Another Day in the City....

Pop Quiz! What kind of meat is this?

A) Beef

B) Chicken

C) Pork

D) Fish

If you guess A..... or any of the other given choices for that matter, then I'm sorry, trick question! The correct answer is "None of the above, you scoundrel." This is what I dined on last night:

The cold donkey meat wasn't that bad, to be honest; it kind of tasted like gamey ham. It was one of the dishes I dined on after an excursion late yesterday afternoon to the Silk Road Pearl Market. 

It's indoors, and kind of like a mall... but in many more ways, it's like nothing that you'll ever find back home in the states. There's no real stores, just stall upon stall upon stall of wares, most of them run by small Chinese women in matching red and yellow uniforms. I wish I could've taken a photograph of the inside, but unfortunately, that was more or less out of the question. The sales clerks here are without a doubt the shrewdest, toughest, trickiest, and the  intensely persistent folks I have ever met in my whole entire life. You literally can't stand in front of anyone's stall for a second before they start pushily inquiring "You want to buy a polo shirt?"  "You need new shoes?" "Hey, buy some silk pajamas for you girlfriend!" 

Actually, you can't walk by them without that happening either. Running down any aisle of stalls is running a gauntlet, because they do not give up easily; I even had one women grab me by the arm and attempt to drag me back to my stall, and a friend I was with literally became hemmed in by two sales reps who literally had no idea of the meaning of surrender. 

Each one of those fierce, tiny women is a force to reckoned with, which really doesn't help with the fact that there's no set prices. You literally have to haggle for every single thing that you purchase, and they will gladly argue with you for over an hour if they can stand to make a good profit out of the transaction. The Pearl Market is no place for any weak-hearted, unassertive soul, for they will take you to town if they can. I managed to get four T-shirts for I think about $4 each, but my friend had a stronger backbone than I did, because he managed to get five shirts for about $3 apiece. However, shortly later he got gypped while we bought him a new jacket, or at least he paid more for it than some others from TBC did. It was still a good price compared to how much he would have to pay back home, but it was still a defeat in a way, because we thought we had outwitted the saleswoman. 

Turns out, they are not the kind of people to be underestimated; the do know every trick in the book. We started out by conversing out loud about what the price was of jackets at "the other place downstairs", and once we grabbed her attention, we "decided to go to the place where we could get the jacket for 250 yuan." As we left, the saleswoman knocked down the price from 250 and cried out "200!" as we pretended to leave. At first, we thought victory was ours, but once we were ready to pay, the saleswoman pushily gave her price; "250!"

We assumed the upper hand was ours when I countered, "Nuh-uh, you said 200."

"No, no." she explained. "I mean 200 American dollar."   

So much for our grand scheme. We managed to settle on 250 yuan, and walked away battered, but with a valuable lesson; do not underestimate these people.  

For now, I think I'll do my shopping at a nearby market with flat prices, where no haggling is required. Bargaining here is an exhausting process, and I think as an obvious Westerner, we get little respect, so I'll return to Pearl Market only after my Chinese improves. 

That's about it for me, for now. Tomorrow, I embark upon the Silk Road excursion, from which I won't return until September 13. I'll make sure to tae lots of photos though, and I'll do my best to remain safe.

I give everyone my very best and hope you're all well back home!