Wuai Market - A Real Chinese Market

When I arrived, my apartment had the essentials, but not much besides, so I had to go shopping for a few things, including things that we don't have in the little convenience stores around Su Jia Tun. Well, getting out of Su Jia Tun is rather hard without a DiDi account (the Chinese version of Uber), and I can't get a DiDi until I get my Chinese bank account, so getting out and shopping has been tricky.

Fortunately for me, the HR ladies at my job are remarkably accommodating, and they offered to take me and a few other teachers out to Wei Market on one Saturday for essentials.

The floors behind me have all the vendors.

Now, when they talked about it, I imagined it would be some kind of shopping mall, like Westfield. It turned out to be much more of a flea market. A flea market that covered 5 stories. 

This was where you could bargain for prices. I actually discovered you can bargain without actually speaking the language. Apparently, I have a very good dissatisfied face, because the vendors would start lowering the prices before I said anything. 

Anyway, the big item on my list was a shower curtain. Now, I was fully expecting to go there and buy a shower curtain. You know, one of the prepackaged ones. The ones that can double as a picnic tablecloth in a pinch. 

Apparently, that's too western for Wei Market. What ended up happening was we went to a cloth vendor, who showed us a bunch of finished curtains. I picked one out that I liked, thinking that was the curtain. Oh no. That was just the sample.

Someone had to make it.

That's right, I have a custom shower curtain in my apartment, because that's how they do things in a Chinese market, apparently. Things do not come pre-made. They come in pieces, and someone has to put them together. 

Anyway, I paid for the fabric and the metal pieces, and then we followed the lady to where the tailor was. Here are some pictures of him at his work:

By the way, in case you're wondering, yes, that is in fact a treadle sewing machine. I wondered why they would have something like that, when surely it is more expensive than an electric sewing machine at this point, but I think it might be because there aren't many electrical outlets around that building. 

Anyway, in summary, this is my first visit at a truly Chinese market. The things you could buy were very impressive. I didn't see any phones or computers, but otherwise, you could buy pretty much anything you can imagine there. And it really is like a market - the different vendors are shoved together very close inside that building, and you really can haggle over prices. I heard one of my friends got a winter coat, priced at 700 RMB, for just 200 RMB. Vendors were very patient and accommodating, all things considered, but it was crazy trying to navigate the close spaces. Still- I thought it was a cool place to be, and once I get my DiDi sorted out, I'm going back for a nice, fluffy rug for my bedroom!