Kathy & Paul's Adventures Abroad

On Saturday we went to a shopping area around Haidianhuangzhuang subway station, which is known as Beijing’s Silicone Valley, where consumer electronics is king. There was one building with at least five floors of vendors.

At this point in our stay in China we are still outsiders looking in and we are intimidated by their aggressive sales techniques. One girl grabbed me by the arm and tried to pull me to her booth saying “I make a special deal just for you.” The vendors wages are a direct reflection of their sales. You probably heard the expression “walking into a lion’s den” – this is different – lions sleep most of the day, but these guys never sleep!

In the same area there is a shopping mall that covers several blocks, towers over the streets and is connected underground. In the mall there is a store called “Carrerfour”, one of a chain in China, and the largest store we have ever seen. It is like Canada’s Superstore chain. It carries products from food to underwear and also imported goods.This huge store’s tool department consists of several screw drivers and adjustable wrenches, pliers, some motor oil and power bars. I also found a can of spray lubricant which was a real find since we had been looking for oil for our bikes for a month.

In this store the staff must be paid a set wage because they leave the costumers alone and tend to their own business. When you get to the produce and grocery area of the store different manufacturers hire people to dress up in cheesy outfits which look pre-disco era with go-go boots. (long white high heeled boots) They shout loudly in Mandarin promoting their products and often there are a half dozen or more in a single area all trying to out-shout each other. This along with trying to maneuver your shopping cart through a congested Saturday market defines the term chaos.

At one point we turned into an aisle that looked fairly free of shoppers, and immediately about five of these product promoters snapped to attention and stared straight at us. We retreated to the safety of a parallel aisle and headed for the checkouts and on to the subway.

At the subway we put our bags through the security x-ray scanner and the guard told us the can of spray lubricant could not be taken on the subway. Not being able to speak English the guard used hand gestures. Kathy said “What do you mean I can’t take it on the train?” Apparently with the right facial expressions this question was easily understood. After receiving “The Look” the guard came to me and showed me the flammable symbol on the can, and we left without our spray lubricant.

You just have to accept some things the way they are. We should have realized that a spray can of a flammable liquid would be considered a potential threat anywhere in the world today. We made our way home and once again we will have to look for some lubricant for our bikes.

Below are a few pictures we took in this area.