China Trip Part 12: In the End You Want Our Money

I don't remember where exactly I took this photo, but I think it's the same day as this entry took place.

In the morning, we were all transported to a place called Silk World. As usual, it's another center built for tourists to buy things. At Silk World, it's obviously silk and silk products. They gave us a demonstration about silk worms and cocoons, and mainly how their silk is different because there are two worms in one cocoon. Honestly upon closer examination at home, the silk wasn't even better, but a little bit worse. The unique thing about silk is that you can stretch a fiber almost infinitely. We stretched our fiber and it broke quite easily. They tried to sell us these silk bed sets that we didn't need. We let the rest of the group get their sets.

We settled with simple silk blankets which was obviously less expensive than the set. I was attracted to the pillows, but found that only the cover was silk. The rest of the "stuffing" is really a piece of memory foam. Walking on to the next floor on our own, we looked at silk fashions. They had a large array of clothing that looked good, but once you examine it further, it looks crass and too embarrassing to wear in public. It's nothing like the celebrity designed qipaos. My mom went for 2 silk scarves instead. More versatile. The people that work there are rude and it's written on their faces that they are here for the money. This thing called manners doesn't exist. I've gotten quite use to it everywhere and I suggest that you treat it as a trivial matter. This lady literally pushed my mom and I apart just to do her work. What happened to "excuse me"?

After Silk World, we were driving back to Shanghai. I remember reading on the itinerary that we were going to a stone carving exhibition. However, I was shocked to see that it was another jade place. We were all about to enter the lion's den once more. Looking back, a bunch of us were fools buying more stuff. However we learned not to trust so easily. During this trip, we all became more closer and it's unfortunate that we couldn't know each other more. According to one of our team mates, she said that she had been to this same jade store before. The staff that worked the store fabricate a story. Our host said she is a student and that her carvings are among those that can be purchased. She also said that she had no idea we were a tour group overseas Chinese. This was clearly a bullshit lie. Then all of a sudden, the "boss" walked in and the host whispers that this is the master and owner of this studio. Our team mate tells us otherwise. This guy is literally the boss of his business. These carvings are probably not carved by his hands, but by someone else.

Damn, those workers were desperate! They latch on to all of us mercilessly trying to get us to buy expensive pieces. Seriously, I can't afford this 38,000 RMB necklace you're trying to sell me. One old lady was determined to buy a 30,000 RMB piece until her old friend kept jabbing her. She said that if her friend persists to buy it, she will end their friendship. In the end, the jade was not purchased. The prices were jacked up way too high. A few of us decided that the 300 RMB Buddhas were more reasonable. Mr. X, our guide, dropped hints in his speeches to stop persuading others not to buy stuff. Well, we all didn't give a shit because we cared about each other's wallets. The "gang" stays together.

Our next stop was a medicine shop that claims to have ties to the famous Beijing Tong Ren Tang. They made a huge speech about the history of Tong Ren Tang only to sell products of an entirely different brand. There's no website or contact information except a telephone number. Shady business. I'm not paying 1200 RMB for a tiny bottle of questionable pills. After a long talk, you have a choice of getting a medicinal foot soak and massage on site. Once again, the gang stays together. No foot soak. No need for doctors to examine us. No need to sell us stuff. My mom took a look at one of the products. It contained very commonly used herbs as ingredients, but were way too expensive. One of our team mates was an 89 year old man and his son. They decided to accept an examination from these so called doctors to see what tricks they have up their sleeves. When they examined the old man, they said his heart wasn't so good. The truth is the old man went for a real doctor's visit prior to the trip and was completely healthy. All that talk was mere bull shit. Another one of us told their story. They were a couple from Panama. The doctor told the wife that she has an imbalance in hormones. The husband tells us, "It's quite obvious! Every woman has to go through menopause at one point of her life!" We all laughed loudly at this. No need to tell us what we already know.