Shopping in Shenzhen

Shopping is serious business in Shenzhen.  Shopping Malls seem to be the cultural centres - or at least the place you meet up with friends.  We say things like - Meet you at Coco Park, or there is a new restaurant at MixC we should check out.  Besides lots of shops these malls also feature restaurants & bars (including many popular US brands like Kenny Rogers, Papa John's, Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King & McDonalds), coffee shops, play areas, movie theatres and, in at least two - skating rinks.

This focus on shopping is understandable really.  China is experiencing an exploding middle class and we are probably seeing the same conspicuous consumption we saw with the burgeoning middle class in North America.  Except this is on a China scale while multiplies everything by about 1 million.  Brands rule here...Gucci, LV, Dior, Coach, Adidas...fortunately they don't need to be real.  A trip to the most famous Shenzhen Mall will quickly show you that.  Louhu Commercial City is the place to visit to obtain any real fakes...even Rolex for $10.  There are other places to buy Knock-Offs but this is the most famous.  It is just across the border from Hong Kong and mobbed on weekends.  For the Shenzhen resident this helps you keep in style and avoid the luxury foreign brand tax.  Besides, as I am often told, they are made in the same factory as the real ones...

Shopping is also an excellent pass-time because of the crazy oppressive heat.  Now, I know you are all going to tell me how hot it is in Bentonville, Toronto, Winnipeg etc...and I will not dispute that.  But Shenzhen is a subtropical, humid kind of hot that is unrelenting in its persistence.  A short walk to the metro station can reduce you to a bucket of dripping, water pouring down your back, sweaty mess.  As they say back home - it's not the heat it's the humidity.

Fortunately our malls here in Shenzhen posses some of the best air-conditioning around.  It makes them a great place to walk around and people watch without dying in the above mentioned heat.  And to partake in the most popular of pastimes...the shopping trip.  Some things I have learned:

1. Aggressive hospitality means something entirely different in China.  If you so much as slip a toe over the threshold of a store you are immediately "welcomed" by salespeople showing you the multitude of wares they have for sale.  Some stores don't even wait for you to come in and have associates standing in the mall encouraging you to visit their stores.  For shoppers like me who appreciate browsing in quiet it is overwhelming.
2. The Promoter is everywhere...Promoters are a bit different in China.  Unlike North America they are not the kindly mother-like woman providing samples of whatever delicious snack they are featuring today (ah, Sunday morning breakfast at Sam's Club...).  These promoters are in every section of the store and are paid by the manufacturer to promote their products.  THese promoters are super good at the aggressive hospitality mentioned above.  Remember how you always wish you can find a salesperson to help you in Walmart...not an issue in China.  In fact I wish they would leave me alone.  I do not need help selecting toilet cleaner or feminine protection (well I do but that is because I don't speak Chinese and that is not the point I am trying to make here).
3. Weigh Stations...this is not some diet guru thing...but it did take me a while to figure out.  Instead of weighing your produce at the check-outs, with the cashier looking up the PLU on that roll thing in front of her, you get your produce weighed at the weigh station while you are in the produce area.  I did not know this at first and couldn't understand why the cashiers kept taking away my produce and not letting me buy it.  I eventually learned in a small store here in Shekou.  
4. Merchandise is not always well thought out and put in logical places (by my US/Canadian Standards).  For instance I encountered a men's wear store that also sold women's purses.  Or they put produce and bakery at the back of the store.  They also put together some interesting displays.
5. It is common to see customers pawing through the bulk rice bins to check the quality of the rice before purchasing it.  They pick up handfuls and let the rice run through their fingers looking to see if it is good.  After witnessing most of the Chinese population openly picking their noses this means I buy all rice in a bag.
6. There are a lot of different kinds of cooking oil...it is big business here.  And apparently it varies by region.  LIke whole rows dedicated to cooking oil...all apparently the same but not.  At least that is what I think the promoters are telling me.
7. Store names are not selected because of the accuracy of the words but more because they sound nice.  It results in weird combinations and made up words.  I am putting together a photo essay on this one.
8. Negotiation is expected in street shops, road-side vendors and the Commercial City mall.  It is not done in chain stores and supermarkets...usually.

All in all I actually love shopping in China - it is great for people watching and I am getting some great material together for my other photo essay tentatively titled "The Chinese can sleep Anywhere".