Kunitzer in China

Saturday we went shopping at The No. 1 People's Department Store in downtown Suzhou. We needed to get some new electrical appliances (microwave oven, vacuum cleaner, electric razor) a rug, and a few new clothes. We wanted to try the department store because we heard the selection and the crowds are better than at Auchan (a French-owned supermarket similar to a Super Wal-Mart). We were right about the selection: it was like going to a Macy's - seven different floors and each floor specialized in separate items. We were wrong about the crowds: it was also like Macy's - on the day after Thanksgiving. Although there were a lot of people, there weren't so many that it was impossible to move, just so many that it was very difficult to navigate two small, tired children who everybody wants to touch and hold.

First we bought an electric razor. Fortunately they took Visa because we realized we didn't have enough cash for all the things we wanted to buy. Buying things at a Chinese department store isn't like buying things at an American department store. In USA, you take your item to the counter, give the sales clerk your cash, check or credit card, get your receipt, and leave. Not so easy in China. First you get a special ticket for the item you want to buy. Since I was buying an electric razor on the first floor, I had to take my ticket from the electric razor counter to the credit card office at the other end of the building. After they figured out how to process a Visa transaction, they kept my special ticket, gave me my credit card receipt and then gave me a different special ticket. I had to take this second special ticket to a different office where they perform the sales transaction. There they gave my second special ticket the official "Paid In Full" stamp (I think) and they gave me my fapiao (my official invoice). Then I had to go back to the electric razor counter to give them my second special ticket with the offical stamp. Then they showed me a brand new electric razor still in it's sealed box. Very Important - you must inspect the contents of the box regardless of its appearance of never having been opened because there is no guarantee that the actual contents of the box match the description of what is written on the box. So we opened the sealed box, inspected the contents, found everything to be in order (it helped that the manual was also in English) and went on to the next location.

There were some things on the 2nd floor, so we had to find our way upstairs. After navigating through the crowded aisles, we made our way to the elevator (because we had the strollers). We were fortunate enough to get on one right away, but we were unfortunate that the elevator was so crowded that we couldn't get out on the 2nd floor and we went up to the 3rd floor. Since a bunch of people were getting out we, we pushed our way out with them. We figured it was better to get out and look for something else than to continue being trapped on the elevator. Lucky for us we quickly found the vacuum cleaners. After having one of those bagless vacuum cleaners when we lived in Charleston, I only wanted another bagless vacuum cleaner. Trying to tell a sales clerrk that I wanted a bagless vacuum cleaner was impossible, so all we could do was start looking at the first one we saw. I made the sales clerk open the vacuum cleaner to show me if it had a bag or not. Of course, the first one had a bag. Piece of cake, I point to the bag and say "bu yao" (I don't want it - meaning the bag). I think she understood what I meant because she quickly went to another model and eagerly opened it up to show me there was no bag. True enough, there wasn't a paper bag, but there was a non-disposal cloth bag. This was not what I wanted so again I point to the bag and say "bu yao". Now she clearly doesn't understand me because every vacuum she shows me has either a paper or cloth bag. Disappointed, I just walk away shaking my head. The next counter also has vacuum cleaners and I see a Philips that I think is bagless. I make the clerk take it off the shelf, open it up, and find no bag! So I make her plug it in and turn it on, but she won't let me suck up any paper so I can see what happens. But this lady was really thinking because she shows me a manual in English for this vacuum and it's what I want. At this point, I thought it best to buy this instead of trying to find another less expensive model. So we go through the same routine I did with the electric razor - back to the first floor to make the Visa transaction (there only one Visa card reader in the entire store!), back to the 3rd floor and to the sales desk, then back over to the vacuum cleaner counter, where I open the box and inspect the entire contents and finally find that everything is OK.

Buying these two items has taken over an hour, so we decide we should leave and get the microwave oven some other day because it's not a high priority right now. My wife quickly changes her mind when she sees a simple, low-priced microwave with English writing on the controls. She figures the difficult work is already done because we already found exactly what we want and we'll pay for this with cash. Since I don't have to go back downstairs to the the credit card office, I just take my ticket to the sales office where I gave them my money and they give me my fapiao and my "paid in full" ticket. I takes these back to the microwave oven desk and now they want me to fill out some special paperwork. I didn't have to do this before and I can't read the form because everything is in Chinese, so I don't quite know what they want. Fortunately I have my cell phone on me, so I call one of my Chinese colleagues from work. I explain the situation to him and have him talk to the sales clerk. Come to find out that they don't have the microwave in stock, but they can deliver it on Monday and they just need my home address. I show the sales clerk the taxi card for my apartment, make her write my address on the form (in Chinese) and I put my phone numbers and signature on the form. One hour after deciding it was time to leave, we are definitely ready to leave.

Since we took a taxi to downtown, we need to take a taxi back home. And since the department store is in the pedestrian-only part of town, we need to walk back to the taxi stop. One thing we can count on in the pedestrian part of downtown is getting solicited by every bicycle-taxi driver that we comes within 1 city block of us. That's a lot of times to say "Bu Yao!" I'm sure the entertainment value of riding these things is high, but we're not here as tourists now.

And after we make it past these guys, we can count on getting accosted by the automobile-taxi drivers that are walking around looking for a fare. These guys promise us a taxi is ready and waiting for us and will guarantee our fare will not exceed a certain amount. We just laugh at these guys because we know they charge at least double the normal cab fare. Because they can see we are foreigners, they think we are rich and stupid. Well they've got us figured wrong, we're just stupid. Who else would take their two young children shopping at Macy's on the day after Thanksgiving? Maybe it will be better during the October Golden Week.