from my PanJiaYuan Flea Market adventure
     
  spotted the two eye-catching instruments 
  

   
  back off after hearing the initial prices
  the PiPa-like lute a.k.a. Ruan 阮 for 20,000 RMB
  the surf-board-like GuZheng for 25,000 RMB
   
  someone got hold of the GuZheng
  bargain completed in minutes 
  4,000 RMB, deal
  suddenly forming a crowd 
  people stopped by to look 
  as the buyer was counting his stacks of 100RMB bills 
  
   
  hey you!! 
  Your buddy has found his new home.
  How much does it take to bring you home then 
  
   
  my stalking skill put into real use
  following the seller as he sent the GuZheng away 
  wondering if we could bargain it down
  
   
  he is quite a nice guy
  got me to miss call him, so that 
  we can always call him back,
  when we really feel like coming back for the lute
   
  my dad put it at 3,000 RMB 
  but he was saying hey if we call him 
  it would be difficult to bargain it down 
   
  bargain rule #3 as mentioned in the previous post
  even if it would kill you if
  you fail to buy the item
  pretend that you don’t really give much thought
  and you can always get something else instead
   
  we shall wait for him to call us then 
  and he really did two days after 
  the calls over international roaming 
  almost drained my credit 
  thank goodness we switched to payphone 
  at a local grocery store 
   
  the plan of the day totally switched 
  went down immediately after lunch 
  item and money changed hand 
  and he managed to persuade my dad to 
  get another small item 
   
  and it left us in a state of poverty 
  for the rest of the days to come in Beijing 
  counting on small notes to make end’s meet 
   
  it gave me loads vanity 
  while carrying it back to hotel on Metro
  and hand-carried it all the way back home 
  gosh, I could not even play a single tune 
  such an attention seeker 
  
   
  almost afraid that I would get trouble 
  with the custom offices of both sides 
  even approached the custom officer to ask in advance
  “Do I have to declare this?”
   
  back home after the long journey 
  still figuring out a decent name for her
  and should I be attending lesson and where?
  
   
  saw a live performance 
  impromptu Opera singing in a park 
  wow… mesmerizing 
  although I did not have a single clue of 
  what’s the singing is all about 
  
   
  it’s supposed to sound like this 
  heavenly, if one day I could play this piece