Shanghai - Too many days
Trip Start
Jan 10, 2008
1
21
26
Trip End
Feb 06, 2008
Shanghai,
China
Friday, February 1, 2008
" I bought an MP4 player."
"How much did you pay for it?"
"Eighty Yuan."
"Eighty!! How did you pull that one off?"
"Must have done a lot of talking"
Hmm, I wondered if I could pull off such a bargain, although wasn't sure I really wanted one.
"Where did you get it?"
"Baoshan Road"
"The market there?"
"Yeah."
I decided to visit the market again to see how things would develop.
Passed one stall; clearly the wrong one. I got myself into an entanglement with the owner and a colleague who could speak better English, once I showed an interest:
"Seven Hundred for the ipod and a memory stick?"
"No thanks," I wormed myself away from the guys and the stall. At another, I queried the price:
"Two Hundred and Thirty."
"No, too much," how about eighty?"
"Eighty!! Wouldn't pay the business charge."
After inquiring and lingering at another stall, I decided to give up on the idea, even though the stall owner said the cheapest price, a hundred and fifty for one; a hundred and seventy for another. I withdrew from the market into a lingering blizzard. Who knows, I could have bargained an even cheaper price for either.
The blizzard has lasted all afternoon - depressingly.
I'll spend the rest of this evening preparing for the frozen North, see what accommodation availability in Harbin's like - doesn't seem too bad - and go to the eatery across the road for a plate of fried jaozi and beer.
Shanghai's becoming a spent place. After all, it's been too many days.
