Chapter 28
Shopping
I learned about the stores from shopping with friends. I could go to the grocery stores and look around and find what I wanted. Many things were different as far as groceries go. I could find similar things that would work for me.
If I needed help to buy something, I could call on my friends to help me. I could not talk to the people that worked in a store or understand them so I needed help with that. Although, as the smartphones came out there were apps to download that would translate. That is really nice. I learned a couple of phrases that I could use. If I was looking for something and it was small enough to put in my pocket, I would take it to the store and show it to them and then ask in Chinese if they had it. This is what I would say; Ni you zhege ma? (Do you have this?)
I tried to be as independent as I could. That’s the way I have always been. I don’t like asking for help unless I have to. I tried to do what I could by myself.
Chapter 29
Groceries
As everyone knows, I am not a cook. I can use the microwave. In my apartment in Luoyang, there was something like an electric hot plate. I don’t remember what it was called. It would heat up really fast. I learned to do a few little things. No not Chinese food. I’m sure when the Chinese teachers come to the US and see the things in our grocery stores some of the things look strange to them just like things that I saw in their grocery stores did to me. I would buy things that were familiar. It all worked out, I didn’t lose any weight. I wanted to. I wish I would have.I could go to the store and get things and pay for them at the checkout even though I couldn’t talk to them. I wish that I would have had the smartphone then that I have now. Google translate is much better now.
Chapter 30
Places to Shop
There are so many places to go shopping in Luoyang. From small shops to malls. The pictures that I am showing and the places that I talk about are the ones that I was the most familiar with. There are some common stores that I don’t have pictures of.
Dennis and Da Zhang are both chain stores. Dennis is similar to a Walmart in that it has groceries, clothes and other things. Da Zhang sells mostly groceries but has a few other things. Walmarts are scattered throughout China. There is one in Luoyang but it has more groceries than the other things. There were a few clothes, electronics, toys and things for your home. It isn’t like the Walmart’s in the US. People will go there but they prefer the Chinese stores and it is more expensive than their own Chinese stores. Since I first started to write this journal, I have been told by some of my Chinese friends that the Walmart in Luoyang has closed.
Another store that they have in China is Wang Fujing. It has four floors with all kinds of things like clothes, make-up, jewelry, shoes, kid’s things, places to eat at. It also has a basement that had groceries and household things. Another store was The Splendid Mall (Sheng De Mei). It was one building with groceries on the main floor and clothes and other things upstairs. There was one in the city of Luoyang and also one in the New District. The one in the New District also had an IGA grocery store in it with some western foods. They were quite expensive for a small size. For example, they had quite a few different kinds of cereal but they were smaller boxes than what we have in the US. Shanghai Market is an open outdoor mall. There was a big walking area between two rows of stores. It was a very popular place.
As far as shopping goes, I will tell about something that was kind of inconvenient but at the same time it was kind of a good idea. In some stores that would be comparable to the stores in the US like Walmart, K-Mart, Target and Shopko. In China, it would be stores like Carrefour, Dennis, Sheng De Mei and Da Zhang. Ladies could take their purses in but people were not allowed to take in backpacks or things that you had bought in other stores.
They would have lockers where you would get a piece of paper that had a barcode on it from a machine and you could open the locker, put your things in, close the door and when you were done shopping in that certain store, you would use the paper with the barcode on it to open the door and take your things out. These lockers were small. The door was maybe ten inches by ten inches and not too deep. You were kind of limited. If you had more that what the locker could hold, you could take another number and use another locker. By not being able to take a backpack or bags from other stores in, it would really cut back on shoplifting because you couldn’t hide it in a bag you brought in or put something in your backpack. It may be kind of a pain to put things in the locker but also you would have less to carry while in the store.
WANDA
WANDA is a Chinese conglomerate and is the world’s "biggest private property developer" and the world's largest cinema chain operator. WANDA acquired the U.S. based cinema operator AMC Theaters in May 2012 for $2.6 billion, the largest Chinese acquisition of an American company to that date. The acquisition went through successfully in August, 2012, making WANDA Cinemas the world’s largest cinema operator. As of 2016, WANDA owns approximately 6% of all commercial movie screens in China and about 13% in the US.
As you can see in the following pictures, the mall is really beautiful. It is not a big mall but very nice. There are many restaurants along with a McDonald's and Dairy Queen. When I left in 2013, they were starting to put in a Pizza Hut. There is also an electronic game area, roller skating rink and a movie theater on the 4th floor. These pictures were taken during a weekday so there aren’t many people in the mall at this time.
