Shopping til I drop in Shanghai

Today I spent 9 hours shopping in Shanghai. I stayed in PuXi (West of the Huang Pu River) and found everything that we may need, except for ravioli…

The only thing I bought today was car seats. These are very hard to find, and when you do find them, they are not cheap. The concept is foreign to Chinese, so trying to explain what I was looking for was a particular challenge.

I was on a special mission to find some food products and toys. I was happy to find my way to an import food shop that when I walked in reminded me a lot of our local grocery store. It has nearly everything and in the brands we are used to. The problem is the costs. A bag of Doritos cost about 10 US dollars, for instance. (I guess we’ll have to eat one serving at a time – probably good for us anyway!) I also found lots of toys, but the ones we know have the same problem as the import food. There is nearly a Chinese version of everything, and they sell at a significant discount to the import toys. (Funny isn’t it? All of this stuff is made in China, but the prices in China are twice, or more, the prices found in the US.)

I have a few observations about shopping in China. (Keep in mind this is coming from someone who has never shopped for 9 hours straight in his life.) First of all, customer service is paramount. In nearly every store, there are attendants every 5 to 10 feet. I could tell how good their English was very quickly as their greetings in several stores in the afternoon was a stilted “hello, good morning”.

Second thing I noticed: don’t go on the weekends – way too crowded.

Thirdly, foreign brands are in vogue. I had never been to an IKEA before today. Needless to say, I won’t go again on a Saturday. The place was an absolute zoo. I have no idea how much business they were doing, but it had to be a small fortune. It was unbelievable.

Forth, as hinted at above, you can get anything in China if you have enough money.

Lastly, it’s good to have a sense of adventure. In a few cases, I was on my own as the driver needed to stay with the car. Armed with a small dictionary, and three or four ways to say everything in English and getting over the fact you have very broken Chinese, you can make to through OK.

I wish that I could describe what I went through to explain chocolate chips. I was shown chocolate in every form but chips until I got to the imported food store. I also wish I could explain the joy of seeing Fritos, Spaghettios, and Jiff peanut butter.

Finally, I will also say that I’m glad I’ve found a decent Italian restaurant. It’s amazing how much better you feel when you’ve had a good meal of food that tastes something like you are used to eating on a regular basis.

It will be great to get back home and get the family ready to come over here after today. I am certain that we can more than survive over here.