{"id":218,"date":"2013-11-05T12:00:16","date_gmt":"2013-11-05T12:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsnowden.net\/blog\/?p=218"},"modified":"2016-10-20T11:41:20","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T11:41:20","slug":"how-to-haggle-in-hong-kong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsnowden.net\/blog\/2013\/11\/05\/how-to-haggle-in-hong-kong\/","title":{"rendered":"How to haggle in Hong Kong"},"content":{"rendered":"

Often referred to as \u2018an exercise in controlled chaos’, Hong Kong is a diverse and densely populated city that seems to defy convention. The city centre is packed with people, day and night, while cars and trams tentatively navigate through the heaving crowds. An infinite number of neon signs flash in both English and Cantonese and huge TV screens hang from the walls of buildings, all adding up to an imposing\u00a0sensory overload.<\/p>\n

My first encounter with Hong Kong was 15 years ago on a five-day stopover to visit a dear friend while on my way to Sydney…and I think it\u2019s safe to say I fell in love with it almost immediately.<\/p>\n

During the daytime I explored the city on my own, since my friend couldn\u2019t get the whole week off work, but I didn\u2019t mind because it gave me a chance to discover everything myself. One of the many experiences I\u2019d been told to try was shopping along the notorious Nathan Road.<\/p>\n

Resembling something like Oxford Street, only a hundred times bigger and more densely populated, Nathan Road is on the Kowloon side of the harbour and only a 10-minute walk from the ferry port. This is where you\u2019ll be confronted by a tsunami of sellers pushing fake watches and cheap tailored suits.<\/p>\n

I walked for about an hour in the hot summer sunshine, beginning at the busiest end closest to the harbour and then back down again, absorbing every detail, determining what the sellers looked like and how easy it was to catch their eye. These shifty looking characters were mostly Chinese, Indian or Filipino and could be found loitering around busy road crossings and that made them fairly easy to spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cPssst, hey, wanna buy a Rolex? Watches. We got all watches,\u201d you might hear someone whisper while you\u2019re waiting to cross the road, barely audible over the noise of the traffic and hordes of people.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d promised myself a new watch if I could negotiate a good price and I felt ready to take them on. I spotted one seller, but couldn\u2019t quite make eye contact with him through the endless expanse of pedestrians. Seconds later I saw another and this time I nodded knowingly at him and he immediately made his way through the crowds over to where I was.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking for a watch,\u201d I told him. He glanced up and down the street as if to check that he wasn\u2019t under surveillance, although I was convinced this was part of the act and not an attempt to avoid detection as he was making out, then he motioned for me to follow him.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

At this point I thought we might be making our way to a slightly quieter spot just around the corner, but he led me off the main street and into a labyrinth of shabby-looking market stalls and ramshackle iron huts. Huge clouds of steam erupted from giant woks and a thousand different smells filled the air. Countless boxes crammed with fruit and vegetables were piled high and locals everywhere were haggling over prices. We walked up one alley way and down another, fighting our way through the endless crowds. At every turn through this sprawling shantytown I wondered if I could find my way back if I lost the man I was following.<\/p>\n

From time to time he looked over his shoulder to make sure I wasn\u2019t too far behind and then, just when I had lost any last remaining sense of direction, he stops in a dark alley, in front of a dilapidated corrugated iron hut. Holding the door open he gestures for me to enter. It seems like an awful lot of trouble to go to just to sell me a fake watch. I slowly step inside and look around this squalid, single room dwelling. There are no windows, the only source of illumination is a single, swaying light bulb at the end of a long, hanging wire in the centre of the room. Just next to that is a slow rotating ceiling fan, providing the only circulation in this hot, summer heat. Directly under these is a table with two chairs. The door behind me is closed and bolted shut as I turn around to see two more representatives of Kowloon\u2019s underworld who have seemingly appeared from nowhere. Now, I begin to worry a little.<\/p>\n

