We went shopping in another mall-like area today. This one was a bit different; there were a lot of people roaming around with pamphlets for 'cheap goods'. If you were interested, they would lead you to a shady alley and into a hidden shop. The fakes here seemed to be of pretty decent quality, and the sizes of the shops were definitely surprising. Some of the fake shops were bigger than the actual shops in the area, but only had a small front entrance. Bargaining was the big thing here, I wish that the US had some small bartering system; it makes purchases much more interesting. I didn't end up buying anything, but a few other people bought a lot of things.
Later on we went on a night boat ride. During this ride, everyone in the group that was white was asked for a picture several times by fellow boat riders, while the Asians just blended into the crowd. It's pretty interesting that this happened, you would never find this in the US, instead we kinda just get stared at.
Lastly, we went to a club to celebrate for the last big bang of the trip. Party culture is very different here than the US. In the US we will drink some at home, then head out to the bar or club to proceed to drink more, dance and sing together whenever they feel like it, but end the night at 2am because of bar close (Although, I'm not one to talk as I haven't experienced the bar scene much). In China, people will go out to eat together, then head out to do some more hanging out before heading out to the club. They normally start at the club around 10, then drink together and chat til around 12, then they head to the dance floor and will stay there til around 4am and sometimes later.
Group picture in the Pearl of the Orient
View from the Pearl
Kids playing in the Pearl
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