Bargaining: Chinese Style

Everyone loves a bargain. No one, it seems, drives a bargain like the Chinese. Their bargaining is insane. In many countries, most bargaining starts out with the seller and the buyer in the same general price bracket. It’s just a matter of each person adjusting a little to come to an agreement. For example, the seller says "$100” and you counteroffer “$80.” Then, the two of you meet at $90. Here, this is not the case. In China, the seller says “¥100” and you counteroffer with something like “¥5.” Then, the two of you meet around ¥30.

In addition to bargaining starting at radically different prices, customers here drastically change their personalities to bargain. When I went to the Badaling section of the Great Wall, my sunglasses broke. So, I went to a little stall to buy a new pair. A co-worker’s Chinese wife kindly offered to come with me to bargain. For the entire two hour car ride, she had been a polite, slightly shy lady. Well, when she started bargaining, her entire demeanor changed. Gone was her shy and reserved nature. Out came her inner demonic, haggler. This woman (I forgot her name…) told me to pick out the pair I wanted. Once that happened, she took them from me and shoved them into the clerk’s face and asked how much. When the clerk answered ¥45, she laughed sarcastically and said something like “Are you kidding? You want ¥45 for this trash?” She then offered ¥10. The seller acted insulted and lowered the price a little. My lady then made derogatory comments about the quality of the sunglasses and raised her offer slightly. After a few more rounds of this, she finally looked at me and whispered, in English, “Don’t smile! Now, I got her down to ¥25. I think this is a good price. Are you willing to take it?” When I said yes, she told the seller something like “Ok, we’ll take it but, we are still paying far too much.”

From what I've observed, when bargaining in China, it’s important to remember a few things:

1. Never seem excited. This will raise the starting price.

2. Always be prepared to walk away and not buy anything. Remember, it’s a big country. Someone else will be selling the same thing later.

3. Don’t name the first price. Wait for the seller to name a price and then counteroffer.

4. Offer something like 10% of the initial price.

5. Look for the item’s flaws to help your bargaining position.

6. Always have the seller show you the price on a calculator. This way, there will be no language barrier and everyone is sure of the amount.

If you follow these tips, you will be ready to bargain like the Chinese.

You'll be as happy as Scrooge McDuck when you score a bargain.

Pollute-y, with a Side of Asthma

Living in Beijing means dealing with Beijing’s pollution. Unfortunately, Beijing has a terrible pollution problem. The air is extremely polluted. The water is too but, one can avoid drinking tap water. There is no way to avoid the air.

Before I came to Beijing, I thought the pollution just looked ugly and took a long time to affect a person. Unfortunately, this is not true. Recently, my students participated in a field day type event that lasted close to three hours. The event was on a day with an elevated level of pollution. I had forgotten to bring a mask with me so, I had to stand outside, for the entire event, without a mask.  I started the day feeling fine; no problems or symptoms of any kind. After two hours outside, I felt like I had a cold. My nose was stuffy and runny. Plus, I had a sore throat. At the end of the three hours, my eyes hurt too. I went from fine to the peak of a cold after only three hours of exposure.

My symptoms from short term exposure were annoying but, curable. After a few hours of breathing inside with an air purifier running, I was back to normal. People, especially children, who have long term exposure to the pollution, run the risk of very severe health problems. These problems include heart and lung problems, chronic bronchitis, and death. Of course, the pollution can aggravate preexisting conditions, such as asthma and heart disease.

Thankfully, there a few things that can be done to lessen the affect the pollution has on you.

When coming to Beijing, it is important to remember to bring a face mask with you. From what I have read, the N95 filtration masks from 3M are the best masks around. It’s the kind I use (based on my research) and they seem to work fine. I don’t like wearing a mask but, it’s a necessary evil. They are hot and cause my breath to fog up my glasses but, they keep me from feeling sick.

If you are a contact lens wearer, you should check the air levels in the morning to see if you can wear your lenses. It’s best to wear glasses when the levels of PM 2.5 (the main particulate in the air) are high. Your eyes feel dry and gritty if you wear contacts on these days. I’ve heard that wearing contacts on high pollution days contributes to ulcers and sores on the eyes but, I don’t know if this is true or not. At the very least, it causes a lot of discomfort.