Across from WANDA’s entrance is this 5-Star Hotel Hua Yang Plaza Hotel. Behind the hotel is Xi Yuan Park. To the right and left of this picture are apartment buildings.
Xiao Xiang Pin
It has many little shops in here. I am using these pictures just to show how busy it can be and what it is like getting around in the narrow walkways. There are two floors.
The picture above is when it is quiet. The two pictures below when it is busy.
It kind of looks like our Christmas time in the US, except in China it is like this every weekend.
Xin Du Hui
I lived four blocks from this mall when I worked at the Number 19 High School. Some of the stores will bring their merchandise outside to sell. There was also a theater on the fourth floor.
See the store to the left-Giordano. Several places to eat at here like Pizza Hut, DQ, a coffee shop, KFC, a restaurant that served mutton soup, a McDonald’s that only sold ice cream, a Korean restaurant which had really good food and there were many others.
Some things I noticed about fast food (I will talk more about this in the next week's chapters): Pizza Hut in China isn’t the same as in the US. There aren’t as many kinds of pizza, sizes, toppings and choices as what we have in the US. The one thing I will say about it is that the inside of Pizza Hut is really pretty, much more so than in the US. I’ve never seen any Pizza Hut in the US as pretty as the ones in China. The Dairy Queen ice cream is the same. It’s just like eating it in the US. There aren’t as many flavors to choose from. There are Blizzards, cones, banana splits like in the US. They do not have food like hamburgers or French Fries. KFC is the same as in the US. They put in a little spice to add to the flavor otherwise the chicken and fries and other things are the same as in the US. I don’t like McDonald’s hamburgers in the US or China. I liked their other sandwiches like chicken, French Fries were just like in the US. Drinks were the same.
The shop in the bottom right corner with the wedding dress in the window is called Mona Lisa. It is a photography business that takes professional wedding pictures. It is a portable store that they can move around. The wedding couple can rent clothes and they and the photographers will go out to the parks and other places to take pictures. It is expensive from what I have had friends tell me, but it is one of the very best places for taking wedding pictures.
Behind these stores, there are many more inside the building.
This is one of the corners of Xin Du Hui. Carrefour under the whole mall area and this is the outside entrance. It sells some clothes, household items and groceries. That is Dairy Queen on top.
Mary and I both liked Dairy Queen and went there now and then to have ice cream. Unlike our DQ’s in the US, it only has ice cream and drinks but no sandwiches, french fries or other things like here. As you can see, it is really pretty. I don’t know if we have any like that in the US.
This is the Christian’s Hotel close to Xin Du Hui. They had a restaurant that had really good food, both Chinese and Western. A few of the waitresses could speak English.
Christmas at Xin Du Hui
I don’t have any pictures of Shanghai Market in Luoyang. Maybe here in the US, we would call it a strip mall. There were two rows of stores about one block long. There was a big walking area between the two rows. It was an open area, not enclosed. There were also some stores behind those each row. Also some restaurants including McDonald’s at one end. That was the first McDonald’s in Luoyang. It would take about twenty to thrity minutes by bus from where I lived to get there. I have a couple of pictures of what it looked like in that area. These pictures are much prettier if you are actually there and walking by these trees. It is so nice to walk here.
This is facing east. I took these two pictures from the same spot facing opposite directions. The trees in the distance is Peony Square. The Peony Plaza Hotel is on the other side of Peony Square. Shanghai Market is behind me.
This is facing west. Shanghai Market is in the distance on the right side. You can see how pretty it is with these trees shading the area. I don’t remember but from here to Shanghai Market could be a ten minute walk.
The following two pictures I am putting here because I talked about Peony Square in Chapter 21. Peony Square is what would be called a social gathering place, mostly in the evenings. During the day, there would be people walking through and kids playing. At night, it would be full of people. Peony Square is one block wide and about three blocks long. There are plants there, a place for dancing, there would be exercise classes going on, a big screen TV on supports up in the air, you could buy snacks there, also a small bar. All kinds of things going on.
WANDA
WANDA is a Chinese conglomerate and is the world’s "biggest private property developer" and the world's largest cinema chain operator. WANDA acquired the U.S. based cinema operator AMC Theaters in May 2012 for $2.6 billion, the largest Chinese acquisition of an American company to that date. The acquisition went through successfully in August, 2012, making WANDA Cinemas the world’s largest cinema operator. As of 2016, WANDA owns approximately 6% of all commercial movie screens in China and about 13% in the US.
