China really is the land of contradictions. The juxtaposition of old and new is again fully visible her in Guangzhou. We sit on tiny Shaiman Island, which feels as though you’ve been transported back in time to a colonial outpost of yesteryear, but look out our hotel window across the canal to Guangzhou City and you are confronted with skyscrapers so brilliantly lit in neon, they rival Las Vegas casinos. Another skyscraper in full view of our window, doubles as a giant TV screen at night playing what looks to be Olympic footage, on it’s 20 plus stories.
On Monday we ventured across the canal to the Pearl Market in downtown Guangzhou. The Pearl Market is really a misnomer; it’s actually a six-story mall full of wholesale jewelers, but best known for pearls. It sits in what looks like a mini Times Square, full of shops, billboards and tons of activity. There are also lots of open-air stalls selling Chinese fast food, which as far as I can tell is anything they can cram on a stick. As you may have guessed counterfeit products of all kinds is a problem throughout China. This makes Jerry’s unsuccessful quest for knock off sunglasses seem all the more odd, unless of course you take a moment to reflect on the last time we saw sun during this trip. The answer is never!
Our guide is able to point us in the direction of a few Pearl dealers with good reputations, meaning other families from our agency have been buying from them without issue. The shop is filled with bags upon bags of pearls. We receive a lesson on the differences between fresh and saltwater pearls and also coloring. We’ve been told that the pearls run about a third off what they are in the US and then we go to work, along with another family of intrepid shoppers, and bargain.
With the exception of department stores and the Walmart, you have to bargain almost everywhere in China. I have to admit there is a sense of accomplishment involved, but it is a bit exhausting. Our pearl bargaining dance consists of a repeated explanation of what the word wholesale means, lots of headshaking and unconvincing attempts at walking away and even the formation of a cooperative with the other family. Finally we hit our magic number and pearls in hand we head home to rest and psych ourselves up for the next trip to the store.
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