China adventuring

So! I finally got to explore China a little. I got to go to the silk and the pearl market with the girls. That was a whole new experience. When I heard "market" I immediately thought of outside tents and such, instead the silk market was a six floor building. Each floor was dedicated to something different. There was an entire floor of shoes. They had a ton of converse and toms that they were selling for incredibly cheap. Then they of course had a silk floor where they had silk sheets, duvets, dresses, nightgowns, robes, ties, scarves, authentic dress, covered journals, fans, and so much. Hey even had tailors that would make you a Chinese dress or tailor you a suit in. A day. That was a lot more expensive, but way cheaper than would be found in America. The other floors were a mixture of things. They had some electronics, a nail salon, clothing stores, suitcases, toys, a magic shop, intricate Chinese sculptures, jewelry, and tons of cheap Chinese souvenirs. There was so much stuff and so many people packed into such small places. Each floor had a ton of glass walled "stores". I hesitate to say stores because they were the equivalent of booths, but with walls. Each was very tiny and jam packed with trinkets and people. There were two-three Chinese workers for every tiny shop and as you walked down they would all yell to you telling you to come look, great price, so and so name brand, come in. If you stopped to look t anything for even a moment they instantly would start bargaining with you for the item. Bargaining is a must there. It was totally crazy! You are never supposed to take their initial price. Rule of thumb is to offer one third of the original offer. I was kind of nervous about it at first, but I got to watch the other girl do it and was amazed. Walking away is key, and not being too interested. You should always have a price in mind that you are willing to spend, and don't change that. They will offer you an extreme price and then you have to offer them a really low one and keep bargaining. I pretty much just had my price and didn't change it. I got an authentic style Chinese silk dress there for 100, which is about 15 US dollars. I was pleased. We all got them at the same time she said 400 to begin with for mine and two others. The one girl and I said not more than 100 or we weren't getting one. The other girls were expected to pay more for the embroidery. Anyways, that was fun. I also got a charger for my phone. Pretty much everything else I decided to wait on because I wanted to see if anyone had any orders and if I had any money left after my trip. Pretty much all I have to live on while I'm here is what my parents and a couple people have been good enough to give me, so blowing it now seemed a poor option. If I have money when I'm done I am totally going to use it for wicked awesome presents. 

There was also a food court on the top floor. You know how American food courts have Italian, Chinese, fast food ect? Well they had a western food place(like American), Korean, and a bowl of noodles place. It was kind of awesome and intimidating. First you got a giant plate and then picked from rows of balled meat and fish on a stick. You couldn't tell what type of meat it was because they were all kind of turned into paste and made into balls. There was also seaweed, different random fungi, and types of greenery (all on sticks). Next you picked which bundle of dried noodles you wanted, and finally what veggies. You handed all of this to them, payed per stick of whatever and they mad it into some sort of soup bowl? One of the girls and I were going to order something off of the menu but we got up there and pointed to the menu and she just shook her head no. The only girl that spoke Chinese had already gone. We didn't know what response to give to that. Everyone pushed in front of us and we went across the hall and got delicious Korean food. We had the dumplings and this rice and beef and veggie dish and it was awesome! It took about two minutes to get to the table and was still sizzling on the skillet they gave us. One of the things that is still a little funny, though should be obvious is that they served it with chopsticks and no forks in sight. That is how everything is pretty much served unless they are offering specifically western food. Like we get chopsticks with Chinese food they get forks with American food. It was delicious! Anyways. We then went to the pearl market. I am sleepy and this has taken way too long to go up already so I'll attempt to be brief. It was another building like the silk market only this time without walls. They had tons of booths with everything. The first at least was just random stuff, a lot of electronics. You hit the second floor and there were pearls everywhere! You could get a set or real pearl earrings for about 2 US dollars. One girl got a necklace, a bracelet, a pendant, and three sets of earrings for about 30 US dollars. They all had just strings of pearls and would size and make necklaces for you on the spot if you didn't like the size of the ones they had. What impressed me was their intricately carved jade jewelry and the silver work in it. I didn't think I was a jade person, but they were absolutely beautiful! They had some really nice amber jewelry as well. I haven't really worn amber, but I have always found it a super neat concept. Apparently they have the more expensive jewelry upstairs with fine metal clasps and such and the more perfect pearls, but we didn't really get a chance to look. I didn't get pearls there but I did bargain exceedingly well! I was super proud of me. There was a Starbucks there, and what was funny was how cheaply everything compares to American prices, but Starbucks translates to almost exactly the same price if not a couple of cents more! The one girl spent more on her coffee than she would pay for a pearl necklace. It is a totally different world. Well I am sure there are a million more stories from that day, but I am going to sleep before the baby wakes and write more about my other adventures that have lead me here tomorrow.