Keep your windows closed. You can use an air conditioner or a fan to keep cool. If you open your windows for even a short amount of time, you will see how dirty the window sill gets. Now, imagine breathing that in. It’s just best to keep your windows closed.

Shower in the evening. You don’t want to lay in the pollution all night long and let it seep into your skin. So, shower before bed to wash it all off.

No matter how diligent you are, Beijing is not the healthiest place around. But, with a few precautions, you can help to minimize the effects of the pollution. 

N95 Mask by 3M

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Beijing's Pollution on an Elevated Day

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Another Day of Elevated Levels

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A Rare Clear Day

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Front Yard Funeral

On Friday morning, I came out of my apartment building and found a giant, three room tent out in front. The tent wasn’t in a parking area but, still, it was a strange sight. When I came home from work, it was still there. On Saturday morning, the tent and the accompanying event were still going strong. While walking past it, I noticed a large sign. So, I took a picture of the sign to have a co-worker translate. It turns out that the sign said something like “We are sorry for the inconvenience but, there has been a death. We apologize for any noise we cause.” Yes folks, there was a funeral/ wake happening in front of my building.

After I realized that I had a three day funeral happening in my front yard, I turned to my good friend Google for some answers. It turns out that what my neighbors were doing is actually standard for Chinese funeral customs. From what I learned, if a person dies inside of their home, the funeral and wake happen inside of the home. But, if the person dies away from home (for example, in a hospital), the funeral and wake happen outside of the home. Typically, the outdoor funeral and wake are held in the person’s yard or courtyard. Since our complex lacks a yard or courtyard area, my neighbors put up a giant tent on the strip of asphalt in front of our building.

On Saturday evening, the second day of the funeral/ wake, I saw a procession coming back to the tent. They were several people in the procession. They had drums, a small gong, and tambourines. I’m not sure where they were coming from but, they were noisy. I guess that’s why they put the sign up.

I couldn’t get any good pictures of the tent. Every time I tried, I would happen upon someone sobbing and feel like a jerk. So, my pictures aren’t close or clear. I did, however, stick my head in the tent. It was divided into three rooms that were all in a row. One room was a kitchen. The middle room was a dining room. The last room was a makeshift funeral parlor. I didn’t see a coffin in it but, I also didn’t check on the first day. When I looked in on Saturday (Day 2 of 3), there were a several large, standing floral arrangements, chairs, and a table with incense and a large photograph on it.

So, if you ever walk out of your apartment building in China, and you see a giant tent, be prepared for it to be around for a while. 

A pic of the tent from a stairwell window.

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A close up of the kitchen area and the food prep that happened outside of the tent.

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The Sign 

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The Entrance to the Funeral Parlor Section of the Tent

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Time for a Nap!

At first glance, it doesn’t seem like China and Spain would have anything in common but, they do. Both countries have siestas. As someone working in China, I really enjoy this part of Chinese culture. My school gives us 2 ½ hours for lunch. This is so the kindergarteners have time to eat, clean up, change, nap, and change again. Now, this is a little longer than usual. Most companies that provide naptime only give two hours for lunch and napping. Mine is longer because my students are young.

Many people believe that napping is for the lazy. I have not noticed any decrease in productivity. From what I have seen, some places, like restaurants, have a modified naptime. The employees sit at tables and put their heads down but, they get up if a customer comes in. I haven’t encountered a place that is entirely shut down for two hours a day. However, I could see this happening in a smaller city.

The tradition of naptime is slowly dying out in China. I hope this doesn’t happen because I have found that kindergarteners, and their teachers, all need naps. 

How to Take the Perfect Nap

Source: The Wall Street Journal Online

Travel Review – The Badaling Section of the Great Wall

Recently, I went to the Great Wall with a group of co-workers. We went to the Badaling section of the wall, which is about 50 miles northwest of Beijing. With traffic, it took us about two hours to get there.

If I had to describe the Badaling section of the Great Wall, I would say this: It stinks! Now, what do I mean by that? Do I mean that it’s boring or uninteresting? No, the Great Wall is amazing to look at. It’s incredible to think that it goes on for about 5,500 miles. What I mean is that, literally, it stinks.

