Couchsurfing in China: Shopping

I cannot believe it has already been a month since I left for one of my favorite trips ever. I loved so many things about my time in China, but one of my favorite aspects was getting a glimpse into day-to-day life. I certainly had the opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing, but I also had the unique experience of living with Candi and Justin for a week.

For instance, I had the opportunity to join Candi for Saturday grocery shopping. Unsurprisingly, the shopping experience differed considerably from my typical shopping trip at home.

Perishable items, like fruits and vegetables, are bought frequently throughout the week and consumed within a day or two. Thus, when shopping in China, it is important to know where your closest fruit stand is located. Candi's fruit stand of choice was located across the street from the university and was a spot we visited multiple times during the week.

Although fruits and vegetables were readily available, buying other groceries took a bit more effort. I will talk more about the varied and sometimes frightening forms of transportation I used in another post, but for now, suffice it to say that we used the e-bike to visit stores in multiple parts of town in order to get everything Candi needed for the week. In case you are wondering, an e-bike does not have a trunk. As we shopped, we had to become increasingly creative about fitting the accumulated bags into and on the e-bike.

We visited a couple of stores in order for me to shop for gifts, before visiting the foreign food market located in Shaoxing's new InTime City mall.

Of course foreign food means anything not from China, so that's where Candi can find things like parmesan cheese, salsa, and non-meat-flavored tortilla chips. And apparently bad coffee, as well. Frozen durian and "chicken paws" were also available, just in case one's supply was running low.

We did not have time to make it to the large Auchan supermarket, where Candi frequently shops, but I could not miss checking out Walmart. Walmart was located amid many other buildings, just one more of thousands of businesses that interminably intermingle in the chaos of the city.

Once in the store, it was hardly recognizable as a Walmart. Rather than the characteristic white and blue signs, bright red and yellow signs highlighted low prices and sales. There were live fish and the meat was recognizable as the animal from whence it came with hair still attached. There were open bins of rice and giant bottles of oil next to rows of instant noodles and snacks that I did not even recognize as such. It was fascinating and, to be completely honest, sometimes a bit disgusting.

In addition to grocery shopping, Candi took me to one of the fabric markets to get a custom made qipao. A qipao, pronounced chi-pow, is a traditional Chinese dress, although I wanted a shirt rather than a dress.

After I chose a lovely silk fabric and the pattern I desired, my measurements were carefully taken. The entire time, I imagined the tailor secretly judging my large American proportions.

I quickly got over any self-consciousness when I was told the price - 200 yuan, the equivalent of $30. Thirty dollars for a custom, silk qipao! Although this tailor seemed to specialize in qipaos, there were multiple vendors who could seemingly make just about anything.

Elsewhere in Shaoxing, remnants of fabric were piled high, waiting to be waded through and chosen.

It often seemed as if stores or vendors selling a particular product, such as fabric or electronics, were grouped together. So rather than going to one place to get everything, one would end up going to multiple parts of town in order to buy different items. The mall was perhaps the exception to this. I again noticed this while walking through Tashan Market on a rainy weeknight. Although everything from Hello Kitty bags to intricately carved wooden furniture to puppies was being sold, the market seemed to primarily focus on plants and "antiques."

Junie especially enjoyed the purple flowers.

Jobie especially enjoyed the fish and turtles.

Shopping in Shaoxing was a fun experience. It also reminded me to appreciate that when I want groceries, furniture, flowers, and new clothes, I do not have to drive to multiple stores within a city. I simply have to drive to Target, even if it is an hour away.