The Silk Market - Evening 1

The tour finishes at 6 and then i will get dropped off to my hotel..leaves me 3 hours to shop at the Silk Market....If only there was no traffic..or we didn't have to traipse all through Bejing to drop of the Vietnamese/french family at the train station, and the other travellers to their respective hotels... Must make it the Silk Market with enough time to shop...after all...what is a trip without shopping? I ask Lilly if I can get dropped off at the train station, and also for directions to the market....Line One will take me there... I am estactic to hear the Silk Market is actually one of the train stops.... and it's only 2RMB to ride the train...Lilly writes the train stop in English (Yonganli) and Chinese, and off I go...She even gives me change in case the machine wouldn't take large bills.... such a great tour guide...

I wonder around on the wrong side of the street, trying to find the train station... she said it was right across the street...I see buildings, stores, but no train station....who can i ask? I don't even get the chance to ask...someone approaches me and says May i help? Apparently, Beijing is more developed than Dalian, and the people are eager to practice English....I am directed across the street... Finally.... I am in the train station...have to go through security check first...all bags must be put on the belt and scanned...just like going through the airport security... Ok...now to tackle the ticket machine... Ok,...what am i doing? How to buy the ticket? How do i figure out from where to where? Crap..i am not understanding this machine at all... And the people are not making matters any better... They are just crowding around and waiting for their chance to buy their ticket... I put the paper money in, and the machine spits it out...twice.... Arrrgh!! I step back, frustrated.... This one guy looks at me and says he will buy my ticket... He buys mine and his ticket, i give him my paper money, and then he directs me down the stairs for my train... he must be used to lost foreigners....

Here comes my train.... the train is very modern and i am impressed... Unlike Philly and probably other big cities i am familiar with, you can't really see the train tracks. There is like a shell of a building for the train platform... when the train comes, the shell opens up and you get on. On the train, there is a color coded map with all the stops... There is a voice that tells you the next stop, in addition, it's light up on the map, so you can basically watch your travel path.... Two stops later, and it Yonganli...Silk Market here I come... Despite Beijing being way more modern than Dalian, I was still the one man freak show on the train....

The security guard in the train station directs me to take the left pathway to go to the Silk Market... There's vendor selling cd's and the like, along the path.... I am here!!! The restaurant is the first thing i see...Ok...who needs food? Let the shopping begin.... I make my way up the stairs... Chinese craft vendors line the first stairwell... I quickly browse...and keep going up... Ah..clothes... Polo shirts, Columbia Jackets....nope not interested...keep going...3rd floor...silks...scarves, robes, fabrics...uummmh....where to begin? I think I want to do handbag shopping first...I spot the elevator and I jump on....5th floor ...luxury handbags....Next destination.....

On the 5th floor, I am greeted by a jewelry store... Looks pretty expensive too... am I interested in real jewelry? Nah.... men's shoes...Gucci, Coach... looks soooo real...but you got it... made in china!.... On this floor, there are actually stores, as opposed to vendors....and the setting is really upscale... i find the handbags but these are not any names i know... So i approach a sales person, and she motions me into 'the back room'... Now this is the spot....hahaha...There are business men back there, buying watches...I am guessing Rolex wannabes, and the likes...lol.... Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Channel, Jimmy Cho....all great names, but I swear they still look fake..they even feel fake...I really don't see anything of that great quality... so I spin around some more..then I make my exit...Maybe I will have better luck on the first floor with the regular handbags....

