Here’s a sign on the outside of a nightclub/bar in the Futian district of Shenzhen. Of course, had the person I was with not told me, I wouldn’t have known or thought twice, but it basically says, “If you’re Japanese, you’re not welcome; don’t come in here!”

As much as I avoid shopping in the US, as irritated I get with the crowds, the hassle of parking, and all that, I find the opposite is true here. Maybe it’s because it’s just so much wilder, so much bigger, and so much more diverse here, I find myself fascinated with just going, walking, and observing. Today, I got treated to Dong Men, another massive shopping destination that I heard about. Of all the places I’ve hit so far, I think it’s my favorite. Hua Quiang Bei still rules for electronics and Luo Hu for fake merchandise and aggressive bargaining, but in terms of size, Dong Men is king. It’s not a single massive building but a collection of several buildings, comprising a maze of shops, little restaurants, salons, and so on, all connect by twisting pathways, vanishing escalators, and steep staircases. I don’t think I’d get lost for long in a place like Luohu, but I did get lost here, but, thankfully had a guide.

While there is bargaining in Dong Men, it isn’t nearly as aggressive. And not all of the shops that I recall overtly advertise “we bargain!” There are no signs that say this, of course, but when you see a fake Polo shirts (the easiest for me to spot) for over 120 yuan, you know that you’d be a fool to not offer 1/5th of the price. But, from what I saw, these shops were in the minority.

Upon exiting the subway, we almost immediately were in the thick of it. To the left was a huge DVD shop (many more lay beyond) full of mid-ranged DVDs. Mid-ranged meaning they were certainly still fake, but they were at least in boxes or cases. The cheapest ones, which are sold on every street corner and simply too hard for the law to control, are in cellophane wrapping with what looks like the original DVD cover artwork surrounding the DVD. The DVD itself looks professionally printed. I’ve never seen a movie on a cheap blank DVD notated with a sharpie, for example. In this first DVD shop, I found a nice looking copy of Lord of the Rings, which I was tempted to buy and check out, but I held off on since I still hadn’t had much opportunity to watch any TV or DVDs since coming to China. I’ll probably pick it up one day though.

Here are some shots from the various shops. Note the iPod copies in the counter of the first picture:

I did do fairly well today, buying some Versace boxers for about $2.30 (I think they’re real too! Haha), a $1.20 t-shirt, and some Chinese-style jeans for about 8 bucks. We’ll see how well they hold up. Oh yes, I also found text book, with CD, for learning Chinese. I’m looking forward to working through that.

I had this handy little USB 2.0 device that Robert gave me that allows you to use a memory card as a thumb drive. I found it very useful to me here in China, but one day I ended up putting it through the wash and ruining it. Dang! In the US, these devices are about 12-15 bucks. OK, pretty cheap so I figured the next time I was in Hua Qiang Bei, I would pick one up at one of the hundreds of little electronic shops. This day, I went back to Hua Qiang Bei and brought my broken little devices to show to the shopkeepers. I felt “well-informed” because I’d done research on prices and expected that I could pay a little less. When the shopkeeper quoted 150 yuan, I was a little surprised that it was more than the US, almost $20! But, while I thought to myself with a perplexed look on my face, he spoke again and I realized I hadn’t heard correctly. It wasn’t 150, it was 15! Less than two bucks! So, I handed over my coins.

Here’s the interior of one of the big electronics shops. It’s maybe 6 floors. Each floor has a different theme of focus. For example, one floor is almost devoted to individual circuits and chips. Other floors feature more common devices like cameras, USB devices (USB seems so popular here), and hard drives.

I got to try my first “hot pot” today. Here’s how this thing works: There’s a bubbling cauldron in the middle of the table with a few select vegetables and spices in it, depending on the tastes of the diners. The pot is traditionally heated with charcoal, but ours this day was with a propane canister. So, in the pictures, you’ll see the thick orange tube running to the burner under the pot. Once the pot is boiling, you put thin strips of meat (we had mutton and beef) or vegetables on ladles and dip it in the pot where it cooks for maybe a minute or two. You then can dip it in some more spices or sauce and eat it. We had this tasty sesame seed sauce.

We went to enjoy the all-you-can eat Hot Pot in appreciation of one of our co-workers, PT, who will soon be heading back to the United States for a permanent gig there.

(l-r)   1) The gang cookin’ and 2) PT (who is Vietnamese, not Chinese) takes a dip