Business Trip

I went to China, Guang Zhou with my bosses last month. This is the first time I been to China, and what i learn from this trip is "Chinese are dangerous", and i'm actually quite afraid of doing business with Chinese from china. After the trip, I really respect my boss, because he get to handle those Chinese. Just read some online news, tests found that 10% of liquid milk from three of China's dairies was tainted with melamine. What is melamine.. ?? Wiki said it's some chemical compounds that use to make plastics, fertilizer etc etc . And wiki said Melamine, classified a controlled substance in China has been illegally used in the high profile 2008 baby milk scandal case which led to the death of at least 4 infant and sickened more than 6000 others. Aiyerr... see... told you they are dangerous, I'm not being prejudice, I'm not generalizing all of them. I mean some of them.

We arrived in Guang Zhou, after my boss deal and settle with his boss, we went to a Guangdong province in Southern China called Zhong Shan. The named of the city is renamed in honour of the "Father of modern China" Sun Zhong-Shan. Hahaha.. that's all i know about it, I don't really know about China's history. This place is around 1 hour ride to Hong Kong. Hong Kong's living standard is very high, lots of the chinese couldn't afford to go there to work so they settle down in Zhong Shan and get a job there. Because of the location, a lot of manufacturer's set up their company there, example like nike, canon, and many others. So... I get to buy cheap clothes and shoes there. Some of the worker stole the products and sell them outside the factories. I enjoyed shopping there. :p A place where u can get cheap and nice stuff.

Zhong Shan City

This is another reason why I said the chinese are dangerous, or..scary.

crocodile ! they are eating crocodile, and you see the real crocodile swimming there in the restaurant.

Look! what is this?? pre pack tablewares/cutlery..

I remember grandma used to tell me " Girl, study hard, get a good office job, otherwise you gonna become that aunty, washing dishes in restaurant, work from 10am-10pm" ...

Now, when I think back what my granny told me... If I don't study hard, I can't even get a job to wash dishes. These Chinese go for all kinds of business , they deliver tablewares, clean it up, and bring them back to you. And guess what.. they care charging us 1 reminbi for that !!!??? Does it mean i can bring my own bowl and chopstick so I no need to pay for that 1 renminbi???

I wonder about my future, what i gonna be in a few years time. Doing business?? being psychologist?? I don't know. But I know it's really competitive, those kids in China who are same age with me are now working, earning money for their family. What about me? I'm the eldest sister in the family, and I'm spending almost 100k a year here, relaxing my life, and still I'm complaining. How can i compete with these people? I don't know, I'm looking for the answer.

The last few days of the trip, we went to Guang Zhou, a place which full of foreigner, lots of business, lots of offices, lots of head quarters. Follow my bosses, went lots of show rooms to buy goods from them.

basically there are all about shoes :p heels and sandals.

I told you ! they are scary!

This is Chinese-Superman i saw in the City. He pulled this whole trolley by himself!!!! from one destination to another !!!!! and look at his face, he's not young !!!! and he's not strong also !! told you !! they are scary !

I also learn how to bargain when shopping in China. Chinese is smart, but I'm not stupid, I have my smartest daddy beside me. When comes to buying souvenir items, the seller needs your business more than you need their product because there will always be someone else selling the same stuff down the street or maybe next door. I don't know about other places in China, but in Guang Zhou , according to my boss, he said you can bargain and save at least 50% on all purchases. Again.. SEE I told you.. they are scary!!! So, never feel bad in bargaining, they are very smart, no matter how much it may seem so, they will never sell you something at a loss.

Something very important, think before you bargain. Don't bargain if you don't tend to buy their stuff. If you are being offered the price you ask for and you ended up don't buy, you'll be in trouble. once again, THEY ARE SCARY !!!

Another tip for shopping in China, do no show them any excitement or smile at the shopkeeper. The world's most aggressive salespersons are probably Chinese. :p Especially those around tourist spot, they might be the most aggressive of the most aggressive one. Don't let your eye sight stay on a particular item for some time, otherwise the salesperson will follow you, and it's very difficult to get away from them. And if you smile at the salesperson, you lost your negotiating power.

Next, simply shout "tai gui le!" (too expensive!), if the salesperson mention ANY price, even if that's a reasonable price, you still can negotiate for that,

If you want to buy that particular things, just buy if you get a very nice offer, if you leave the store and come back, you have no negotiating power the second time around. Because they know you want something and knows you have already compared prices.

The last thing is pay the exact change if possible, or give them a bill that is close to what you are paying. And never use credit card in China, this is one of the reason why most of the chinese bringing lots of cash with them. Most of them have at least 1k reminbi everywhere they go. In other words, don't hand 100 bucks for something that cost only 5RMB. The oldest trick in the book is for them to swap out the 100 with a 50 and they will insist that you only gave them 50. If this happens there is nothing you can do and you will not get your money back.

Shop smart~ and study hard, this is what i got from the trip.