Is one of the my least favourite activities.
One, REALLY loud music is blaring from loudspeakers everywhere.
Two, sales promoters stationed at every corner will smile and invite you to take a pamphlet, try their samples or talk really quickly and loudly into a cordless microphone as he/she blend vegetables, squeeze a mop or some other product demonstration…
I am pushing the shopping cart with a really annoying boy who is constantly asking me questions or refusing to put on his coat or follow me etc.
Can’t they see I’m tied up that I can’t look or listen to what they are saying???
Three, since I can’t read Chinese, I choose the products by photos or whatever English words I can see on the packaging. In many cases, what you see is NOT what you get!
Thus, I am learning to read more and more Chinese characters if possible.
I will try my best to grab what I need and move on without asking for help. Because if I do, the sales assistant will start telling me a lot of things…
Why can’t they just leave me in peace to shop and browse things by myself? I don’t really like to interact with sales staff unless they are truly knowledgeable about the items on sale.
In a way, I am quite happy to shop with the kids because if the Chinese sales people still insist on hounding us like the British paparazzi, the boy will stand up and loudly yell:
“不要 (bù yào)! 不要 (bù yào)!”
Keep it up, kiddo 😀