Silk Street

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Originally uploaded by penglisha

Today, Sarah took me to the Mecca of knockoffs - Silk Street. It is a huge building with five levels, each of which is filled with small stalls packed with Columbia jackets, pearls, makeup, Gucci sunglasses, Polo sweaters, Nike sneakers, Ugg boots, and, most importantly, handbags.

As we walked down the narrow aisles, the sellers leaned towards us calling, "Hey, lady! You want handbag? You want nike shoes? Want Gucci Prada? Hey, lady! I give you good price!" I was so intent on resisting them, that I forgot that the reason I was there was to shop!

The sellers in the handbag section were by far the worst. They called out loudly and followed us around despite our protests. A few even grabbed us by the arm and tried to forcibly drag us over to their stands.

The shoe department was much nicer. A few people followed us as we weaved around, but they kept their distance. Finally, when I reached a stand packed with colorful sneakers, I started talking to a girl and asking her about the sneakers. She refused to discuss prices until I found the right color and size.

Size, as always, proved to be difficult. I am unfamiliar with European sizes, so I told her to dig out the smallest pair she could find. When I told her that, she wanted to actually look at my foot, so I took off my shoe so she could exclaim that my foot was, actually, quite small. Then she took off her shoe to show me that her foot was almost as small. Then she tried to put on my discarded sneaker to prove the point.

While another girl waded through piles of boxes to find the smallest size, I chatted with the salesgirl. One thing I am getting used to is Chinese people asking very direct questions as soon as we meet. The salesgirl commented that I looked Chinese, asked me how old I was, if I had a boyfriend, and if it hurt when I got my nose pierced. When I told her that my mother is Chinese and is planning to visit me in two weeks, she got really excited and said that she wanted to meet her. When I told her that I do have a boyfriend who is also studying Chinese she also insisted on meeting him. So, I might plan a group excursion to Silk Street with all my friends and family members.

So, anyway, when i told her I wanted to buy the sneakers in the picture above, she told me that since I spoke Chinese she would not try to give me the 老外 (laowai) price. And since she was so nice and polite, I decided not to hassle her. In the end, I got a pair of really nice Pumas that do not look like knock-offs for a little over 20 American dollars.

When I left, she gave me a card for Silk Street and wrote her name on the back of it. The all of the other sellers, who had been eavesdropping, waved goodbye to me.