A chair is pulled out for me and I\u2019m encouraged to sit down. The man that led me here is now in the shadows, standing against a far wall, along with a much larger looking gentleman. Sitting at the table across from me is someone new. Dressed in a crumpled, cream-coloured linen suit, a discoloured, white shirt and a dark red tie hanging loosely. He is a European-looking man of medium height and build, unshaven and in his 50s, with a scar above his right eye. He produces a thick catalogue and drops it onto the table in front of me. He encourages me to look through and speaks with a thick accent that I can\u2019t quite place.<\/p>\n

The catalogue is full of pictures of watches, everything from Casio to Cartier. I already have an idea of what I\u2019m looking for, but I take the time to look over each page. Eventually I find what I\u2019m after, an Omega Seamaster, of which the retail price for a real one is around \u00a33,000. None of the watches in the catalogue have prices written down, but I\u2019m guessing a good quality fake might cost in the region of \u00a3100. I flip through the pages to double check there\u2019s nothing else that takes my fancy and then I turn the catalogue around on the table and point to the Seamaster. The man sitting opposite me signals to his colleague who pulls out his mobile phone and makes a call lasting no more than five seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is on its way,\u201d he tells me.<\/p>\n

\u201cOK, um, thanks,\u201d I reply, shifting anxiously in my seat.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The only sound in the room is the hum of the ceiling fan and I\u2019m not quite sure what to do now or where to look. My mind starts to wander; I think about whether I could take all three of them down and get outside if things turn sour. I\u2019m confident I could overpower the man sitting down, but then I\u2019d have to take the big one, before diving for the door. Would I make it? Would the door be locked? Would anyone hear me? I try not to meet the gaze of the two men standing against the wall as I look about the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps there is something else that you like?\u201d He asks.<\/p>\n

Forcing a nervous smile I go back to thumbing through the catalogue. Who knows, maybe I missed something. I go back and forth over the same pages for a few more minutes when suddenly the door opens and daylight floods the room for a brief moment before the blackness returns. I turn to see another man enter the room. He hands a small box to the man sitting opposite me and then backs off into the shadows to join the other two. The watch is taken out of the box, checked and then given to me.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very nice. It doesn\u2019t exactly match the one in the catalogue, but it\u2019s pretty close and besides, I honestly don\u2019t know how much more of this I can take. I ask how much it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thousand eight hundred,\u201d he promptly replies.<\/p>\n

It goes without saying that bartering is expected and of course all business will be conducted in Hong Kong Dollars. In my head I try to convert this amount into Pounds Sterling and suddenly one of those oversize calculators slides across the table and comes to a stop in front of me. Evidently a number of other hapless travellers have been in this same predicament in the past.<\/p>\n

This works out to about \u00a3150 and I want to get him down to \u00a3100 if possible, which is about HK$1,200. I consider going in low at about \u00a380, this equates to HK$960, so I round it up to 1000 then pass the calculator across the table so my adversary can see it. He lets out a little laugh, quickly hammers the keys and leans forward across the table, turning the calculator back to face me. It shows 1,600, so I divide by 12 to see the amount in Pound Sterling, which is just over \u00a3130. I still have a long way to go and I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019ll ever get him down to the amount I\u2019m prepared to pay. I tap out 1100 and slide the calculator back across the table. I begin to wonder if they\u2019ll actually let me out of here alive if we don\u2019t agree on a price. Is that what happened to all the other unfortunate travellers who found themselves unwitting captives in this Kowloon corrugated-iron hut from hell?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The calculator is passed to and fro and we stare at each other like the last two players left in a high stakes poker game. He\u2019s been steadily forcing me to raise my bids and I\u2019m now up to 1,300 Hong Kong Dollars, which is nearly \u00a3110. I ask myself how much do I really want this watch? After all, it\u2019s not exactly the one I wanted and it is quite a lot of money. I give it a careful look over once more and right then, in a sudden spasm of courage, I decide not to buy it. I start to slowly shake my head and make it clear that I\u2019m no longer interested. He leans forward, grabs the calculator and enters a new amount, showing it to me. I shake my head again and now I really want to get out of here.<\/p>\n