There are handbag vendor everywhere....everyone is motioning me to come into their stall...mostly young girls manning the stalls, and they speak a little English... I don't see anything I like...one offers me a seat...and whips out a catalog...a Louis catalog at that.. She says whatever i want.. I say i don't see it in the store...she says...that's ok.. I get it for you.... I pick one...she makes a phone call and says wait here.... Few minutes later, a young man comes running with the bag.... They seriously have their system down pack... I look over the bag... bargain some...but then walk away, as i wasn't really interested... The whole time I am walking away, she is still calling me, and the price is steady going down.... I wonder around and around, looking at all kinds of bags... One girl does the 'leather test' for me. She burns the bag...if it's leather it won't burn... Really? i have no clue... My belt is leather, so i take it off, and tell her to burn that... I am calling her bluff....lol.. My belt doesn't burn..but does that proove anything? I have no idea if leather burns or not... I am so indecisive...I can't make up my mind... I think I want a bright color, but not red... or baby blue...or baby pink.... whenever i see a bag i think i like, it's a color i don't want... Tons of Jimmy Cho, Channel and all the top names, but they have huge silver or gold buckles or huge metallic name plates.... i don't want to get any of these, as in no time, the metal will turn black..or worse yet, someone will spot me with the bag, and think to themself..OMG, what a bad imitation...lol...I finally find a D&G...no signs, no logo...for all purposes, it's just a leather or wanna be leather bag.... I bargain down from 360RM to 100...the whole way she is convincing me that she can't go so low... but then I go to walk away, and it's OK...OK...your price....hahaha...the smell of victory.... Funny how time flies when you are having fun... it's almost 8:30 and they close at 9, and i have only bought ONE item... I got to get moving....

I make a mad dash for the other floors again....still not interested in clothes... I end up on the 3rd floor looking at silk robes.... I want to get like 4...all souvenirs....she starts the bargaining at 1200RM for one... Maybe i didn't hear her right.... she goes into this dialogue about it's real quality silk.... which might e the case, but not for that price... i say Tekwila (too expensive)..she says how much, and i say 300RMB for all 4...I know..i am really under cutting her, but I don't care..... she says I am crazy and she is not budging..so I walk away... in search of the next vendor.... I guess there isn't another one with the robes... but I found scarves instead... a nice one with chinese girls on it...perfect for my mom... 360RMB.... yeah right.... I say 50 and it's deja vu again.... few minutes later, I walk away with it for 50.....Back to the robes..... this time I want one, and i am only paying 100RMB.. It's 5 minutes to closing...so she caves in seconds....and I walk away smiling...... Who knows what their profit margin is? Or maybe they can go really low for some customers, as they might enough money off the ones that are bargaining challenged...

Starving...time to go home... I didn't get directions to take the train back...so it will have to be a cab... The cabbie don't want to use the meter, so they can overcharge you... I need them to use the meter, as i need a receipt.... And some flatout say no, the hotel is too far.... I don't get it...who cares how far it is? The farther, the more money you make! Ok...so 15 minutes later...i am still waiting...so are other people...groups of people.... Please don't tell me I am stranded in Beijing at the Silk Market... There's a police vehicle here, but they dont' give two hoots abuot us stranded tourists.... A lady goes to seek their help with a cabbie she is having issues with... Sounds like she is from Germany...and i know the cops are understanding a word she is saying... I am trying not to laugh.... Now everyone is trying to jump into the same cab...different groups of people... please don't tell me we are going to start fighting over the cabs now....Finally, i get a cab.... i show him my hotel confirmation letter, and he says he knows where...Use the meter, he says no... I say yes.... Then he tries to tell me the hotel is far, so it's going to be 120... I agree as i just want to go home. Then he asks for directions. I thought you just told me you now where it is??? I give him the number to call the hotel.. I have no clue what he does, and then tries to tell me he is not getting through. Not to worry... I dial on my phone and hands him the phone... Let's see him get out of that one now... Finally, we are settled on where the hotel is... He wants me to pay him now. I say nope..not till I get there. He insists, and I insists on no... On top of that, i make no effort to get out the cab... After what seemed like ages, he finally says, I go, Ok, I go...lol.....Like seriously dude, as tired as I am tonight, you would have to drag me kicking and screaming out of the cab...Before we pull off, a lady with a baby comes begging to the car, and I gave her some money. Wrong thing to do, another one comes and when I wouldn't respond, she got more insistent, almost pushing the baby in the car... The driver had to close the window to get rid of her...We pull off... WHen Ibooked the hotel, the information I saw showed the hotel being 8 miles from the silk market... 1/2 hour later, i am still riding around in the cab... I guess he was trying to justify what he was charging me....I had to ask if we were almost there... of course he said yes... 5 mins later, I saw the Crowne Plaza...home sweet home!