Fabric Market; World Financial Center

Thursday, July 22, 2010

This week has been a lot of fun! Last night after work I went to the World Financial Center. The upper floors are the Park Hyatt, and we went to enjoy a live band and a few glasses of free (for ladies) champagne. The band was actually pretty good. They did a bunch of covers of American pop songs (Lady Gaga, Oasis, Justin Timberlake, etc.). I met Panpan, Nancy, and some other girls we met here. Some of my coworkers also came, which was both fun and funny. One of them who joined us has daughters in high school and kind of reminds me of my dad. He was very eager to get out on the dance floor! His moves were definitely from the same era as Dad’s :)


The famous Oriental Pearl TV Tower... this time not from the Bund, but from down the street!


With some co-workers



The singers/band


With friends at the World Financial Center




Tonight I went to the fabric market on my way home from work to pick up some clothes I had made. The (South Bund) fabric market is one of Shanghai’s gems. You can order custom-made clothes and they’re actually very well tailored! (And cheaper than items of the same quality from American department stores… I guess since no money is wasted on advertising/marketing, shipping, retail, etc. they can afford to sell for much less.)
The fabric market is a big three story building filled with row upon row of vendors’ stalls. Most stalls are about the size of a small bedroom and the walls are lined floor to ceiling with fabric, example pieces, and items waiting to be picked up. Here you MUST MUST MUST bargain, or you’ll definitely overpay by upwards of 50%. On my first trip to the fabric market, my first purchase was a modern take on the traditional qipao (those traditional Chinese dresses). I hadn’t really had to bargain during this trip to China yet, so I was a bit out of practice, and definitely overpaid. (You can always tell when you overpay: they accept your counteroffer WAY too quickly and eagerly!) Since then, though, I’ve been on a bargaining roll and doing well.
After you settle on a style/fabric for what you want made, they measure you. Pieces are usually ready a week after you order them, and then you go back and try it on. They hold up a sheet of fabric to shield you from the many passerbys, and then if any further adjustments need to be made you have to come back again in a few days.



Friends in one of the tailor shops at the fabric market



Getting the qipao refitted

My fabric market trip tonight was fun but a bit bumpy. Another Boston-local on international assignment was leaving the office at the same time as me, and insisted on giving me a ride (the IAs all have company cars and drivers). It was much more pleasant than the subway, and it was cool to see the city from above ground. I always take the metro, so I don’t usually get to see Pudong and the rest of Shanghai from the raised ring roads. It’s a great view!
Anyway, as I was arriving, the shops were closing. I didn’t know that the market closed so early! I rushed to pick up my qipao (which had needed adjustments), and then in my haste to pick up a shirt from another stand, I forgot to take the dress with me! I realized this and luckily still had the tailor’s business card and managed to quickly explain (in Chinese) who I was and what I wanted.
One thing I love about the fabric market is that it forces me (unlike most areas of Chinese) to use Chinese. Furthermore, it forces me to make new sentences in Chinese, whereas in restaurants or taxis, for example, it’s more of a set dialogue with less room for improvising. Talking and bargaining with the vendors at the fabric market definitely is good Mandarin practice for me.
On my way out of the market I stopped to look at the jewelry being sold outside on the sidewalks. One of the ladies had the cutest little baby ever, and he kept talking to me. I wonder if she would have sold me the kid (kidding). I ended up buying a couple of statement rings, not just because her boy was adorable, but also because I remember Grammy telling me how stylish it is to wear rings on your index and middle fingers these days :)