Walked to the Dongtai Lu Antiques Market today to look at all the little stalls filled with Chairman Mao memorabilia and little Buddhas and other figurines and statuettes. Very interesting, and very few tourists. I was attracted to one stall (they all had the same array of objects), by the woman’s bright smile. I selected a small item, and we bargained for a little while. “You’re killing me,” she said, as we finally agreed upon a price. After that, I didn’t have much small change, so I looked for a while, deciding upon a stand to buy several things at once. After much looking, I found one with the array of things I wanted to buy, and begin the long haggling process. Stall keepers say “hello,” and “cheaper,” and “discount,” once you begin showing some interest in their wares. They then pull out the calculator to convey their prices, typically in Chinese Yuan (RMB)…”Friend” prices, the girl said. I picked out a few things, and named my price: 100 Yuan, or about $14. After much negotiation I walked away pleased with my purchases, and filled with a mild sense of pride: the girl told me “you are good,” meaning that I was an adept bargainer. In short, I spent what I wanted to spend, and got a few little things to take home.
Tired from haggling (it really wears me out!), I crossed the street to the Flower & Bird Market, a strange menagerie of animals, birds mostly, in cages. Exotic little birds, chipmunks, turtles, fish, and cicadas and crickets were all caged and offered for sale. Clusters of men played cards around little tables, or ate their lunch. The sounds of the market were most interesting: the squawk of birds, the chirp drone of the cicadas. I watched a man spoonfeeding what looked like a small parrot. And I saw a boy leaving the market carrying a small cage with a chipmunk inside. Nice pet. From there, I made my way back to the hotel, again through market stall lined streets. I deposited on cd-r on the gate of an alley that led to people’s homes. I only left it there because I am running out time. But I feel as if the music will be lost on those who are unlikely to have a cd player, much less an interest in electronic music from the US.
2 comments:
Ugh, I generally find those animal markets incredibly depressing. There's a big one in the main Chatuchak market in Bangkok, and the piles of crates crammed with small furry creatures is painfully sad. Ditto a bird market I saw in Damascus once, where I was told you wouldn't have a hard time finding some endagered species. Nice to see the hand-fed parrot photo, that seems a little more humane!
I think that's the cool thing about those CD-Rs, you have no idea who's going to find it and play it and what their reaction might be. It could be that in a poor neighborhood, discovred the CD-R is the catalyst for a quest to find something to listen to it on, and it ends with a group of family and friends clustered around a boom box as they slide the CD in...
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