How to shop in a Chinese department store

Mid-week greetings from Nanchang!

Spring Festival is around the corner, so the mass of students have moved home for a few weeks. That means that the campus is eerily quiet, with the exception of a few students still playing basketball. Our favorite chaotic back alleys are also very still. About 70 percent of the little shops are shuttered and about 98 percent of the street vendors are gone. It's a little sad.

But... that means I can run around outside and do whatever I want with nobody paying any attention! So I thought that would be a good idea to try out my new rollerblades!

Yesterday we were in a department store and I was looking at rollerblades, because I have been saving up my kuai in hopes of finding some big enough for me. So yesterday I got a cool pair of black and red ones that are super slick. We were in the Rainbow department store--an eight story, swanky place. The floors are gleaming, but they encouraged me to take the new wheels for a spin, so I tried them out and ended up buying them. They also had a special promotion, so they ended up being 20 percent off, plus I got a gift certificate of exactly 143 kuai that I had to spend within two days. It was a strange promotion, but I didn't mind.

That means that I returned to the store today to find something with the 143 kuai. It's not as easy as it sounds. There are many more workers than customers and they swoop down like hawks. There are three salespeople per every 10 square feet it seems. So for those who lament the fact that it's impossible to get anyone to help you in a store, just come to China.

When I was coming up the escalators by myself, there were men in suits standing on each floor with walkie talkies. I heard one radio someone saying, "laowai" (foreigner). He was probably alerting all the bored salespeople that a rich foreigner was coming! But, alas, I'm not the typical rich foreigner, so I'm afraid they were disappointed.

Everything in that store seems way out of the price range for the average Chinese person. I had a hard time finding anything for 143 kuai. Everyone was showing me 500 kuai sweaters, which were pretty unreasonable.

I finally settled on a little backpack that I can take on small excursions. One woman wrote the receipt for it. Two other saleswomen accepted my gift card/payment. What service! And it drives me crazy whenever I even think about buying anything in China. They always thrust the most expensive things in front of my face and I have to repeatedly say, "bu yao! bu yao!" (don't want! don't want!).

Then on the walk back to Ba Yi square, I stopped about every other block to give money to the beggars, who are prevalent. It's such a sobering contrast to the few ritzy stores. Most people in Nanchang aren't that well off, but there are some who are, and they love to show it by buying outrageously tacky jewelry or fur coats. Meanwhile, there are beggars with twisted bodies or burnt faces who are sprawled face-up on the sidewalks, hoping for some change so they can have something to eat. They really have nowhere to go or nobody to turn to.

Well, tonight I'm hanging out with some of my teammates and Lily and Marie, two girls from another team. They are visiting from Changchun, which is near the Russian border.

Have a good Wednesday!