Sunday, January 10, 2010

Street Vendor Encounters

I have been told that a movie ticket in Shanghai costs around 80RMB. However, government policy states that tickets must be sold at 50% off every Tuesday. I almost went to go see "Avatar" this past Tuesday, but, due to a conflict, I did not. Not thinking much about this missed opportunity - as I knew I could just go the following week - I went about my weekly routine. However, the next day, my friend sent me a text which stated ticket prices have been rocketed to 200RMB! At this point, I tried to console myself by thinking: the only reason I want to see this movie is because everyone whom I have spoken to cannot stop raving about the movie's wonderful-ness...it doesn't matter that it's now at the top of the box office list (note the sarcasm).

Fast forward three days, I find myself in front of a street vendor selling "Avatar" - of course pirated - dvds. It was quite tempting at 5RMB, but I did not want to ruin my "Avatar"-watching experience by purchasing an extremely low-quality dvd...which someone probably made by filming the movie from a movie theater screen. Last weekend, I had a similarly interesting encounter with another street vendor selling pirated products; this time, American novels selling at ~25RMB each. I will now verbally reinact the scenario:

The vendor asked me, "小姐, 你是不是往那边走?" Young lady, are you walking in that direction?
To which I replied, "你想干什么?" Why do you want to know that?
Vendor: 过一点这边可能会有人来查, 我想把东西搬到那边. Someone may come inspect this area in a bit, I want to movie these books to another area.
Me: 你想搬就搬, 我就不买了. If you want to move, then move, I just won't buy anything. (I realize that I sound a bit harsh, but this attitude is relatively polite compared to what I have experienced in some areas.)

I did not end up buying anything from the vendor that day...and, in the meantime, I am still willing to wait for "Avatar" prices to go down.

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