He gestures to the catalogue and asks, \u201cIs there something else you like?\u201d<\/p>\n

I politely say no and thank him very much for his time. He remains seated, the smoke from his cigarette floats upward to form a lingering haze in the room. I slowly rise from my chair – if anything is going to happen, I\u2019m guessing it will be about now. I push my chair under the table, which makes a sudden, harsh scraping sound. I cringe and hold my breath at the same time. Making my way to the door, I force a weak smile at the man standing nearest to it and try what appears to be a door handle. If this is locked, I\u2019m in real trouble. At first it doesn\u2019t seem to budge. I nervously throw a glance back at the man still sitting at the desk and try again. With a little more force the door opens and this time and I don\u2019t look back. Squinting in the bright sunshine, I half-heartedly close it behind me and head straight into the surging sea of people outside. Soon I\u2019m swept far away by the current of the crowd.<\/p>\n

But that isn\u2019t the end of this story.<\/p>\n

After meandering through the marketplace for a few minutes, and confident that no one is actually chasing after me, I try to get my bearings and determine roughly where Nathan Road is. I vaguely recognize some of the big buildings in the distance and set off in what I think is the right direction, weaving once again through the jungle of shantytown-style stalls selling everything from hot food, cold food, clothes, rugs, shoes, pots and pans. I eventually reach a main road and I know I\u2019m not far away. After another 20 minutes or so, I come out onto Nathan Road about four or five blocks further up from where I started. I pop into a nearby convenience store and buy a well-deserved Diet Coke.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sitting outside in the sunshine, I slowly sup my ice-cold Cola and grant myself permission to smoke a cigarette. There\u2019s hardly any breeze and the temperature is soaring. I wonder if that\u2019s how every purchase of a fake watch goes down here. Is that what you\u2019d have to go through to get one of the cheap tailored suits too? Yikes. I gather my composure and decide I\u2019m going to give it another go. I saw a lot of sellers in a short time, they can\u2019t possibly all whisk you away into the dark depths of the Kowloon underworld just to sell you a watch\u2026can they? What the hell, I thought, at least I\u2019d know what to expect if they did and I\u2019d be better prepared and slightly less terrified. I still wanted a watch after all.<\/p>\n

I knew I\u2019d have to cruise the same busy, bottom end of Nathan Road, but I could at least cross the street, work the other side and with a little luck, avoid an awkward encounter with the previous seller and his associates. It wasn\u2019t long before I spotted another one in the crowds, so I discreetly attract his attention and tell him I\u2019m looking for a watch. He\u2019s an Indian man, probably in his mid thirties, thin and quite short. Much like before, he gestures for me to follow him, but this time we\u2019re walking in completely the opposite direction. This is totally different. We walk only a hundred metres or so and then he takes me into a near-by high-rise tower block. We walk into the lobby and he presses the button to call the lift. This is all such a contrast to the first experience; I\u2019m in just as much shock, but only because it\u2019s the last thing I was expecting. He even strikes up a conversation as we ride up to the 20th floor, although it\u2019s something of struggle, we just about manage to establish that I\u2019m in Hong Kong visiting friends.<\/p>\n

The lift door opens and I step out into a brightly lit corridor before being led into a room right at the end. It\u2019s a corner apartment, of sorts, and this too is bright as sunlight streams through every window. There is a water cooler against the wall, stacks of boxes and a number of tables with comfortable looking chairs. There are even a couple of other perspective buyers, a beefy, beach-blonde Australian is trying on a watch and at another table a frail-looking Asian girl is still flipping through the catalogue. A chair is pulled out for me at a table and I\u2019m presented with a catalogue to look at. I quickly find the Omega Seamaster I\u2019m after and the Indian man disappears for a moment behind a screen into an area of the room that\u2019s sectioned off. I relax and take the time to have another look through the catalogue since this was a much more pleasant place to be.<\/p>\n

