China, Xi'an (haggling, city tour)

After months of radio silence, there’s finally some news about my trip again. :)

I’ll kick off with a postscript to the visit to the Terracotta Army from my last travel report. After all, that’s where I landed the bargain of my life. On the way from the excavation sites to the bus, countless vendors were busy flogging their wares. The star souvenir was a set of five miniature clay figures of the Terracotta Army. Shaking our heads, we made our way back to the bus stop and waited for our bus. One vendor tried to sell me her wares, and just for the fun of it I tried out a new bargaining strategy:

H (hawker): Souvenirs? Original Terracotta Army?
I (me): Very interesting, how much?
H: 100 Yuan each figure. Best price for you. Set for 500 Yuan.
I: Hmmm…
H: Really good quality. Look. Best quality.
I: Hmmm…
H: So nice. Best price for you only 500 Yuan. OK? You wanna buy?
I: No, too expensive.
H: No problem. Tell me your price.
I: For the whole set of five figures?
H: Yes. Tell me your price.
I: Hmmm…
H: No problem. What will you pay for set?
I: Hmmm…, OK, I give you 1 Yuan.
(Note: You should have seen her face! She was totally flabbergasted. At the same time, my unbeatable offer drew everyone else’s attention. Apparently nobody had ever offered 1 Yuan before. Why did I bid so ridiculously low? I didn’t actually want the set, since at about 1 kg it meant extra weight in my luggage. All I really wanted was to see how the vendor would react…)
H: 1 Yuan???
I: Yes, 1 Yuan is a lot of money, you know. (That’s about € 0.10)
H: You really said 1 Yuan?
I: Yes, it is a good offer, isn’t it? Deal?
H: No, not possible. You cannot do this. I can give you all together for 100 Yuan but this is the last price.
(Note: She wasn’t lying. The set usually goes for 100 Yuan here after a bit of back and forth.)
I: This is nice of you and I really like this set with this beautiful figures but I think 1 Yuan is a lot of money for this, don’t you agree?
H: No. No. Nobody said so low price to me.
I: I like you and therefore I’m honest to you. 1 Yuan is really good money. If you invest it right, you will be rich in the future. Trust me, that’s true.
(Note: By now several dozen people had gathered around us, including my tour guide, who pointed out to me in disbelief that 1 Yuan really was too low and that 100 Yuan was the normal price. People were curious to see what would happen - and the vendor was just as curious about my haggling style. I had actually expected her to give up in exasperation and move on to another tourist…)
H: OK, I give you the set for 80 Yuan. This is a really good price. Nobody gets the set for 80 Yuan. Just for you.
I: You are so kind. I really appreciate it. Thank you very much. Because I like you so much and also this set, I double my offer. I give you 2 Yuan. I cannot afford more for this.
H: No. No. What are you playing. Not possible.
(Note: The mood was lightening up and people started to laugh. It was obvious that I just wanted to haggle a bit, not buy anything.)
I: Why not? I doubled my offer. 2 Yuan is so much. Twice as much as 1 Yuan.

Now a smile appeared on the vendor’s face too, and even the vendors further away came over to see what was going on. So we went back and forth for another 15 minutes, bantering good-naturedly. The vendor was clearly enjoying all the attention our conversation was getting, and I was enjoying the friendly atmosphere. Then our bus came and the haggling had to come to an end. By now her offer was down to 10 Yuan, while I was willing to pay 3 Yuan. As I got on the bus, I made my last generous offer:

I: It was really fun to bargain with you. Thank you. My last offer 3,5 Yuan. Goodbye.
H: Deal!

WHAT? She can’t seriously be going for that. Mind you, I didn’t actually want the set, because it’s far too heavy for my luggage. But after all that haggling I can hardly say no now. To applause and congratulations from the bystanders, I took my 1 kg prize from the vendor, who was grinning from ear to ear, and handed her the exact 3.5 Yuan. Wow, from 50 € down to 35 cents - nobody (me included) saw that coming. On the bus people congratulated me, and my tour guide just said in disbelief that she had never seen anything like it in her long career. Why, thank you. ;)

October 29, 2010:

What an interesting experience this morning. My roommate Lars and I were no longer alone in our four-bed dorm. We had only just woken up when someone, fully dressed, jumped straight down from the top bunk, said „Good Morning“ and vanished out the door with his backpack just as quickly. Lars and I looked at each other sleepily. What was that? …The things you see.

To learn a bit more about the city, I had arranged a tour of Xi’an by e-mail the evening before with Couchsurfing host Ying. Word quickly got around the hostel, so I turned up with four other backpackers in tow. Among them were Suzanne and Jesler (4 and 5 in the picture), whom I had met earlier at Lake Baikal and who now happened to be staying in the same hostel in Xi’an, as well as Robert and Annika from the Netherlands (3 and 6 in the picture).

After treating ourselves to delicious Chinese delicacies in a traditional restaurant - the fish was truly excellent! - we headed off to the Muslim market.

The atmosphere really did remind me a lot of the markets in Marrakech/Morocco. With one clear difference: people here weren’t pushy but extremely friendly.

The crowds and the heavy traffic, on the other hand, came pretty close to a genuine Arab market. We tried some treats from the street stalls and…

…finally visited Xi’an’s city wall - an imposing, fully restored structure that completely encloses the old town and that you can ride along by bike. After a long walk and some interesting conversations, we found ourselves…

…back at the hostel later on for the famous and infamous dumpling evening. Under expert female guidance, we tourists learned hands-on how to make dumplings, and afterwards we ate them together.

Well fed and a few rounds of cards later, we gave my last night in Xi’an a proper send-off in the bar before finally turning in for a short night. Back in the room, I noticed the third person in the top bunk. He was lying there fully dressed, shoes and all, fast asleep. Who could that be?