Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-03-09
SHOPPING IN CHINA,
Loud Talk and Wild GesticulatiOns
Season the Bargaining.
From Pearson's Weekly.


Although the peculiar civilization Of the
Chinese has failed to provide the shops of
the country with plate-glass windows, ma
hogany counters. huge mirrors and the Sc
ductive shop walker, yet the tradespeople
have methods of their own for engaging the
attention Of the public worthy of notice If
not of imitation. To begin with, the COM
petition which forces down the prices of
goods in this country is unknown in China
The manufacturers, who own most Of the
shops, to protect the interests of themselves
and their workpeople, insist on fixing all
prices, and when attacked with fits Of greed
combine to raise the price lists, which, to
prevent the shopkeeper overcharging, are
posted up in the shop. Ali such shops belong
to what we should call union
In free houses the price given for an arti-
Gle Is the result of prolonged haggIe. The
Chinese are such experts at bargaining that
shops of good repute publicly declare that
they sell only at the advertised price
Why a Chinaman when haggling should
shout at the top Of his voice is not clear
but he does; consequently the vociferations
OF several hundred purchasers and the
equally stentorian rejoinders of the trades
people render Chinese shopping quarter,
when the public is abroad, veritable pan
demonium.
The amounts In dispute are seldom more
that half-penny or so, but the parties
scream and gesticulate as If their entire
fortunes were at stake-the din appearing
to be much louder than it really is owing
to the narrowness of the streets, which are
seldom more than few feet across.
Shops which decline all abatement have
signboard inscribed Fixed price,"
Business in China being conducted on
principles mostly unknown to the outer
world, it Is not strange to find that shops
and warehouses are never known by the
family name Of the proprietor. They are
distinguished by some sign, generally the
an n ha rr,1,D
and anxious consultation with his family
and friends in order to obtain a ahao"
which shall embody some felicitous idea.
When new shop is opened or a new
conner comes into possession the public are
made aware Of what has taken place by
long crimson streamers hanging from the
signboards. The friendliness which exists
between the shopkeeping class and their
patrons results in developments of which
we know nothing in this country We
should smile at the tradesman who az
fixed notice in his window saying that
This wife was not very we'll that day. or
that "his father was dead" In China. in
addition to such written announcements
increased publicity is afforded by white or
ash-colored streamers being suspended from
the signboards.
The signboards are also used to record
the death OF an emperor. This Is done by
putting the board, with its letters in gaudy
red and gold. into mourning. The paper
with which the sides of the board are COW
cred Is not black, as 1t would be with US
but green, and in order that business shall
not be tnterfered with the green paper is
dotted all over with the houses name.
But the loyalty and grief Of the shopkeeper
are testified to by two streamers on which is
inscribed THE kingdom mourns."
On the occasion of a new ruler the MOURN
ing streamers are changed for red ones-a
color in China symbolizing joy. The dis
play of bunting outside Chinese shops al
ways strikes the Europeans as strange. but
it serves its purpose.
We shall have our work cut out when the
time comes to destroy the popularity of the
candle In China. This Is how the candle
dealers, mighty imaginative body it would
seem, invest their dips with poetry. After
detailing the varieties they deal in, the an
nouncement proceeds: AT eventide the
mandate came from courts of Hau.
On hearing that mighty name the scholars
candielight."