China language barrier

[M&T]

Part of our trip in China includes a cruise on the Yangzi. Before the cruise, we will be in Beijing and Xian. After the cruise, we will fly to Shanghai. Some of what I have read leads me to think shopping and bargaining are not possible by myself - that I need someone with me who speaks Chinese. Is this true? Thanks. Marlyne

[cmthomas]

No, no, no! With the street merchants all you need to know how to say is "ONE DOLLA!" They understand. After a while it becomes a test to see how many of an object you can get for "ONE DOLLA!". Same for the merchants that you will encounter along the river. They may not speak a word of English but they all understand "ONE DOLLA!" Just make sure that you have a bunch of nice, new, crisp dollar bills because they won't take worn or torn money.

 

Any place that has merchandise of higher value will generally have English speaking sales persons and accept Visa, or less frequently Master Card.

 

Now if you want to have a discussion about the merchandise such as washing recommendations or sizes it helps to have a Chinese speaking person with you. Generally speaking, few adults outside of the tourist industry speak enough English to communicate but if you see a child nearby they probably can communicate with you and for you.

 

Don't be alarmed if while walking on the shopping street in Beijing some young people try to strike up a conversation with you. The LOVE to talk to the American tourists to practice their English. The ones to watch out for are any who invite you to come see their drawings etc. They are not pushy and accept a polite refusal without pestering you.

 

You are in for a treat! The trip to China is a wonderful experience. We went with Viking are were very satisfied. I prepared a journal of our trip that can be found at http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/cmthomas/.

 

Clarence:)

[worldover]

It all depends on what you want to buy. In the stalls at the markets they know all the English they need to know. They deal with this every day. If you want something nicer, antiques, etc. by all means get a private guide. You might be shown some things you wouldn't see as well.

[paul929207]

In many of the street markets, price negotiation is done on a calculator. The merchant types in a price and shows you. You can accept or type in a lower price. This goes on until you agree or walk away.

 

I think it is funny that Arabic Numerals are used almost everywhere in the work, except Arab countries.

 

Paul

[Spikesgirl]

The only time it's really good to have someone who speaks Chinese is if you're doing some really serious bargaining in one of the nicer stores. We were looking at an embriodered cat that was going for $5000 US. Our guide got it down to $2600, but my DH held firm at $2000. We didn't take it home, but got a really good lesson on bargaining watching him work.

 

Don't let the language barrier keep you from having an incredible time. We went just knowing a few phrases (please, thank you, excuse me) and did just fine. Lots of the merchants speak enough English to get by.

 

We were approached by several different young people in Beijing offering to show us their art. Usually they start with, "Are you Americans?" Finally we starting saying no and they completely dropped us. We were also warned about going into back rooms to cut deals in Shanghai. We all got a chuckle out of it, but the guide didn't understand why we were joking about being shanghai'd. We did explain and she told us it wasn't a joke. Glad to say we were all accounted for afterwards.

 

This is a wonderful part of the world - don't miss a chance like this!

 

Charlie