Good morning, Jason. How did you sleep?
Pretty well, thanks. Still feeling the effects of jet lag a bit, but last night I got at lease six hours of rest.
Great! So, are you ready for a full day of shopping?
Yep. Let's do it. I'm pretty excited!
I know a place that should be perfect. It's called the China Friendship Shopping Center and it's pretty much like an American mall - except with more variety. You can even buy a live chicken there if you want.
Live chicken? Thanks, but no thanks. So. . . tell me about bargaining. How can I do it like a local?
Well. I'll be honest and say you'll never be as good at bargaining as a local person. You're a foreigner and the sellers can see that. But. . . if you're smart, you can get bargains that are not too far away from the local price.
Cool! Teach me!
For starters, you want to do a lot of scouting first. You've got to know what things cost.
Someone told me to go to a convenience store and see how much a soft drink or a tube of toothpaste costs. The idea is that by comparing the prices of those items, you can figure out the relative prices of everything else.