(Nathan) While we were out this afternoon, we stopped by a small shopping center and browsed through some silk scarves. “How much?” we ask.

The sales girl pulls out a calculator—they always do this—and types: “260”. That's yuan, Chinese dollars. Holy sticker shock. The scarves at the other shops are only 60.

“Too much, sorry.” I'm not sure if this is a bargaining kind of shop. She quickly types in “200”. Here we go.

“Still, too much.”

“Dees vury nahs qualtee. Purr seelk.”

“No, we've seen these for only 60 yuan. Thanks anyway.” At this point, I know I'm in for it. They can't STAND to see you walk away, thinking you're just playing the game. But I'm really not interested.

“Sir, you tell me wat prahs. I geev you good deel.”

“Not more than 60.” She pouts like I've just told her I think we should start dating other people and just be friends. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.  Oh boy.

We go several more rounds of her coming down a few dollars, me refusing, her renegotiating, me walking away, her calling after me, me ignoring her, her trying to sell me a cheaper scarf, me rolling my eyes, her elbowing the other salesladies, me chasing after Lisa who has walked away, her digging her claws into my neck...

Finally, she comes down to 80 yuan. This is still 20 above where the other shops start their bargaining. It's probably a decent price, but I really don't want the scarf anymore. No matter how good the deal is, I'll walk away feeling like I caved in to the pressure. It's a knockdown battle of the wills.

And I won. =)

Ahhhh, can't wait for America where they skip the haggling and just rip you off right from the start.