Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Bu Yao! : Don’t want any!

This is my new favorite Chinese phrase that my sister taught me.  Basically this is what you want to be telling people all day because someone is always trying to sell you something!
It all started this morning when a Chinese woman approached my family and was insistent that we need a guided tour by her because the “Forbidden City is so big.”  After a couple minutes of unsuccessfully trying to resist her advances, my older sister, Diana, finally steps in:
Diana: “I am sure we do not need a tour, lady.  We will just read the signs”
Tour Guide: “…but what about all the antiques?”
Diana: “All the antiques were rescued by the Nationalists and are now in Taiwan.”
Tour Guide: “…But the Forbidden City is so big…”

Vendors continued to offer us goods as we wandered  Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and various shopping areas.  I most definitely did not want to try this afternoon dessert.  This Chinese delicacy is alive until ordered, then in a truly Texas fashion, they are deep fried.  Yum.
 
We wandered this giant department store with multiple stories that resembled a Mexican flea market, only that most of the knock off goods actually looked real!  The best part was all the young men and women so fascinated with my sisters’ hair.  In an effort to find out if their hair is fake they would ask “copy” or ”original.”  You will never believe how amazed they were that their hair was “original” not a wig.  “Lady, your hairstyle is so fashion!”

I love China. Someone offers you something for 100 Yuan ($14.79) and you retort by offering 10 Yuan ($1.47).  You usually settle at about 15 Yuan.  Unless you are my mom or sister, they will usually get anything for about 10% of original asking price.   If they don’t accept your offer, you simply walk away until they yell for you to come back so they can bring their prices down.  I bought some of the most amazing little things today for so cheap!  

So far so good.  I am saddened that China has black listed Facebook and blogger so I won’t be uploading anything until Mongolia.  (Hello from the future!  I made it to Mongolia, thanks for reading my back dated posts!)

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