Let's Make a Deal!

Every single move you make here in Beijing is a process of negotiation. From buying strawberries from the vendor on the corner, to dealing with the landlord, to the old auntie next door with whom we have “an arrangement” to put our wireless router in her apartment, to tweaking out the details with my mandarin tutor, not even to begin with the negotiations at my research institute.

To note about negotiating in Chinese, its all about the “包括…”, that is “including ….”. In negotiating western style you settle the terms of the deal, then quibble over the price. In Chinese style, the majority of the negotiation comes after the price is set, to see how much you can have included with the set price. Is lunch included? Will I have to pay for entry (for a tourist outing)? Will my tuition include a desk & computer? Will rent include a new air conditioner and furniture? Will tutoring include your transportation fees, etc etc etc … The difference is subtle but important.

The carry over into other parts of one’s economic life is also interesting. In the states we can negotiate over the fee / price because people often have a wide range of liquid cash or options for money to spend. In seeing how I spend money in the states in fact, its not so often about the price, but about the thing, the object and how I will get it, often via credit. From education, to clothes, homes, shiny cars etc, the price does not dictate whether or not you will attain the thing. If you want it, one can usually find a way to get it, or a way to earn (procure) the extra income to get the item. Not so in a relatively credit-less society, and one where in days past, income opportunities were few.

With a fixed budget, the strategy for many here is to try to get as much as one possibly can for that fixed amount of income. For example, I know my budget while I am here for a 10 month Fulbright, so I will try to stretch my money as far as I possibly can, so I can have more. I will live in a cheap apartment, so that I can take Chinese lessons. I will bargain when I shop, so that instead of having JUST 3 apples, I can get 3 apples, and a bundle of bananas. When we see Chinese manufacturers or vendors taking shortcuts in quality, we must remember this frame of mind for budgeting, if I use a cheaper fabric, then I can get more profit for buying other things, etc. It’s a subtle difference in negotiating and economic lifestyles, and one that I think many notice but do not understand.

Now I need to go and bargain for my new wallet, see if they will throw in a belt for the same price! =]