Instructions are in Chinese, so you need a Chinese-reading friend to help you. The pull on one of my zippers came off and a repair person on the street fixed it in two seconds for Y2. The soles were coming off my sandals, and a repair person on the street glued and stitched them up for Y12. Another person re-strung a broken pearl necklace for Y10. Prices in China are going down.
Deflation is rampant.
This is great for foreign shoppers. Getting Around Our Chinese was minimal, but we did carry a phrase book and a simple dictionary. We always carried a local map printed both in English and Chinese, and pointed to locations before we got into taxi cabs. We also got help through hotel personnel or others who could write things out in Chinese. In Xian we used a travel agent who was a good friend of one of the Global Volunteer leaders.