (川主市) in a nice SUV with pleasant people
- 17km ride from ChuanZhuShi to Songpan (松潘) and free travel recommendations
- Guided Tour thru Maoxian village ruined by the Sichuan Earthquake
- Guided Tour of Yemen Guan village ruined by Sichuan Earthquake
- Temple Masters on Mt. QingCheng to unlock their doors in the middle of the night to allow us safe passage

100 RMB A Week, Part 2

So in the past 7 days, I ended up subsisting some super-cheap foods that were actually pretty good. For most meals, I ate at a noodle shop near my apt, which prices most dishes anywhere from 5-10 RMB and has generous portions:

Day 1:
9/25: Beef Noodle Soup (牛肉麵) - 5 RMB ($0.75 USD)
9/25: Drink/Refreshment (450 mL) - 3 RMB ($0.45 USD)

Day 2:
9/26: Lunch with a friend - Free
9/26: Noodles (拌面) - 9 RMB ($1.36 USD)

Day 3:
9/27: Beef "knife-sliced" Noodle Soup (牛肉刀消麵) - 5 RMB ($0.75 USD)
9/27: Beef Fried Rice (牛肉炒飯) - 6 RMB ($0.91 USD)

Day 4:
9/28: Sichuan lunch w/ friend incl. lamb, chicken, soup, veggies, & rice - 34 RMB ($5.13 USD)
9/28: Drink/Refreshment (600 mL) - 4.5 RMB ($0.68 USD)
9/28: Drink/Refreshment (2000 mL) - 5.8 RMB ($0.88 USD)

Day 5:
9/29: Dumplings - 3 RMB ($0.45 USD)
9/29: Noodles (拌面) - 3 RMB ($0.45 USD)

Day 6:
9/30: 2 Peaches - 5 RMB ($0.75 USD)
9/30: Fried Rice (蛋炒飯) - 5 RMB ($0.75 USD)

Day 7:
10/1: Noodles in Scallions Sauce with a side of Soup (蔥油拌麵) - 6 RMB ($0.91 USD)
10/1: Fried Rice (蛋炒飯) - 5 RMB ($0.75 USD)

Weekly Total: 99.3 RMB ($14.51 USD)

Okay, so I did have a few leftover snacks and fruits from my Sanya trip, which came in handy when I got too hungry. But then again, if I didn't spend a third of my one week allowance on one meal, I would have been comfortably under the margin - outside of the 34 RMB meal, I averaged less than 10 RMB a day.

I didn't really run into any problems (i.e. I wasn't really hungry) until the last couple of days when I just ran really low on funds, and wished I didn't splurge 34 RMB in a single meal. As a result, this whole experiment, did come with a few side effects, most noticeable towards the very end:

Side effect #1: I think I got thinner. Combined with some minor exercise, I definitely lost some weight. I have no idea how much since I don't have a scale nor is it important since weight is not a very accurate measure of fitness. But if I was in the business of diet fads, I could probably coin this the "poor man's diet", the "miser's diet", or the "I'm broke" diet. Lose weight and save money at the same time! What a concept.

Side effect #2: I started noticing food tastes really good. I mean, really good. I don't think it has tasted this good in a long time. In fact, I can better appreciate how salt trade was so important in the past, and why oil is so necessary today (just kidding about the 2nd part). Really, all you have to do to learn to appreciate one of life's finer enjoyments (i.e. good food, or even just food in general, good or bad) is to try not spend any money and eat less.

Don't worry, I will eat more normally next week.

Peach Vendor

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.

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...

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.