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
a set of items which we own back home
all these while thinking it is probably old
it’s alright, it’s alright
stay tune for the story of how
we fell for something right here
and actually made a second trip down
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
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
