On 2008-04-20, Mal from Oz wrote:

Is it fair to assume that an English speaking vendor at this market
will be hard to find ? I should take appropriately worded cue cards
??

I don't think most vendors will speak much English (you might get a lot
of "hellos" as you walk around - this happened to me a lot, though not
as much in the tea malls as in more touristy places), but I think you
shouldn't have a problem communicating. A lot of places will probably
pull out a calculator to give you prices (you can type your own prices
in when you're bargaining), and you can point or whatever.

You will probably find that a lot of people speak enough English to
conduct business, though without a translator, you'll miss out on some
information. On the other hand, you'll also miss out on a lot of sales
pitches, which I would say is a good thing.

I think the most useful phrase in Mandarin you should learn and practice
before leaving is bu yao (bu is rising tone, yao is falling tone) - if
you say it fast, it kind of sounds like booeyao - more of a dipthong
than a straight "oo". That means 'I don't want any'. (And, if you do
want something, it's just 'yao'). Nie ge (sounds pretty close to an
offensive racial term in English) is "that one", used a lot also as an
"um" type equivalent.

Secondly ... I understand that bargaining in Beijing is the norm in
the market type stalls, but is it still appropriate to bargain at the
tea market, which I assume the locals also shop at ? I wish to avoid
offending anyone.

We definitely bargained when we went to Tianshan market in Shanghai
(similar but much smaller)... and everywhere else we went in Mainland
China. Especially if you're white, and don't speak Chinese, assume the
prices you're being given are pretty high (relatively speaking).
Ultimately, you WILL pay higher prices, and you probably won't do as
well as a local, but you might as well try not to look like a total
chump. Even if the prices seem cheap, relative to your local currency,
bargain anyway. I think 50% or less of whatever price someone says is
probably a good starting place.

As always in bargaining, don't be afraid to walk away if the price seems
too high. They will probably call you back, but if they don't, you can
always come back later and get it (plus, at a huge mall like that, I'm
sure you can get almost anything from multiple vendors).

All that said, tea and teaware in China are pretty cheap, so don't turn
into too much of a cheapskate, or you'll be kicking yourself when you
get home. You probably won't see a lot of really high end or rare
stuff... and the stuff that seems like it might be will very likely be
fake. So don't be afraid to bargain, even for that "real" lao zhu ni
teapot.

w