EVER been to Beijing and its flea markets? Ever been confronted by the dreaded pocket calculator carried by almost every one of around 5 000 to 10 000 dealers who clamour in those flea markets – some with selling space the size of around 50 000 square metres?

I dared to challenge them several times with my recent visits to Silk Street and Yashow Market – both with a mass of humanity that not everyone in Namibia can imagine.

I knew the Chinese population was 1,3 billion but boy, I have never seen so many dealers doing business in one place and all fighting to have you buy something from them.

They sell wares of just about anything Chinese you could imagine –silk, clothing, jewels, cutlery, software, antiques... Somebody actually told me that there are dealers from all over China and also ranging from the Han ethnic group to Hui to Uygur and Manchu to Mongolian.

So I decided to go and see what's for sale in Yashow – a flea market with roughly 2 500 themed stalls and groaning at the seams.

A Nigerian colleague decided to accompany me with a very stern warning not to buy anything at the first or second offer or even if they ask "what's your best offer?".

He also told me to walk away if the price is too high or to reply "tai gui le" even if my Putonghua is broken and hardly makes sense.

As soon as I entered the first floor of Yashow Market, I saw a Liverpool Football Club replica outfit which was a must buy if I intended to return to Namibia and continue to have my extremely good father-son relationship with my son, Hristo! I showed interest by getting closer to inspect the outfit and the trader noticed and started looking for my size.

I quickly said "no" and indicated that I wanted one for someone small. "How old?" she shouted as we could barely hear each other because of all the bartering going around us. I indicated the age with my fingers and she produced what I desired together with the inevitable pocket calculator on which she tapped out the price.

I almost fell on my back when I saw the sum of 690 yuan (1 yuan = N$1) so I replied "tai gui le" and started walking away.

She ran towards me armed with the pocket calculator and shouting "OK, OK, how much you want?" I was told to barter for a quarter of the price the trader gives. Ideally I wanted to pay 100 yuan but decided to try my luck and tapped out 80 yuan. I knew I was pushing her and was met with an appalled rejection accompanied by the usual facial expressions.

In broken English she shouted "80 yuan no money" and waved a new but equally outrageous figure of 580 yuan under my nose.

I shook my head and tapped 90 yuan and shouted "my best price". Again, she seemed appalled at my suggestion, shouting "I close my shop in a week" – meaning that with the kind of price I was suggesting she would go out of business within a week.

This time I decided to walk away without replying. Since it was my first bartering experience I wasn't expecting what was coming.

She ran after me shouting "OK, OK, come back" but I continued, pretending that I was no longer interested in the must-buy outfit for my son.

That's when she grabbed my arm and tried to force the clothes on me.

This was getting embarrassing, to say the least. I started imagining people watching us fighting over the price but to my amazement none of the other traders showed any interest. In fact, the same was happening to some of my fellow journalists who were also in the market.

I had to control myself since I didn't want the more than 5 000 traders storming me.

I shouted "bu yao peng wo" but realised that my Putonghua was probably so broken that she was not getting it. "Don't touch me," I shouted afterwards as I walked on. By then we had moved five to six stalls away from hers.

She kept advancing with her calculator and deep down I wanted the clothes, but not at the price.

At some point I could no longer see her behind me and thought the drama was over until suddenly, around 20 stalls farther, she grabbed me again pleading "OK, OK, 150 yuan OK".

Do I go back and try my luck again or tell her to leave me alone? She dropped the price remarkably, I thought.

So I decided to walk back with her and tapped out the figure 100 when we got to her stall.

She was fuming but clearly had no intention of letting me go.

She came down to 130 yuan but I stuck to my 100 and showed her my watch to indicate that she was now wasting my time.

"You no good man," she said before reducing the price to 110 yuan with pleading eyes. She wanted to win, even if I paid only 10 yuan more than what I was offering.

I stuck to my 100 yuan and she finally pulled out the red-and-white outfit I so much desired to buy for my son.

That's when my Nigerian colleague came closer to ask how much it cost.

Instantly the trader started pushing me and yelled "go away". She didn't want him to know I had bought mine for 100 yuan.

When I met up with him, it was after he had separated with 275 yuan for the same outfit.

She got him, although I still thought I could have done better!

However, it still made me a better buyer with subsequent bartering and I continued paying far less than some of those with me did.

 

Assistant News Editor,

The Namibian (Newspaper)