Both ancient and modern, there is shopping. In Xi'an it sets the adrenaline flowing. On the way to the mosque, stall after stall in the Muslim market offers an eye-popping array of porcelain jewelry and bowls, painted scrolls, silk clothing, scarves and fabric, spices, paper cutouts, embroidered table cloths, jade. Farther down, merchants offer spices, live chickens, raw meat, or soup made to the eater's specifications at the hot pot stands. On the sidewalk in front of individual stalls, someone offers to solder metal, repair bikes, or make a suit.
Bargaining is required.
Once a customer offers half the asking price, the real business begins, racing to the rhythm of the hand-held calculator. Because I had time to return to certain stalls with my Global Volunteers buddies, the merchants kept flinging out discounts. In the more conventional shops, I bargained as I selected the silk I wanted made into the jacket I had been thinking about for days. I stood in the aisle getting measured, and chose a pattern from a book, accompanied all the while by advice to the tailor from clerks who gathered to judge my ability to strike a good bargain. It was hard to remember that China is a Communist nation when the capitalistic excitement mounted between seller and buyer.