The Badaling section of the Great Wall has a terrible odor to it. Let me try to give you an idea of the smell. First, imagine the world’s filthiest, smelliest Port-a-Potty.  Then, imagine an incredibly overcrowded cow pasture. Now, combine those two smells. That is how the Badaling section of the Great Wall smells.

I don’t know why this part of the Great Wall smells so badly. As this is the most crowded and touristy of the Great Wall’s sections, I imagine that the smell is the result of poor bathroom facilities and babies in backless pants. Whatever the reason, the Badaling section of the Great Wall should only be braved while wearing a mask. 

Though smelly, it really is beautiful.

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This section of the Wall is very crowded.

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Admission Fee	CNY 45 (Apr. 1 to Oct.31); CNY 40 (Nov.1 to Mar.31)
Cable Car	CNY 60 (single trip); CNY 80 (round trip)
Pulley	CNY 30 (single trip); CNY 60 (round trip)
Opening Hours	06:30-19:00 (In summer); 07:00-18:00 (In winter)

If you can stand the smell, here is some information from ChinaTravelGuide.com about the Badaling section of the Great Wall.

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Edit: My original trip was during the end of summer. I went back to the Badaling Section of the Great Wall during February and it did not smell! It was icy and cold but, odorless. :)

Funeral Floozies

While researching last week’s post on firecrackers, I came across some very interesting information about funerals in Taiwan (which some consider a province of China) and a few rural parts of mainland China. Apparently, these funerals sometimes have strippers. Yes, you read that correctly, strippers.

There seem to be a few theories as to why this practice occurs. Some believe that having strippers or scantily clad singers and dancers is a way to attract mourners to a funeral, which gives honor to the dead person. Others believe that this is a way to make the spirits happy by providing entertainment. Also, there is another theory that states that is simply a way to give the dead person a grand send-off.

From what I’ve read, it doesn’t matter much which theory you believe, the end result is the same. These women are hired by the dead person’s family to provide entertainment at the funeral. The women then show up on an Electric Flower Car, which is a truck that has had its bed converted into a neon lit stage. The women then sing, dance, and strip for the mourners.

Now, I can’t say how much of this is true. I have never been to a Chinese or Taiwanese funeral of any sort. So, I have never even had a chance to see a funeral stripper. Also, I find it a little suspicious that every article I found on the subject cited the same person, Dr. Marc L.  Moskowitz, as the source of the information on the practice. Dr. Moskowitz is the director of a documentary called Dancing for the Dead: Funeral Strippers in Taiwan. Unfortunately, I have not been able to view this documentary so, I can’t vouch for it in any way.

What do you think? Are the funeral strippers of rural Taiwan and rural mainland China fact or fiction?

4/26/2015: Slate.com ran an article (Some People in China Hire Sexy Dancers to Perform at Funeral) describing this phenomenon.

4/27/2015: Buzzfeed has also reported on this (China's Ministry of Culture is Cracking Down on "Funeral Strippers").

boom Boom BOOM!

On one of my first days in Beijing, I heard a series of loud, bomb-like sounds. At first, I thought there was an air raid going on. I considered going into one of the underground parking garages in our apartment complex. But, when I looked out of my window, no one outside seemed concerned about the bombs. So, then, I decided that the construction site about a block away must be using some sort of explosives. Since it was so far away, I decided that I was fine in my apartment and I went about my business.

Well, about two days later, the explosives were back. Then, they came back a third time and a fourth time. Now, it seems like four days a week, our apartment complex is under attack for about ten minutes at a time.

After asking around, I finally found out what these jolting sounds are – they are firecrackers! Apparently, Chinese people use firecrackers for a lot of reasons. Firecrackers are used to celebrate a birth, a wedding, a new home, a new business, some holidays, and during funeral processions.  With the exception of funerals, these are all happy occasions so, I guess it’s a good sign that I heard firecrackers so often in my neighborhood.

It makes sense that China, the place where gunpowder and fireworks were invented, and still the world’s leading manufacturer of fireworks and firecrackers, would have so many of them. However, it still startles me every time I hear one.

They may look like this...

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but, they sound like this.

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Firecracker Pic: http://www.thechildmindingshop.co.uk/mini-chinese-firecracker-decoration-4246-p.asp

Plane Pic: http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/us-bomb-database-useful-for-past-present-wars.html