The BIG fake market!

{Caroline}

We went to the big fake market a day or two ago. It was a super fun and good experience. The fake market is located in the metro station underneath the science and technology museum. You walk around to the back of the museum where there is a entrance. But outside, there is a big open concrete slab where there are about 25 or 30 skateboarders. They were all skating and doing tricks at the same and encouraging each other. It was neat. We stood out there watching them for maybe 20 minutes. At one point, they started to play a skateboarding version of the basketball game "horse". One person goes first, and does a trick. Then, everyone has to do it. Whoever cannot, or messes up, is out. They inspired Everett to ask for a skateboard continuously the whole time we were in the market.

We went down the escalator, and at first it just looked like a normal subway station, but you turn a corner or two, and.....wow! There are rows and rows and rows of booths chocked full of stuff. There were many kinds of booths. Some booths were toys, clothes, shoes, coats, scarfs, cosmetics, souvenirs, purses, suitcases, and sports to name a few.

The thing here is that the people working at the booths will totally try to rip you off. You have to bargain. They give you their price, you counter-offer, try to work the price down, and if you can't, you give them your final price offer, and start to turn to walk away. Then is when you will make or break a deal. The people hate to lose a deal, but are also stubborn. If you start to walk away, they will either call after you that your price is fine, or they won't, and you just have to find the exact same thing at a different booth that you can work down to your price. Another rule to remember is that you shouldn't get heartbroken that you could not make a deal on something that you had your heart set on, because it is almost guaranteed that another booth will have the exact same thing for a better price.

I walked in not expecting to buy much if anything at all. But being classic me, I ended up buying something from the first booth I saw. A shoe place. My weakness. I found a fake pair of gray high top converse, and fell in love. They lady wanted 260 RMB for them(260 RMB is 37.94 in U.S dollars) , which is insanely high, considering they are fake, and are worth not much more than maybe 100 RMB. We got some advice that when you bargain, you should start at about 30% of what their first price is. I originally offered 75 RMB, ($10.94), bargained up to 130 RMB($18.97), which is still a bit high, but I was in love with them, and that is still cheaper than is the U.S. I have worn them almost everyday since. Mom got some Toms, and Dad tried to bargain for a cowboys jersey, but did not end up with it. We took a break and got some steamed buns and a sprite zero. They were yummy.

We got back up to walk around for a few more minutes before leaving. We went to the tailoring part of the market, where you can get a dress or coat made for you for incredibly cheap. We got two hover-balls. They are plastic, look like half a soccer ball, blow air out the bottom to made it float on hard surfaces, and has foam around it so if it runs into the wall or anything during play, it does not make a mark. We got one for a birthday present for one of Everett's new friends, and one for us in the apartment. Everett kept asking for a skateboard, and wanted on so bad, that we looked and looked, and tried to find one for cheap. We found several that were really overpriced. Dad and I eventually found one that was still overpriced, but less than the others. We worked it down from 350 RMB to 110 RMB for a bigger one so I can ride it too. We got it, and Everett was so happy.

We were done, and went back outside to wait for Bob, and there were many more skateboarders than before, and Everett was on his hands and knees while trying, because he did not want to put his feet on the skateboard. he gave me a turn, and I got going. It was so much fun to be able to skateboard right along with all of the others. It reminded me of all the turtles in Finding Nemo. All going fast and doing the same thing. I would totally be the hippy turtle ;)