Day 40: A Chinatown Enthusiast's Guide to Chinatown: Vendors

From the rest of Manhattan, Chinatown stands out.

You can tell as you walk along Canal street, that this area will offer you a completely different experience from the posh, rich neighborhoods and the hip, trendy stores of Soho.

Its dirty, 

Its weird, 

Its cheap. 

makes it the perfect place for my friends and I to hang out.

There's several reasons why I love Chinatown. One of the main reasons is that this is the only place I know in Manhattan, 

where you can haggle with the vendors.

Now, from experience, I have noticed that there are different types of vendors.

1) The Ninja Vendor. These guys are typically found standing on corners or walking along beside you, muttering brand names under their breath, hoping you'd hear them.

(I actually did try and look for a bag for a mothers day gift for my mom, they take you into a back alley and call eachother with walkie talkies, I was so scared, I just gave up and got her a soap set instead)

keeep walking...

2) The Venus Fly Trap Vendor: In Chinatown, unless you are seriously interested in purchasing the item, don't randomly pick up things and examine them. Otherwise, the vendors will suck you into their store and make you believe that you absolutely need that scarf, until you buy it..and if you're too nice, you'll fall into their trap easily...This has happened to me in the past

3) Underground Anime Gangster Vendors: These guys are always fun to find, when you walk around the back streets, be sure to look for little posters or familiar anime symbols (Naruto?) and go down into the basement. It scared me the first time I found it.

Overall, these vendors can be dealt with the same tactics that I always use.

(Note: try to bring a Chinese friend to haggle, makes the process a lot faster
Also, bring smaller bills or just have the amount that you want to actually spend)


Step One: Initiate the transaction

Step Two: If its too much. Pretend to not be interested anymore and walk away.

Makes them knock off 2 dollars.

Step Three: Pretend that you saw it somewhere else for a much cheaper price.

Step Four: Agree with the vendor. Acknowledge that his goods are indeed much better quality.

Makes them feel good. Then you can pretend to be a poor ________ etc.

Step Five: Enjoy.