Xuishui shopping

Day 15

Xuishui / Luilichang

We shopped a lot today. We got up and had breakfast at the hotel, then headed towards another exhibition for that auction. We walked around for a bit because Chandler’s parents wanted to see something there that they might bid on. After a little while there, Chandler’s parents departed and we were left on our own to find the Xuishui market. After a little walking we found the building where it is housed and had some fun. Bartering is the name of the game, and you can get some good deals, but you can also get taken. It’s not unusual to end up with something at 10% of the original asking price. It was a big place, and we were wheeling and dealing for about 3 hours, and we both ended up with what we wanted at good prices. From here we departed for another market called Qianmen, which took us a little while to find. It was kind of like a night market, but we were there during the day, and it was fairly deserted. We walked through some of Qianmen towards Luilichang, which is a market area where they sell antiques and stuff (most of them fake). By the time we got here we only walked around for about half an hour before we got a call to head towards a restaurant for dinner, but we probably weren’t going to buy anything here anyways as it was expensive.

We met Chandler’s parents at a restaurant a bit to the south for some very good Xuan Yong, or Shabu-Shabu Lamb (I don’t get it either)… On the table were 2 hot pots with a gas flame underneath that boiled water with vegetables and herbs in it. You receive plates of raw meat, fish, etc., and cook it by boiling it in the water. It was good, but it wasn’t my favorite thing that I’d eaten on the trip, although it is apparently Chandler’s favorite.

After dinner we headed to the auction to see if Chandler’s father could get a piece that he wanted, but he was unsuccessful, and we just headed back to the hotel for some rest. Apparently we’re getting up at 7AM in the morning for the Ghost Market, so I’m going to hit the hay despite it being only 10:30PM.

Gahn-Bay = Cheers.