A few minutes later he reappears, takes a seat at the table, gently takes the watch out of its box and hands it to me. It is lovely. I give a good look over then place it on the table and ready myself for the bartering. He reaches over and grabs an oversize calculator from a shelf behind him. There\u2019s no mucking about, no intimidation, just good old fashioned hard bargaining. Straight away he taps a figure in and slides the calculator across the table to me. I have considerably more confidence having gone through this only a short time ago and I\u2019m going to stick to my guns. I really want this watch but I\u2019m not paying over \u00a3100 for it. I start again at \u00a380 and slide it back across the table. I let him take me up to \u00a3100, but in much smaller increments this time, so it takes a little longer. However, once I\u2019m there, I refuse to go any higher.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He slides the calculator over to me and it shows 1,650, which is about \u00a3135. I type in 1,200 again and return it across the table. He throws me a wry smile and enters 1,500. Again, I type in 1,200 and pass it back. One more time he tries to get me to raise my figure, but I type in the same amount and give him a look that reinforces my unwillingness to go beyond this. He stops and thinks for a moment then excuses himself from the table and disappears into the area that\u2019s sectioned off. At this point I have no idea what\u2019s going on. He\u2019s taken the watch with him so I can\u2019t even look it over once more. A few minutes later a very large man emerges from behind the screen. He\u2019s taller than me, quite round and really rather enormous looking. His features are obscured slightly by glasses that have several magnifying lenses added on and I can\u2019t quite make out his ethnicity. It\u2019s clear though he doesn\u2019t speak English. He points at me and looks at the seller, who nods, then takes the watch and inspects it closely.<\/p>\n

He leans over and taps 1,400 into the calculator and slides it across the table. I take a moment to think about what I\u2019m doing. My attempt to play hardball has evidently brought out the Big Man and it could all very easily go south. I\u2019d hate to make this hulk angry, but I\u2019ve come this far. I\u2019d lose face if I agree to his amount, but there are other people in the room so it\u2019s unlikely I\u2019ll get murdered, which was a very real possibility the last time I tried this. I\u2019m still nervous though. With sweaty palms and the best poker face I can manage, I type in 1,200 and slide the calculator back, never once breaking eye contact.<\/p>\n

He looks down at the display and then looks at me. A lifetime seems to pass by. Then he lets out a deep, booming laugh that catches everyone in the room by surprise, especially me. He steps over, leans in with his towering frame and slaps me on the back, still laughing he mutters something to the seller in an incomprehensible language and disappears once again behind the screen into the sectioned off area. Despite not understanding anything that was just said, I think I can work out what happened. The seller now looks a little despondent and nods to me, saying he\u2019ll accept HK$1,200.<\/p>\n

I pay in cash and thank him very much before making my way out of the apartment. During the elevator ride down I proudly look at the new, shiny timepiece on my wrist, made even more awesome by the adventure that has accompanied its purchase. I exit the building and start to make my way back to Nathan Road. After only five minutes walk I\u2019m back at the traffic lights where this second attempt started. Bizarrely, I can see the seller and he\u2019s waving to me, shouting, beckoning for me to come over to where he is. Hesitant at first, I side-step through the crowd and find him casually leaning against a railing with a colleague.<\/p>\n

\u201cShow him the watch,\u201d he says to me in a frustrated tone, gesturing toward his friend.<\/p>\n

I pull up my sleeve and expose the new timepiece. The seller lights up a cigarette and sighs, exhaling smoke at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe liked you,\u201d he says to me, still clearly annoyed by this. I begin to wonder if he\u2019s going to take his irritation out on me.<\/p>\n

He gestures that he\u2019s done with me and I can go on my way, which I do, forcing a I\u2019m-sorry half smile as I leave. Looking at the time I decide I should start to head back to Hong Kong island and leave Nathan Road far behind me.<\/p>\n

So, whatever happened to the watch after all this? Well, that’s another<\/em> story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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