THE ART OF BARGAINING IN A CHINESE FLEA MARKET

First thing to remember, you don't ask how much something costs out of curiousity. If you don't have the least bit interest in purchasing an item, you'd do well enough to leave it alone. Ask for the price and you'd end up buying it.

When you find something you like, it's safe enough to ask how much it is. But don't buy immediately cause it doesn't stop there. You bargain for a quarter of that price. More often than not, the item will be sold to you at the price you want but not all at once. The merchant will bring down his price a bit at a time, while you may increase your price a bit at a time or stick to your original price. This may go on for about a couple of minutes, both of you understanding each other with the aid of a big calculator as most of them don't speak English and you 'wo ting bu dong' (cannot understand) them either.

After a while and the merchant still won't budge, you can feign leaving. He or she will stand in front of his or her stall and act indignant, but will call you back just the same with either 'Hello!' (which will not be said in the same warmth as the word indicates) or 'Ok!'. Before you turn back, you give a little smile to yourself, knowing you've won and gingerly walk to the store, acting like you'd rather forget about it but since you've been called back, what the heck.

The item is put in a plastic bag... oftentimes a black garbage bag, you give your money and you are given your change (be careful not to take tattered bills as they won't be accepted anywhere else). Both you and the merchant say xiexie (pronounced she-she with a short e, meaning thank you) and you proceed to whatever would take your fancy next. And you find yourself feeling happy... if with the purchase, or with the bargaining, you're not quite sure. But you decide to do it again... and again... Hell, it's a lot of fun!