Markets!

As shopping goes, I've only actually spent meaningful time in two different areas. The first one being the Silk Market, which is more of a five story building with hundreds of different vendors set up selling everything imaginable in the clothing industry. As one browses through the rows of nearly identical stalls, which often result in multiple occurrences of deja vu, as many of the stalls sell identical articles of clothing.

Entering the market from the Yonganli subway station, places you into footwear haven as vendors attempt to convince you to buy from a nearly endless selection of Nike, Adidas and various other brands. Each floor caters to a different selection of clothing, with purses and wallets rounding up the first floor and shirts, pants and jackets claiming most of the stall space on the others. The top floor of the building is entirely made up of jewelry and pearl sellers.

The Buynow department store, which is the second large shopping venue that I have made a return trip to, is an electronic silk market. Haggling is completely permitted and even necessary as one browses through vendors that sell anything from computers to video monitoring systems. This market is a mecca for any technological junkie, as they sell nearly everything imaginable that relates to electronics. For example, after breaking my power adapater for my laptop, I was able to bring the unusable unit, and procure myself a brand new one for three American dollars. Amazing.