Running for the Border

Yesterday, I went to China to go shopping.  I realize how completely insane that must sound to the average  American...but ask anyone who has ever lived in Hong Kong where to get the best bargains and you will unequivocally hear, Shenzhen.  Truth be told...I'm betting that 95% of what most Westerners are buying, wearing, listening to, watching and/or sitting on was manufactured in some form or fashion within about 20 miles of Shenzhen.  Until you experience Shenzhen firsthand you cannot begin to imagine it.

I was slow to discovering Shenzhen, having been in Hong Kong for a full 5 months before I made my first "run for the border"  (means something very different here that it used to back in High School when we raced over to Taco Bell for lunch...or even in College when we'd make road trips from *ahem* certain towns in California to another Country and another Border...with a different kind of exploration to discover).

The closest I can come to describing Shenzhen to the un-indoctrinated is this:  Imagine you are in a busy tourist town in Mexico where the street vendors are chasing you down and trying to sell you Chicklets or Silver jewelry.  Then, take that and imagine yourself inside a dingy mall somewhere in middle America that saw it's heyday sometime in the 1970s.  Empty storefronts and shopsigns attached with duct tape and even glittery gold letters instead of signs on the glass stall doors, peppered with occasional stores full of nice looking goods but taped up with Crime-Scene style tape reading "Closed for Selling Counterfeit Goods".   Strange fluorescent lighting coupled with gilded railings (as only the Chinese do), and skylights letting in the natural light (well, what passes for sunlight in a place where the air is positively taupe with pollution on the sunniest of summer days).  Add to that the olfactory sensation of cheap cigarette smoke, inexpensive textiles, strange exotic food smells and Leather.  Oh, and probably the metallic smell of construction and/or electric work.  Maybe also some dust from cement jackhammering.  And the smell of Money.  Instead of the street vendors shouting at you in Spanish, though, they will talk to you in a strange condescending manner, in broken English.  "Missy!  Missy!  You buy DVD, handbag?"  Don't make eye contact.  Don't look up.  Even if you have no idea where you are going or what you want, DO NOT ask any of the "helpful" little men riding up and down the escalators to help you find any kind of shop.  They are a network of families and friends that have it down to a science how to rip off the Stupid Gweilo (read: White Ghost, literal translation) and they have figured out how to make you *think* they are helping you out.  Until you go with somebody that speaks Chinese and you find out that your starting "bargain" price was 10 times higher than the Chinese Housewife standing next to you inquiring about the same handbag.  Feeling proud for getting an item for 10% of what they started with...I have learned that if the shop owner offers you a "freebie" or is smiling at you asking you to come back...you still paid about 10 times too much.  You're only getting a deal if they are mad at you.  However, my "American" guilt allows me to feel good about getting things for far less than I would pay in the US regardless if I am still paying more than the Chinese lady next to me.  Don't even get me started on how 5 years in Switzerland affected my ability to gage what a reasonable price is (Point of reference: A Happy Meal in Lausanne cost me the equivalent of $10, a Grande Starbucks Latte was $9).

Shenzhen is a fun place to spend a day....or more.  It's exhausting to bargain and rifle through bad knockoffs and garbage and fight off really creepy/annoying sales people who chase you shouting "Missy, Missy!  ManiQue!  MASS-age"  After the 3rd hour of barely pubescent salesgirls asking if they can touch my hair, I'm desperate for a shower and nauseated from the combo of stale cigarette smoke and icky food smells.  But I'm resilient and I always go with an agenda. The agenda looks like this:

First Stop: hit the tailors (copy an item almost exactly for about 10% a non-designer price), complete with a long perusal of the Fabric Market.  Return to the tailor with three times what you went for, but once you saw that they had the adorable sheeting material for the American Girl/Daughter matching pajamas you are having made in FOUR colors, you realized you actually needed FOUR sets of them per child, not just one.   And at US$10 per set, why not?  Next Stop: the home decor shops to peruse the pillows/curtains and price the next home project.  A run to the art village is always a good choice, get a copy of something or some nice Asian style art or have your own collection re-framed for pennies on the dollar.  A perennial favorite are the handbag/wallet/clothing copiers (Everything from mid-level brands to Hermes copies that in some cases would probably fool the Copyright department of the companies in question).  I also generally swing by some Jewelry shops for presents and trinkets...but am happy to walk away if I'm not getting deals.  The later in the day, the more likely I am to bail on a negotiation.  I tend to skip the Electronics stores, Sporting Good shops, Sunglasses, Luggage, and massage rooms.

It's fascinating, in a train wreck/culture shock sort of way.  And I love that every time I go I see no fewer than 3 faces I recognize from either Drama's school or the little Ex-Pat enclave community we live in.  When I see a Facebook Status "Shenzhen tomorrow" I cannot help but ask if I can tag along...because despite the insanity I seem to always "need" something.  I've been twice in the past 2 weeks and I realized today that I really have to go back next week because Drama's birthday party won't be remotely okay if I don't have the painting aprons copied in the pattern to match her decor for the kids' gift bags  (Thanks Clemsongirl for making me feel completely inadequate in my party planning skills, BTW).  It's insane...but the general mentality is "Because I Can".  And like the Helper situation....I really feel like I KNOW I won't get to enjoy this for that long.  Eventually, I will be back to paying $9 for a Starbucks Latte and my shopping options will be H&M or Bon Genie with nothing in between.  So, don't hate me when I head out to Shenzhen too frequently.  And if you decide to come to Hong Kong, feel free to write to ask me for my list of preferred vendors.  I've got them all marked in the "Shopping in Shenzhen" book.  No Lie.