Shopping or I should say, bargaining in China takes practice.  The last time I went to Zhuhai, I wasn’t sure what a good price for something was. I mean, as soon as I walk into a store, being a Westerner, the prices go up by half (or at least it feels like that sometimes).  It helps to have a good background on what things should cost, what you are willing to pay, and what you are willing to walk away from. Plus, you always hear the stories of people saying, I only paid 50RMB for some marvelous cabinet… like I said before, those days are loooooooong gone. However, yesterday in Zhuhai, I fell in love.

My friend Jen, or should I say my light in this dark town of Shekou (just for you Jen) and I planned a trip to Zhuhai and we invited Yves and Emmanuelle (Allez les Bleus!) for some furniture shopping.  I was planning on purchasing some knick-knacky stuff for gifts; plus I am saving my money for Istanbul so I was just kind of hanging around helping out when suddenly, I had a vision.

I saw myself in my future home, pulling out linens from this fabulous piece of furniture that I saw from across the warehouse; telling one of my interesting future friends that I got this stunning cabinet when I lived in China.  I could almost smell the food cooking, see the candles on the table, and hear the conversations from yet another successful dinner party in one instant of seeing this beautiful piece of wood. They say that men shop for things and women shop for situations.  So true.

Both Jen and I decided that we are in the wrong business.  We should be restoring furniture and selling it for heaps of money.  Trust me, I am going to look into this immediately.

Now, I am just waiting for my lovely new cabinet to be delivered.  In the photos below, it’s the big, black piece with the yellow flowers.  Simply gorgeous.

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