Day 1-2
The flight over was pretty uneventful. Minneapolis to Tokyo was on a 777, not on a 747 like all of the previous trips. A nice interior; still had that new plane smell. Thought of Grandpa… From the time I left home to reaching my hotel in Shanghai at 10:00 PM local time took 22 hours. A pretty long day. I didn’t sleep at all on the plane but I was wide awake once we arrived, we being my boss Karen and I. This is Karen’s first trip to China and it is always fun to see how different people react to some of the odder things here. I will be nice this time though… Being as I was wide awake, after checking in I went for a walk around the neighborhood, had a drink at the hotel bar, took a shower, unpacked my suitcase, and finally felt tired enough to sleep around 1:00 AM. I was wide awake at 5:00.
After breakfast in the hotel, and a coffee from Starbucks around the corner, Karen and I headed to a local shopping area as I had to find a few things. The primary mission was to find iPad covers. I needed two and Karen decided on the spot she was getting her husband an iPad for Christmas so a third was required. These covers are much cheaper in China if you know how to haggle, and of course I have my boss with me so I guess I needed to prove I could negotiate effectively – kind of like interviewing for the job you already have. No pressure! No Pressure at all!!
The shopping mall we went to is one I have visited many times in the past; seven floors each containing dozens of small shops and booths and each staffed by 3-4 youths selling pretty much anything available for communicating, computing, watching or listening. Some of it is legit, much is pirated. There were no less than 40 places selling iPad covers on the only three floors we visited. All of the shops appeared to be selling the same 8-10 different styles which makes it easy to move on if you find one you like but the seller won’t bend enough. The haggling at the first one went something like this:
Me: “How much for the black one?” (he doesn’t speak much English but I point to the one I want)
Him: grabs a calculator, keys in some numbers and shows me. ¥280, around $45
Me: Smile; wave my hand like I am fanning something. “Too much!” I say while turning to walk on.
Him: “I give discount.” He punches more keys on the calculator. ¥180.
Me: “No, still too much” I say while turning to walk again.
Him: “How much you pay?”
Me: I pick up the cover, examine it, stroke my beard and look thoughtful. “¥90
Him: “No, too little”
We walked on, looked at some others, decided the first one was the best looking and returned to the same shop. The same guy recognized us and pulled out the cover we liked.
Him: “You buy?”
Me: “How much discount if I buy 2”
Him: Smiling, “¥150 if buy 2”
Me: “Still too much. ¥120.”
Him: After conferring with his fellow employees who are all gathered around now “OK”
Me: “What if I buy three? ¥100?”
We went a few more rounds and finally settled on ¥112, around $17.50. A third of what we would pay at home. My job is secure for a little while longer… You can negotiate for nearly anything in China
On the way back to the hotel we passed an old Catholic church which turns out to be the headquarters for the Shanghai Archdioceses. A beautiful old building. It seems strange that this building would have survived the worst of the communist era, but it has. There was a wedding preparing to start, a young Chinese couple, so we could not look around too much and pictures were forbidden on the inside but here is a shot of the exterior
Larry and his wife and daughter met us at the hotel later and took us to a Hot Pot restaurant for lunch which was excellent, very spicy, and as always Larry ordered far too much food. If you are not familiar with Hot Pot dining, it is traditional in northern China and much like fondue but you dip things into a seasoned broth instead of oil so it is much lighter. We had deli-thin slices of pork belly, beef, and lamb along with crabs, shrimp, clams, fish filets, straw mushrooms and spinach. Fish balls and some kind of meat balls came too. I didn’t feel stuffed after an hour and a half of this but I was also not hungry for dinner even after walking around the Bund for three hours later. Larry’s daughter is 9, is learning English and speaks with very little accent, and took it upon herself to teach me Chinese as we walked around. It was fun but I think she was getting frustrated with my lack of progress.
Later on Larry took us to a sweet shop and despite the fact that I told him not to, bought me far too much Chinese sweets – he likes to be a good host I guess. Anyway, we tried a few. Chinese sweets look and taste very different than what we are used to. No chocolates, hard candy, Snickers bars – nothing like that at all. Some look like bags of building material, one looked like chunks of green Playdough twisted into ropes. One looked and tasted like strips of wallpaper – I don’t really get that one. Another looked suspiciously like a small black asphalt shingles. This one does not, as you might guess look very appetizing but it tastes like peanut brittle, only with sesame seeds in place of the nuts. It was really good. I am bringing some home.
Tomorrow work begins…
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