After a rickshaw ride through traditional Old Town Beijing (the hutong) and a walk through Tiananmen Square, navigated Beijing’s subway and found our way to the Silk Market. The Silk Market is six floor of copyright infringement. There is fake everything—from bootlegged DVDs to imitation iPhones to fake North Face jackets to imitation Christian Loubitin stilettos. There are also sections of traditional Chinese goods and rolls and rolls of fabrics and silks, as well as some restaurants and a spa. The vendors yell out at you to come to their stalls, and there are no set prices, you bargain for everything you want to buy. Sometimes you are even physically accosted by the vendors—they pull you into their stalls and block your only point of exit. You have to push by them to get out. I didn’t receive that much physical abuse, but Cas claims that he got beat up in one of the stalls. We spent hours in the market, and I learned that I am an excellent bargainer. You know you got a good price when the vendors get mad at you, and I got yelled at a few times so I knew I was going a good job. A really cool floor was the jewelry floor—there are strands and strands of stones and pearls and you can design your own jewelry and have it made-to-order right in front of your eyes. They individually knot each pearl or stone onto your necklace and you can get unique, high-quality pieces for like $10! After fighting the crowds and vendors for about 4 hours, we called it a day and vowed to return two days later because we didn’t make it to the shoe/purse floor.
Pictures: Shopping heaven; having my necklace made.
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