Shopping in Hangzhou

Some of our blog posts are going to overlap a bit because we are both so long winded and like telling our own versions of events. =)

On Wednesday, Sam, a driver from the stem cell company came and picked us up. He took us to the bank where Jason got some RMB. After that, he was going to take us to the RT Mart and then back to the hotel. He pulled up in front of the market, helped us get out and then said, "Sawde, Sawde" (sorry, sorry) "Taxi hotel" while handing us a paper with the address for the hotel written on it. He climbed back in the car and away he went.

Here we are in the middle of a foreign country where no one speaks English and we weren't exactly sure where we were. One thing that we have learned quickly is that if you don't know what to do or where something is, just observe what the others are doing and do as they do. By doing this, we found the entrance to the RT Mart.

The first floor was basically like a mall with lots of little stores. We went up the escalator (which is really fun!) to the third floor. The escalator by passes the second floor. The third floor was like a Wal-Mart. You could buy pretty much anything that you would at Wal-Mart. We didn't spend much time on that floor.

We took the escalator down to the second floor. The way they have it set up, you have to go to both floors in order to get out. You can't just go to one floor or the other. The second floor was the produce/grocery section. As soon as we got off the escalator the smells were very poignant. Much to my horror, there were some dehydrated ducks hanging right there in the open. I couldn't look at them for very long.

The fruits though were amazing! They had such a wide variety. They also had lots of dried fruits that were delicious as well. We have been enjoying trying out all the unusual fruits.

After picking out a few things, we got in a long line. After being in the line for about 7 minutes, Jason said, "I don't think this is the cash register. I don't see any money being exchanged." After surveying things a bit more, we realized that we were in line for eggs! The eggs are sold by weight and put in plastic bags. We got out of that line and wandered around some more until we found the actual check out.

We found that where ever we go, we can't stand in one place for very long. Otherwise Sierra steals the show. There was a group of about 15 ladies gathered around her. They were all smiling, touching her, and encouraging their babies to touch her as if she is lucky charm. Everyone loves her wild hair.

After succesfully leaving the RT Mart we began wandering around trying to find the hotel. Our feet soon got tired so we hired a taxi (well we honestly aren't sure if he was a taxi or not his vehicle wasn't marked) to take us back to the hotel.

We had been warned that the beds here were hard and felt like box springs. That was a gross exaggeration. The beds at the hotel felt like a pile of bricks! I felt like I had bruises after sleeping on them. Luckily, the beds here at the hospital have a nice padding on them and are much more comfortable.


Posted from Hangzhou at 12:41 AM on 4/10/09