Last night I went to bed at 10:30pm and stayed in bed till 10:30am this morning. I felt very tired, I think it’s about getting acclimated. I got up and meditated for awhile. That was nice.
A new roommate named Stefanie showed up from Montreal, Canada. She flew in and was having trouble acclimating. She also hasn’t slept in the past three days because she was partying with friends in a youth hostel in Chengdu, Sichuan. I showed her around town and ordered eggplant noodles for her. She shared her Lonely Planet guide with me but it was in French. She needed a day pack and we went shopping. I haggled with the teenaged boy at the North Face backpack vendor stall and we settle on 60 yuan as the final price.
I have learned that when there is no sticker tagged to the item then it’s 50% off the verbal calling price for foreign tourist and then take another 20 yuan off on top of that. This is the local price. To get the local price you have to do the math at the above equation in your mind and start your haggle at 30% off the local price and negotiate your way to the local price for the final purchase price. I have found most of the time I am able to get within 20 yuan of the local price. The locals will give you the local price if you know it on the mark. Otherwise, you will loose the negotiation because he will know you don’t know, laugh at you and kick you out of his shop. Some people will get mad that I know the local price and still kick me out of their shop and scold me. Bartering can be a fun art when it is understood that you haggle as a way of doing business.