Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Don’t Grab X Until Bargain’s Met: PJY Flea Market

ideal stop in Beijing on a weekend

Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market (潘家園舊貨市場)

one of the largest in the world

 

some stalls are not really flea market,

strictly speaking

they are full time sellers of

porcelain, paintings, gems, etc etc 

and those on sale are first-hand items

 

it opens on weekdays too

just that the stalls which are opened

could be lesser 

since some sellers are not full timer

especially the authentic flea marketers 

 

tips for flea market shopping

(applicable to any other roadside shopping around too)

 

(i)

walk the whole place to check if

it’s available at other stall,

if it is then it’s a pretty common thing which

you can probably bargain down

 

(ii)

no other way but to go down down and down

do it in a friendly manner

or else some customers do get chased away

for going too far

 

(iii)

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

 

(iv)

two totally different tactics:

be prepare to walk away or

hang around for a long time until

you get the price right

 

Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場

 

a set of items which we own back home

all these while thinking it is probably old

it’s alright, it’s alright 

Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場

 

stay tune for the story of how

we fell for something right here

and actually made a second trip down

Pan Jia Yuan Flea Market 潘家園舊貨市場

 

how to get here:

Metro Line 10, Pan Jia Yuan station

Exit B from the station

a grey-bricked building which goes on and on

 

eating tip:

outside the market

near the entrance or across the road

pre-packed rice lunch box is available

8 RMB per pack

the cheapest in Beijng, I found so far

lunch outside Panjiayuan flea market

 

stood by the roadside and started eating

while observing the crowd walking in and out

and how the vendors were

half running and keeping their lunch boxes away

whenever guys from the town council approached

lunch outside Panjiayuan flea market