Girls' Day Out Redux

Sunday, November 16. Debbie and Cynthia invite me to go with them to the wholesale market. I think we are going to the same wholesale market that I went to before with D&T (how would I know there is more than one wholesale market in ZZ?) but this is a completely different one, although in the same part of town. They point out to me three huge buildings, and all are wholesale markets selling only clothes!

Generally, I hate clothes shopping (I'd rather do it online!) but I have a good time following Debbie and Cynthia around and watching them try on things! It is an amazing place: there are 9 floors in the building (the quality gets better the higher you go) and there must be at least ten thousand winter coats in various shops here. And I'm not using "ten thousand" rhetorically or as hyperbole. There is a model of each coat hanging up in each shop, and then on the floors are piles and piles of each coat, carefully folded and wrapped in plastic, in various sizes. It is easy to imagine that there are many more than one thousand coats on each floor - each shop has scores if not hundreds, there are many shops on each floor, and there are nine floors altogether. There are also shops for jeans, trousers, sweaters etc but there are just an overwhelming number of coats everywhere. 'Tis the season! There may be wholesale markets like this in the U.S. but I've never been to one.

So we're up on the ninth floor, and Debbie and Cynthia are trying on lots of things: jeans, jackets, coats. I'm watching and occasionally trying something on but nothing looks quite right. Until we come to one particular coat shop: and there is the perfect red coat for me! I try it on and I'm in love! They have it in several sizes so Debbie, Cynthia and I all try it on. We take pictures of each other and are laughing out loud. Debbie decides to buy it, but Cynthia decides on a different coat - although still red! Red is so Chinese! At first, I'm not going to buy anything and the saleswoman hangs my coat back up, but then I realize that if I don't, I will be thinking about this red coat for the rest of my life and wishing I had bought it. So I tell Cynthia and Debbie I'm going to get it, I hand the saleswoman my Chinese ATM card but she has no idea why I''m giving it to her because of course we've been speaking English! They have to tell her in Chinese that I'm going to buy it after all. :)

Then we decide we have to get out of the store quickly before we see anything else we are tempted by. After buying the coat, I may have to forego dinner for the rest of the month. We see some street vendors who are selling roasted sweet potatoes, so we buy some to eat later. I hope these are going to be around all winter. Also, many Muslim (Uighers, from the Northwest of China) vendors selling walnuts.

Afterwards, we have lunch in a great little noodle shop that is clearly very popular as there are many people coming and going the whole time we are there. I have noodles with beef and manage to get spots on my jacket. I really do need a bib in China! (OK, before you laugh, try eating noodles in a soup broth with chopsticks sometime!) I have such a good time with Debbie and Cynthia - I will go anywhere, anytime with them!

I come home and take a nap from 3 to 6. This evening, I am trying to get caught up on blog and do lesson plan. Still have horrible cold and, in addition, got a migraine last night, probably from the MSG in the food at the hot pot restaurant. Oh well. Might as well feel like complete sh--. :)