2 authentic* Louis Vuitton bags for $35 bucks!
2 genuine** Rolex watches for 15 bucks!
I must have good karma or something (thank you feudal serf me from 800 years ago!)
When we arrived at shanghai, the last city stop on our grand tour, we had no idea that we were entering the world’s greatest city-sized Outlet Mall.
No, at the time, we were more concerned about the Typhoon that was predicted to hit us the next day.
Silly me to think that I was escaping the natural disasters currently plaguing the US! It seems God dislikes communists just about as much as he detests red-staters and neo-cons…
The Typhoon, thankfully, was not the second coming of Katrina. It churned out just enough rain and wind to clear out the smog for one good day of site seeing and picture taking.
Shanghai, unlike the other cities visited, is a city mostly devoid of the historic tourist sites we were used to visiting. Instead, the real draw of Shanghai seemed to be the cosmopolitan identity it has acquired throughout its interesting history. While the traffic and overpopulation was similar to the other large cities we visited, the overall feel of the city was much more Western in nature (almost space-age in some respects!) with towering skyscrapers (one of which is the fifth tallest in the world) and older, classical western European influenced structures – a stark departure from the sterile utilitarian designs in Beijing and Xian.
After a day of driving to the tourist spots, which aren’t interesting enough to write about here, we felt like we were more than ready for the power shopping that would dominate the remainder of our stay.
Before I go any further, I think a little clarification is in order. When I speak of shopping, I’m not referring to the khaki-pants-buying-at-the-mega-mall variety that (strangely) seemed to attract most of the others in the group (don’t they have malls back at home?).
Nah, I’ve had enough of South Coast Plaza to last me for awhile.
What I’m referring to is “guy shopping.” Y'know.... the shady kind that involves, back-room negotiations for pirate dvd’s, fake swiss watches, grey market electronics and maybe a designer handbag or two for my wife thrown in for good measure.
Throughout the city, strategically placed near the established markets and malls, are groups of shopping “assistants” whose sole purpose is to bring interested buyers to the secretive shops that cater to the fake brand-name product bargain hunter. Usually these shops are accessible only through secret trap doors located behind display cases at legitimate “front” stores but sometimes they can be setup at an apartment or at the end of a series of stairways and inconspicuous doors that seem to lead to the other side of nowhere.
One can really only tolerate this process for a couple of days. The constant squawks of “sir, you want rolex…your want louis vuitton…you want versace… and the occasional arm grab by the super-pushy shop owners gets old real fast. Once I acquired my booty, and the suitcase to transport it back to the states, I made like a stray dog walking by a Chinese dumpling factory and disappeared.
* Authenticity confirmed by enthusiastic declaration and many promises made by handbag sales associate
** Rolexes were deemed genuine due to the genuine-looking rolex symbol on watch face
New Pictures: The Bund and Jade Buddha and Lu Gardens and Shopping/Misc.
No comments:
Post a Comment