The Hucksters

So your new Chinese phrase for the day is "Bu hao, xièxiè."  (Pronounced boo how shay shay)  Roughly translated, it means "I don't want it, thank you."  It's a phrase that we're all grateful to David, our wonderful national guide, for teaching us.  We use it often.  Sometimes every 30 seconds or so.  It seems that every time we exit our tour bus, the hucksters are on us like white on rice.  They just materialize out of nowhere, and they come in droves.  You can buy everything on the street from fake Rolex watches to what we all like to call "genuine fake" silk scarves.  These people are nothing if not persistent and if you're not interested in buying what they're selling, you'd better not make eye contact of any kind or they'll stick to you like glue until you give in and make a purchase.  Saying no doesn't discourage them.  Shaking your head or waving your hands back and forth doesn't deter them.  And if you've made eye contact and then tried to walk away, you've just lit the torch for the bargaining olympics.  Everyone in our tour group has gotten a kick out of buying the occasional trinket from the hucksters and then comparing their bargains.  The conversation usually goes like this:  
"How much did you pay?"  
"Oh, they wanted one for 120 and I got them down to three for 50."  
"Really?  Bob just got five for 50."  
It's absolutely hysterical and so much fun!  We even had one lady huckster come barreling down the street today chasing after our group to try to sell us funny hats.  She practically knocked people over trying to catch up to us while calling, "Hallo, hallo!!! Okay, okay, okay, one dollar!  One dollar!"  Needless to say, that got our attention and our group made her day by buying about ten of her little hats between us.  Almost free!

Below are some choice huckster moments from today.