Confessions of an American Shopaholic

Shopping in China is a whole new experience. It is nothing like shopping in America.

Today we went shopping here in Gaungzough. Near our hotel there are many little shops. These shops sell things like traditional Chinese clothing, jade, pearls, and many other souvenirs. When we walk by these shops all the workers are talking to us and telling us to come buy something. We were starting to get a headache from all the calls. When we finally decided to go into a shop the workers followed us everywhere. When we start to look at something, they would come to us and give us a history of the object and tell us that the quality is very good. At first I found this very annoying, but then it started to become very useful. We were able to ask questions about the product. They always had a good answer.

My mommy and I went into this one store and we just fell in love with the shop keeper. She was this Chinese lady who was so sweet. She had these books that were about learning Chinese. We read the books out loud together. We talked for about an hour and she helped us with our pronunciation of Chinese words. She told my mom that she speaks Chinese very well. We were just having so much fun. She talked to us about where we were from, how long we were here, and about adopting. We all talked joyfully until it was time to check out. We then ended up buying the books and a few other things.

One more thing about shopping here. There are no fixed prices. So we have to bargain for everything. At first we were kind of scared, but now we just think it is so much fun. My mommy and I first bartered this morning. Basically you pick out what you want. Then the sales person will write a price on a calculator. It is then our turn to make the price lower. We say about half the original price. Then we just go back and forth until we meet in the middle. I think bartering is lots of fun.