Out shopping with Dayron Robles
Yesterday I went shopping with my wife. Can’t watch sports all the time. We went to the YaShow clothing market in Sanlitun. The last time I went to that building in 1998 it was a department store and I purchased what was back then a large 80cm tv. Now it is a huge market for mainly clothing.
The market seems to be on the list of popular places to visit for Olympic accreditted visitors as I saw th e most passes I have seen in my time in Beijing. The Olympic transport fleet was lined up outside waiting for their passengers.
After grabbing a few shirts and pants, along with some Olympic souvenirs we headed next door to the Adidas shop. When I went in I saw an Australian tracksuit on display. I snapped a photo just before a staff member approached me to say no photos. Guess they don’t like free publicity.
I then continued to browse in this superstore for Adidas. They had plenty of Olympic t-shirts priced around 160rmb. Whatever you wanted in the adidas range was in the store. As we walked around the top level I noticed a tall athletic looking guy surrounded by security guards. At first I thought this was Usain Bolt. I went to take a photo but had a hand shoved over the camera.
As I was leaving the area I snapped a shot however security were once again in the way. At this time I saw several Cuban athletes in the official tracksuit. I then realised it was the winner of the 110m hurdles, Dayron Robles. Later that night on CCTV I saw a news item about his visit to the store. I knew it was the same guy as I recognised the rather chunky necklace her was wearing.
In the same Sanlitun location Nike and Puma also have a store. In the Puma window there is a huge display using photos of Usain Bolt after he won the 100m final at the Olympics. They did not waste time getting that into the store.
After my wife got home and talked to her parents about prices at the market and also after talking to more relatives today we discoved that prices are about 40% higher than normal during the Olympic period as the locals cash in.
An example of this was for some pants my wife purchased that she paid 130rmb. Despite her best efforts in bargaining that was as low as she could get. Tina is a Beijing local so knows how to bargain. Her relatives said the normal price you would get is around 70-80rmb.
It was an interesting day out.
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