Chinese Markets: How to Bargain and When to Go
shì chǎng
市场
One of the most exciting activities any foreigner will experience in China is the market. Though the images of towering glass office buildings, decorative malls, and streets lined with pricey Western apparel may be the most common narrative and iconic image of China’s development being exported to the rest of the world, China remains a developing country, and one major institution inherent in a developing economy is the raw, untamed arena of the open market. Even in some of China’s most affluent regions, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Jiangsu, the market continues to prevail (though urban planners have been trying to “modernize” these markets in recent years). Some may be outdoors, others a tightly knit labyrinthine mosaic of clothing vendors crammed within a three story windowless building with an endless chain of parked bicycles and snack food stands running along the outside promenade. Markets are a key institution of Chinese society, and a visit is essential for any first-time traveler.
Chinese markets are often organized around similar products. A whole block may be occupied with an intense concentration of clothing vendors, often selling the same products and even product lines. The same goes for staple foods, fruits, electronics, computer games, music, books, antiques, art, shoes, and even machinery (and probably anything else you can think of). There are also larger, regional wholesale markets that sell to department stores and large retailers. These markets are often enormous in scale and offer both stock materials (such as yarn, machine parts, and craft materials) and consumer goods like clothing, computers, DVD and mp3 players, and everyday household goods. One such example is Wu Ai Market in Shenyang, Liaoning – an enormous indoor and outdoor facility open daily from 5 am to 2 pm. The most common market is the grocery market. These are typically mobile – farmers from the outskirts, or surrogate sellers, transport via three-wheeled motor vehicle or mule truckloads of watermelon, apples, cabbage, and carrots, bags of rice, wheat, and maize, the streets lined with row after row of fish, pork, mutton, beef, chicken, and spice vendors. During certain times of year, you may also have the opportunity to buy exotic fruits from south China. Street grocery markets are cheaper than supermarkets, but with caveat that food is less clean and the facilities are less sanitary. These street markets can be found in nearly urban residential area, usually at the intersection of two residential streets away from a major roadway, and typically run during the morning hours (usually from 5 am until 11 am). Neighborhood food markets are a great way to explore and learn about the everyday lives of average Chinese people. Jewelry, electronics, and clothing markets are typically indoors, often within a two- to three-story building with elevators and escalators and several snack and food vendors or an entire cafeteria/food court for enthused shoppers.
Bargaining – things to know and tricks of the trade
When you go to markets, be prepared to bargain. Except for food, everything is open to negotiation. Even the more organized and stylized electronics markets, which appear to the naked eye more like a large electronics superstore, are still row-after-row of independent vendors in an intense competition for what’s in your wallet. The moment you look at what a vendor has to offer, they will offer a price. If you really want a specific item and begin to examine it, unless you play profession poker you’ve give yourself away. Be as aloof as possible; look at everything they have to offer, and don’t make immediate eye contact with the vendor. Once you know what you want, ask how much. NEVER accept the first price. Pause, examine the item more carefully, and ask “néng bù néng piányi diǎnr” (can you go cheaper?). If the vendor refuses to change the price, just walk away, but slowly – they know there are probably eight to ten nearby vendors selling the same item, and will probably call you back. Before they offer a new price, they will explain the intricacies of their good and why it’s worth the price they offer, but will then offer a better price (because they like foreigners, your Chinese is good, etc.). If at this point you really want the item, offer a price well below your maximum. If they say no, keep walking – sometimes the initial price is so inflated, the bargained-down price is also well above its true retail value. If they don’t give you the low price you offered, just check out their neighbors – you might get a better deal right next door. The key is to enjoy the game – you may buy something not because you really wanted it but because it was fun to bargain for it.
When to go: Market operating times vary by product type. Grocery markets typically run from the early morning through 10 or 11 am. For other product markets, hours usually run from 8 am until 6 pm. Wholesale markets run from early morning through just after lunch. Night markets typically start around 7 pm, though this may vary by time of year.
Safety: Keep your wallet and valuable close to your body – markets are crowded places and notorious for pickpockets. Some people use undergarment money belt. Another option is to keep your wallet and belongings in the internal pocket of a backpack, usually the pocket that runs along the inside of the largest compartment against your back.
Payment methods vary by market, but form of payment is always in CASH. For your average street market, cash is exchanged directly with the vendor. In some of the larger markets and even those that appear more like department stores, you will be given an ad hoc bill with the product description handwritten on the front – you will bring this bill to a cash register, who will take the bill and money owed in exchange for a receipt, which you bring back to the vendor to retrieve the purchased good. (Some people have hypothesized this system prevails because China has so many people, but really it’s because floor managers often don’t trust the individual vendors.)
Great markets to explore: Shenyang’s Wu Ai Market, the Muslim Hui Market in Xi’an (right by the Great Mosque), the Bazaars of Urumqi, Kashgar, and Hetian in Xinjiang, Panjiayuan Jiu Huo, Hong Qiao, and Xiu Shui Jie markets in Beijing, Dong Tai Road Antique Market in Shanghai, and Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, though you can find a great market in practically any city in China – feel free to post a comment below and add to this list!
