A ‘business trip’ in Beijing

CBITM ended and TravelWeekly, which served as it official day, had the luxury of time to do some traipsing around Beijing’s must- visit places. Armed with tourist maps and guides, recommendations from the city’s travel trade members, the day’s skeletal itinerary was charted. First stop was the Forbidden City, lunch would be at a lakefront restaurant in Hou Hai and the rest of the afternoon spent at the Silk Market. Away from the enclaves of the exhibition centre and the hotel, RUBY GONZALEZ and PAULINE GOH rubbed elbows with the masses, reveled at the local colours and, along the way, unintentionally earned a few units in a refresher course on the do’s and don’ts of conducting business not only in Beijing but everywhere.









Co-operation

Our taxi dropped Pauline and I off at the back of the Forbidden City. A humongous gate was open, providing teaser of what awaited inside but not an entry. The guards were strict. It only served as an exit.



To get in, we had to go through the front gate, which meant walking all the way and we are talking here of Forbidden City proportions. Not a welcome proposition at all during a late morning on a scorching summer day.



Pedicab drivers happened to be aplenty by the rear gate and lost no time in offering their services. The taxi driver could have dropped us off at the main road leading to the main gate. But he didn’t. Is there an unspoken alliance between the drivers of taxis and pedicabs?

Upselling

After Pauline haggled the price for two by half from Rmb20, we boarded the roofless pedicab. I had hardly opened my trusty umbrella to protect us from ultraviolet rays when the driver brought out his laminated brochure.



He said that before heading off to the Forbidden City, we might be interested to have his personal guided tour of the hutong (traditional neighbourhood) first. He finally took the hint when he told him ‘No’ for the nth time.





Buddy system

We requested him to stop along a scenic part of the side road to capture the moment. We were beside a river, which physically separated the Forbidden City from its neigbours, and the street was lined by weeping willows. We asked the driver to take a picture. The click took a long time coming and we started to doubt his photographic skills. It came out okay though, and the inborn marketing man he was, he even managed to include his laminated brochure in it.



Before we embarked on the second leg of the ride, a man he obviously knew came over and talked in a low, calm voice. He was telling the driver to ask us if we would be interested with the hutong tour!





Try and try again

The driver deposited us at a side gate that would lead to the main gate. And, of course, he couldn’t resist the temptation of asking us for the last time if we had changed out minds.





Positioning

We queued for admission tickets, which were Rmb60 per head. Audio guides could be rented for Rmb40 and were available in 11 languages, including English, Spanish and Japanese. As helpful as it would be have such information, we weren’t sure if the earphones were regularly sanitised. And then the second alternative loomed practically in our midst. In the middle of the queues was a lady selling guide maps of the Forbidden City. She had chosen her position well and business was brisk. At times it only took an eye contact to clinch a sale of her Rmb3-map.





Never say die

It was time to go to Hou Hai. We hailed a cab and pointed to him its location in the map. It was not so far. Once we got there, we had to ask him the second time if it was indeed the location. He was sure. On the ground, we had to ask if we were in the right place. They told us that we were almost there. We were actually in Qianhai and Hou Hai was behind. The entire area likewise happened to be the heart of the hutong tour, which we had been avoiding the entire morning!



The area we wanted was much farther inside. At the map it looked like a long walk. It was way past lunchtime and, after the kilometric walk all around the palace grounds, our energy was fast sapping away and accepted the services of another pedicab driver, but not without much haggling. He was a licensed hutong guide, he said, and he would take us around for Rmb50 per head. We only wanted to go directly to a restaurant. He agreed to Rmb20 for the two of us.



As he pedaled, slowly at first, he began to make commentaries about the place. I didn’t understand a word he said; I am not a Mandarin-speaker. The quaintness of the neighbourhood, though, spoke for itself. The focal point was the lake in the middle and around it were small bars and restaurants. And where there were none, there were low-rise residential areas, where the locals were doing their mundane activities.



He brought us to a restaurant we didn’t like at first sight. We smelled “commission“ and were about to get off and find the rest of the way by foot when he said that he would bring us where we wanted to go at no extra charge. He turned away from the lake and attempted to drop us off yet another restaurant of his choice! Finally he pedaled towards the direction we wanted. And we got off, he insisted on charging us more than what we originally agreed upon. He said he brought us so much farther.









Flexibility

We were informed that the Silk Market was the place where we would get to practice our haggling skills. A few steps into the first floor, I happened to touch a white autumn coat. The sales lady said it cost Rmb580. I walked on despite her suggestion for me to make a counter-offer. Three steps farther and she slashed it to Rmb380. I took two more steps. She said it was okay for Rmb180. Two more steps and it went down to Rmb150. At that juncture, I returned to her stall. I fitted the coat but the cut was not good. She said I could have it for Rmb120. I wasn’t desperate though.





Captured market

A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. And this seems to be the much revered dictum at the Silk Market. Establish an eye contact with a sales lady and she grips your wrist and never lets go until the transaction is sealed or you get firm enough to say “no” and somehow manage to untangle yourself from her clutches.



Communication is quickly established as every stall would have an English speaking staff. I even heard some of them speaking in Spanish.





Posturing

At the Silk Market, asking for the price is the least you should do if you are not serious. There was a particularly fierce sales lady who was scolding a Caucasian lady. “No more talk. Buy now!” she barked and her customer actually looked quite

petrified.



Anyway, if you persist on haggling and they didn’t like your counter-offer, some sales ladies put an end to the transaction by unceremoniously shooing you away with “Go, go, go!”