As you can see in the following pictures, the mall is really beautiful. It is not a big mall but very nice. There are many restaurants along with a McDonald's and Dairy Queen. When I left in 2013, they were starting to put in a Pizza Hut. There is also an electronic game area, roller skating rink and a movie theater on the 4th floor. These pictures were taken during a weekday so there aren’t many people in the mall at this time.
Across from WANDA’s entrance is this 5-Star Hotel Hua Yang Plaza Hotel. Behind the hotel is Xi Yuan Park. To the right and left of this picture are apartment buildings.
Xiao Xiang Pin
It has many little shops in here. I am using these pictures just to show how busy it can be and what it is like getting around in the narrow walkways. There are two floors.
The picture above is when it is quiet. The two pictures below when it is busy.
It kind of looks like our Christmas time in the US, except in China it is like this every weekend.
Xin Du Hui
I lived four blocks from this mall when I worked at the Number 19 High School. Some of the stores will bring their merchandise outside to sell. There was also a theater on the fourth floor.
See the store to the left-Giordano. Several places to eat at here like Pizza Hut, DQ, a coffee shop, KFC, a restaurant that served mutton soup, a McDonald’s that only sold ice cream, a Korean restaurant which had really good food and there were many others.
Some things I noticed about fast food (I will talk more about this in the next week's chapters): Pizza Hut in China isn’t the same as in the US. There aren’t as many kinds of pizza, sizes, toppings and choices as what we have in the US. The one thing I will say about it is that the inside of Pizza Hut is really pretty, much more so than in the US. I’ve never seen any Pizza Hut in the US as pretty as the ones in China. The Dairy Queen ice cream is the same. It’s just like eating it in the US. There aren’t as many flavors to choose from. There are Blizzards, cones, banana splits like in the US. They do not have food like hamburgers or French Fries. KFC is the same as in the US. They put in a little spice to add to the flavor otherwise the chicken and fries and other things are the same as in the US. I don’t like McDonald’s hamburgers in the US or China. I liked their other sandwiches like chicken, French Fries were just like in the US. Drinks were the same.
The shop in the bottom right corner with the wedding dress in the window is called Mona Lisa. It is a photography business that takes professional wedding pictures. It is a portable store that they can move around. The wedding couple can rent clothes and they and the photographers will go out to the parks and other places to take pictures. It is expensive from what I have had friends tell me, but it is one of the very best places for taking wedding pictures.
Behind these stores, there are many more inside the building.
This is one of the corners of Xin Du Hui. Carrefour under the whole mall area and this is the outside entrance. It sells some clothes, household items and groceries. That is Dairy Queen on top.
Mary and I both liked Dairy Queen and went there now and then to have ice cream. Unlike our DQ’s in the US, it only has ice cream and drinks but no sandwiches, french fries or other things like here. As you can see, it is really pretty. I don’t know if we have any like that in the US.
This is the Christian’s Hotel close to Xin Du Hui. They had a restaurant that had really good food, both Chinese and Western. A few of the waitresses could speak English.Christmas at Xin Du Hui
I don’t have any pictures of Shanghai Market in Luoyang. Maybe here in the US, we would call it a strip mall. There were two rows of stores about one block long. There was a big walking area between the two rows. It was an open area, not enclosed. There were also some stores behind those each row. Also some restaurants including McDonald’s at one end. That was the first McDonald’s in Luoyang. It would take about twenty to thrity minutes by bus from where I lived to get there. I have a couple of pictures of what it looked like in that area. These pictures are much prettier if you are actually there and walking by these trees. It is so nice to walk here.
This is facing east. I took these two pictures from the same spot facing opposite directions. The trees in the distance is Peony Square. The Peony Plaza Hotel is on the other side of Peony Square. Shanghai Market is behind me.
This is facing west. Shanghai Market is in the distance on the right side. You can see how pretty it is with these trees shading the area. I don’t remember but from here to Shanghai Market could be a ten minute walk.
The following two pictures I am putting here because I talked about Peony Square in Chapter 21. Peony Square is what would be called a social gathering place, mostly in the evenings. During the day, there would be people walking through and kids playing. At night, it would be full of people. Peony Square is one block wide and about three blocks long. There are plants there, a place for dancing, there would be exercise classes going on, a big screen TV on supports up in the air, you could buy snacks there, also a small bar. All kinds of things going on.
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