Xi'An: Night Time

Once the tour dropped us off back at the hostel, I dropped off my "expensive" Warriors, and came back downstairs. I was hungry, and Xi'An has some famous meals, so I asked the tour guide if she knew of the names. Rather than just tell me the names, and send me to an obscure restaurant, she really impressed me. She said she was getting on the same bus anyway to go home, so she'd take me to the Muslim Quarter (a large section of Xi'an where the majority of the residents are of Hui minority, largely Muslim).

She took me there, and I told her my impressions of China, and the tour, and she seemed quite happy. She pointed out a nice area where I'd find lots of shops, and gave me names of a few dishes I should try. I asked her what local beers they had, as I always like to drink the local beer at each city I go to. It's cheap, and usually has a slightly different taste. She told me the name, but I later found out it's a German brand, and that Xi'an has no local brew. The dishes were quite good, but way too filling! The main dish was a soup, filled with some kind of special bread, bean noodles, and a bit of meat. It was good, but there was mostly just bread, and so I couldn't finish it. I had become stuffed on all the soup-soaked bread. I had them bag another dish I'd tried, another bread which was spicy and had a kind of red sauce on it. It was delicious, but I couldn't eat anymore.

Afterwards, I stumbled upon a night market, and since today was actually Jessica and my one-year anniversary (yes, I know, I was away travelling and I'm horrible), I looked around for something Jessica would like. Markets are mostly filled with crap, so I didn't know what to get her. At one point, a vendor started speaking English with me, trying to help the other vendors sell to me. I found out her (English) name was Becky, and I had a fantastic time talking to her.

To sum her up in one word would be: Cute. She chatted with me long enough at the other vendor's shop, and eventually realized I wasn't interested in any of the crap, so she pulled me over to her own shop. She kept showing me things that Chinese girls would like, or really cheap jewelery, so I kept telling her my girlfriend wouldn't like that type of thing. The reason I say "Cute" is because each time she showed me something and I said no, she would put on a child-like pouty face, and pretend she was upset because I "hated" her things.

I laughed out loud each time she did it, and I had a blast chatting with her. Finally, I told her I was interested in one little thing, a container made of china (supposedly), and the lid had a mirror in it. I suspect it is meant to hold rings, earrings, etc. but I had other ideas for it, and the outside was nicely decorated in a very Chinese style. She offered me a decent price, and said it was because we were friends now (yup, the "friend price"). I laughed, and I told her I liked her, so I'd give her half that.

Again, she whips out the pouty face, but I knew the price I gave her was fair. I changed the subject many times, and let her keep coming back to the sale (very frustrating for her, funny for me). I'd chat with her about anything, then she would go back to the trinket and give me a lower price, to which I'd always reply with my original offer. Finally, she pouted again, and yelled "Why won't you haggle?".

At this point, I had her down to only 5 yuan above what I was offering, and I told her an English lesson usually costs 100 yuan an hour. Surely, she can afford to drop 5 yuan more, since in my eternal graciousness, I was teaching her English for free. This was a horrible ploy I was using, and it is very much rooted in Chinese strategies I had learned along the way. She retorted, still with the cute face on, that she was teaching me English, and I answered "Maybe, but I've forgotten it all. I'm very stupid." with a wink. I got the trinket for my price, but it took having to give her my msn address so she could keep practicing English.

I really don't mind, since over the last few weeks, I had developed a rule that I will only buy from people I like. The most common thing I've noticed is that when you don't like someone, it's usually because your instinct is telling you you're getting ripped off. I've gotten overcharged before, even that day (remember the 3 yuan Warriors?), but only by people I didn't like, or felt uneasy about. Anyone I've chatted with who was friendly, or someone I've had fun haggling with, hasn't overcharged me by more than 5 yuan.

I thanked her, and left. I went to see the bell tower and drum tower, although I didn't want to go up. I was happy I did it at night time, because they were all lit up, and quite beautiful at this time of night. During the day, I suspect they would've looked almost identical to those of Beijing's. Afterwards, I headed back to the hostel and turned in early.