Wednesday, July 22, 2009

finding bargains

Whenever I visit a market, I am overwhelmed with the amount of items for sale: synthetic women's dresses, kitschy plastic toys, cheap souvenirs, bamboo mats, zodiac animals, paper cuts, men's plaid shorts, tubes of incense, skin-color nylon ankle socks, various sized Chinese knots for rear-view mirrors or wall decor, cutesy pajama sets, handmade mops from bamboo and old teeshirts.

Not only the range of items, but the quantity of each item and the number of stalls that sell those exact same items. It adds up to be crowded, confusing and colorful.



In mid June, I went to a market after class with Rosanne and Lina near the East Bus Station. On a mission to buy some worker shoes, once we arrived I was again overwhelmed. Vendor stalls are small and stretch deep like a maze made of fabric and plastic. I unknowingly split off from R & L and got lost. I couldn't find where they were and the more I looked, the more every stall looked the same. I ended up wandering and buying miscellaneous tokens: belated birthday presents for Rebecca, a teeshirt with mutant strawberries for Doug, animal masks for my little cousins Lucas and Andy (and myself!), and a pair of men's kung fu shoes, which are probably the only shoes that fit my feet in Hangzhou!

too bad there isn't halloween here

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