Shopping in the East

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21758, 24 March 1934, Page 6 (Supplement)

Shopping in the East

A shopping day in Hong Kong, whether for the resident or the tourist, is a delight; especially if the list includes silken shawls of the East, embroidery from a Chinese frame, silver from the master silversmiths of the colony, flowers from the famous flower market, blackwood from Canton, ginger in blue and white jars, and large tawny oranges imported from Swatow. First, then, to hire a " chair," not a car, with all the difficulties of parking in the narrow lanes they call streets, where the laundry of one native house sprawls across a pole attached to the opposite neighbour's balcony. Swinging down the steep streets in mid-air is a novelty: Under the perpendicular signboards the shopper goes, and is met on arrival with a calm welcome. The quest being for an embroidered Canton shawl, the morning promises to be attractive. Piles of these beautiful things are produced, all in the most exquisite embroidery and colouring. There are many points in the buying of a shawl, the weight being important, the quality of the silk on which it is worked, the fringe, and the finish of the thread. To be perfect it must bo impossible to distinguish the right side from the wrong. Then comes the most important feature of all, the price. John Chinaman begins to enter the game in earnest at this juncture.

BARGAINING IN HONG KONG

Buyer: "How much?" Seller: "Not dear; 200 dollars." Buyer (knowing he probably gave 30 dollars for it): "No can. too dear; I think 100 dollars can do." And so tho bargaining proceeds. At tho end of an hour tlie price may stand at 190 dollars. Though such an item • comes but rarely on an average shopping list, the daily round is tinged with the colour of tho East. Flowers to adorn the table are obtained in Flower Street. The steep street is lined with flowers and is a beautiful sight. The welcome to that spot is a veritable shower-bath from innumerable bunches of blooms, vigorously shaken to emphasise the seller's anxiety to please. The purchases are hung on the poles of the chair, and off it goes to the embroidery shop. In glass cases, snowy piles lie, tea cloths and counterpanes, tray cloths, luncheon sets, all in the tiniest stitcliery. To count the cost of eyesight and patience is impossible. Filet lace dinner cloths, with their attendant mats and trimmings, probably came into being in the squalor of a Chinese courtyard, where the worker with her frame sat in the shade of the gateway to get what breeze there was while, she pored over her task. Carelessly thrown over these goods aro ropes of amber, and ivory; and jade trinkets in purple, silk boxes. Scarves and chiffons ' drape the line above, and beautiful mandarin coats hang from the walls.