August 28 2006 Shenzhen

Once a week for the past two weeks I have been going to Shenzhen, China. I go with a group of ladies who are experienced shoppers in Lo Wu Commercial City, a labyrinth shopping mall directly outside China immigration. It takes about 40 minutes to get there from Central Hong Kong on the train, but it is a world away.

It takes a China Visa to go from Hong Kong to China. One country, but two systems and its more like two countries from what I can see. They seem to have a mutually beneficial arrangement. Most international travelers can get their Visas at the border, but US citizens cannot (us and Pakistanis, what’s up with that?). We have to get ours in advance. It’s not a big deal, except that they cost $$’s and take a couple of days to get. Lee has a one year Visa since he goes back and forth all the time for business. I got a 6 month Visa; since he’s my husband (I guess the idea is that I might want to visit him in Dong Guan haha). Many of the ladies that go there can only get 3 month or less.

I’d heard lots of scare stories about going to Shenzhen, but so far it’s been a great experience. When you enter the mall you start to hear a steady murmur “lady watches, lady purses, lady manicure? Lady DVD?” People may touch you gently on the arm but nobody is going to drag you off into their shop. People are actually very friendly and kind. That doesn’t mean you don’t need to keep your wits about you though!

Whatever you buy, you need to bargain. It’s the Ladies Market on steroids. It’s all very friendly and follows a definite pattern. They shoot you a price. You come back at a third to a fourth of where they started. They roll their eyes and say you are crazy. You say, well then, what?  I’m not paying xxx! They shoot you another price. Maybe they came down around a 1/5^th. You go, nono that’s still way too much! You say, how about xxx and come up $10-20s. They come down some more. Then you decide. How badly do you want it? You either pay the price or decide to walk away. If you walk away they may come running after you and then you know you’re getting the best price you can get. If they don’t follow you, you know you hit their best offer. Then you can either go back, or you can go to another shop for the same item, knowing about what the lowest price will be. Its fun once you get into it! Its fun watching everyone’s different bargaining strategies. I tend to get a little embarrassed and give in too easily. The other ladies put on a big show sometimes. I learn from them!

Lo Wu Commercial Center is huge. Its 5 stories high and its crammed full of hundreds and hundreds of little shops. The ladies I go with have a set routine. The first place we go is the curtain and bedding shop. They have all been getting sheets made, and I’m about ready to join in! We need sheets for our twin guest bed, so I figure that will be a good place to start. They’ve been getting full sets of sheets, shams and duvet covers for king-sized beds for about $150 US. The quality seems to be very good. You order your sheets in the morning and they are ready to pick up when you leave Shenzhen in the afternoon.

Then we go up to the tailor and fabric stores. This part has really got me intrigued! The first week I went I ordered a trench coat from a sample that they had. They measured me and I selected the fabric I wanted – a cream color with a pink lining. The whole thing, including fabric and construction, cost me about $45 US. So last week I took a shirt and pair of pants of Lee’s, and a pair of pants of mine, and had copies made. I also took a plastic garment bag we had and ordered a copy made in a canvas material. Cost for all of this (3 pairs of pants, a shirt and a garment bag)? $80 US!

Then we go eat lunch in a yummy dim sum restaurant. It’s clean, friendly, and cheap, of course. We end up with a big table of ladies, comparing our purchases and planning our shopping for the rest of the afternoon.

Next comes my favorite part – purses! Shenzhen has just about every designer purse you could possibly imagine, at prices that are just unbelievable, and at a quality you’ll have to see to believe. I’m on a purse-buying frenzy right now. I’ve just never seen anything like it. Coach, Gucci, Agnes B, etc. etc. We go to a shop that has been giving us very nice deals. They also have great watches, pens, sunglasses…I’ve bought some each week and it only makes me want to go back and buy more the following week! I figure I should buy as many as I can now, because I’ll just never have an opportunity like this ever again.

Finally we go look at jewelry and other random things that people are looking for. Sports equipment? Check. Back packs? Check. Shoes? Oh shoes….I thought they wouldn’t have my size, but I just found out that they do…bad news!

There are also all sorts of jewelry, semi-precious stones, jade, pearls, etc. The first week we went to a shop where you pick out the stones and then they make up the jewelry for you. That is a little overwhelming for me; I have trouble envisioning the final product. Last week one of the ladies took us to a glass bead jewelry store. That stuff was SO pretty! And dirt cheap. I bought 3 necklaces, 1 bracelet and 2 pairs of earrings – all for around $10 US. I’m going back next week.

It seems like people go through Shenzhen phases. I think its like going to Vegas. You have to bargain to get the best price and that’s part of the fun. The better you are at bargaining the better the price you get. It’s exciting. But after awhile (maybe) you have all the purses, necklaces, watches, and tailored outfits you could possibly need, and then (maybe) the excitement starts to wane. We’ll see!

I still like shopping in Hong Kong too. The little boutiques may be more expensive than Shenzhen but they have interesting originals. I like the stuff that’s more unique for the most part. And the Hong Kong malls are still pretty awesome in my opinion!