Eric's Beijing Diary

Cherish came up to me today after class and said, "This tie is very beautiful. Can I take a picture of you?" I told her I bought it on the street for 20 kuai. For awhile there, I was buying ties quite often, because the street vendor never argued with me when I chose a tie and handed him 20 kuai. As a matter of fact, that's probably more then he gets from most local people. But his ties are pretty nice. Walk over to Hualian by the light rail station, and you can see the very same ties for several hundred kuai. I talked to a foreign teacher the other day who told me he paid 400 for a tie. I told him I paid 20. He said, "Yes, but if my tie has a problem, I get a new one." He may be right. But I don't need a warranty. I can buy a lot of 20 RMB ties for 400. Maybe not, though. The police have cleaned out a lot of those street vendors in Wudaokou. Now if I need a tie, I will have to go find a market somewhere.