March 23, 2014

{New Friends, Shamian Island & Shopping}

Today we headed to the island to meet up with Anne & do some shopping. Nancy had kindly invited us along to shop with her and I’d looked forward to it the whole trip!

We took a taxi to the island, and they dropped us on the back side. We were already running a bit late so we hurried to the other side to meet at the Victory Hotel. Then we weren’t sure if they were at the new one or the old (thought about asking & never did…wish I had). Finally Nancy’s husband met us & took us to the other one (because of course we were at the new when they were at the old :) )

We were after some jade, pearls & cloissonne ornaments – those were our big items. Anything else we found was just great!

Anne took us through the medicine/pet streets before we got to where we’d be purchasing the jade family balls & ornaments.

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IMG_1173 IMG_1174 IMG_1175 There was dried everything (frog, deer penis, starfish, etc.), all sure to heal what ails you.

 

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There was also a wide variety of pets (chipmunks, turtles, dogs, etc.)

 

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She took us to her friends & got us rock bottom prices on everything. The family balls were around $7, ornaments were $10-$15, pearls were $2-$5, jade pendants were $2-$15. It was a lot of fun & I definitely recommend shopping with her. She’ll get you whatever you want & never pushes you to buy anything or spend more than you plan. I know a lot of agencies/guides balk at hiring her (ours included – we had to really sneak & tell white lies when we told her we were skipping out on going shopping with her & heading to the island. She specifically asked if we were shopping & we told her no. None of her business really!).

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Check out these really cool jade pieces! They were absolutely beautiful!!!

 

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We had a lot of fun with Nancy & her family. Her daughter just loved Caiden & called him “didi”, which means little brother, and wanted to hold his hand the whole time.

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After lunch we left them to lay their daughter down for a nap, and we did some shopping on the island. I’ve gotten really good at bargaining & I was happy with the prices I got. We got Caiden some chopsticks & a chess set for later, some silks and a couple pairs of shoes (boys shoes are not near as cute as the girls), some lanterns for Chinese New Year and a new suitcase. And of course I got my Starbucks :)

We finally decided we’d had enough & headed back to the hotel around 5. It was a long day, but we had so much fun!

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