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Saturday, May 26, 2012

Supermarket Shopping in China

Shopping here is interesting. In some ways good, in some ways wanna-run-out-of-the-store-pulling-my-hair-out bad.

The good: Plenty of selection/variety/options, get to practice speaking Chinese with lots of different people and when I fail to understand or be understood it's always a fun and silly display of mime-manship between me and the sales clerk, get to try all kinds of new and wacky treats like a bazillion different kinds of wafer snacks, and most everything is very cheap.

The bad: The quality of products is usually lower (but hey, they're cheap, you just have to buy them more often), some markets are a maze to get in, through and out of so I usually get lost and have to pee really bad and can't find a restroom, can't read the labels so buying basic things like soap, toothpaste etc. is usually a guessing game (and I've mastered the art of opening things to truly understand what I'm buying and repackaging it back up like it was never opened), always coming face-to-face with a wall of shrink-wrapped slimy chicken feet delicacies (they're not pretty), and the thing that makes me want to run away is the beauty products section (like soap, shampoo, deodorant, face wash, etc.) because the supermarkets usually employ 10 times more sales girls to work the floor of the beauty section than is actually warranted and they swarm around you to try to 'help' you which means they are usually waving products in front of your face and quickly placing them in your shopping basket before you've even seen what it is let alone indicated that you want it, so I'm constantly taking things back out of my basket and putting them back on the shelves and trying to sneak away (which never works). It's pure claustrophobia.

I think the key is to walk briskly and look really focused, like you're on a serious mission and know exactly what you want. But overall it's an educational experience and it's fun to see all kinds of foods and products I've never seen before.

3 comments:

  1. Those girls get a commission when you buy "their" products. They get paid by the product companies, not the supermarket, so that's why they're so eager. I hate going in that section too!

    Your fellow Haikou laowai,

    Nicki

    ReplyDelete
  2. Those girls get a commission when you buy "their" products. They get paid by the product companies, not the supermarket, so that's why they're so eager. I hate going in that section too!

    Your fellow Haikou laowai,

    Nicki

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, that section is nutty. I'm not a shopping fan, and prefer to do it alone in peace n quiet, so that section is pretty painful. :)

      Delete