I am walking by a department store in a mall at Wang Fujing, the ultramodern upscale shopping area in Beijing, when a pretty young Chinese woman pulls me to the beauty counter. She and three other young sales ladies sit me down at the counter and apply an eye mask to my face before I have a chance to protest.

The first young lady tells me I that I am “beautiful” (I bet she says that to all the customers). I lap up the kind words anyway. It is just what I need to hear--something nice, warm and friendly. In fact all the Chinese people I meet are kind and warm. I feel at home here.

We all play a game of guessing each other’s ages using a calculator. They punch in “36” for me. (Smart girls). Of course it’s a sales technique but they’re pretty good at it. After I punch my real age into their calculator--they ooh and ah -- and exclaim ‘No Wrinkles. No Wrinkles’...then they try to sell me ‘The Number One Chinese Beauty Product for Wrinkles’ (just in case I guess). This includes something for what they say is my “black nose.”

This alarms me. Last time I looked my nose wasn’t black and I don’t recall, in fact, ever having a black nose. I peer into a mirror they hold up. All I see is a big red sunburned nose. Something must be ‘lost in translation” As I sit there with a patch over my left eye and a big bright red-sunburned nose, I see a Caucasian man sitting a few seats away getting the same ‘beauty treatment’. His nose doesn’t look black either but he appears to be enjoying his beauty treatment nonetheless.

Fearful that my nose might eventually turn black, and wrinkles may suddenly pop up on my face, I end up buying three of the ‘ Number One Chinese Beauty products’. I then ask the three young ladies what their impression is of the U.S. One of the three, a beautiful girl who appears to be about 20 years of age, hesitates.

Another young sales clerk takes the calculator and punches in a number. It is $100.00 U.S. The clerk tells me that this is what the young lady earns in one month on the job. Though we have been told that the standard of living in China is improving, comparing wages in our two countries is apples and oranges, even though this is Beijing.

I leave with ‘xie xies’ (thank you) all around. I spend about $86.00 U.S. But it is worth every penny of it


Sidebar: Shopping in Beijing is a world unto itself. The free market economy has spawned small mom and pop businesses as well as upscale shopping malls that rival the best in the U.S.

Wang Fujing is Beijing's premiere modern shopping street. Here you will see enormous neon billboards and row upon row of modern air-conditioned malls. If you are looking for a Starbucks, this is the place to go.

If you're shopping for silks, try the Silk Alley Market, located in the Chaoyang District. This is Beijing’s most famous market for silks, souvenirs and made-for-export-clothing. But beware of brand name labels. Most are fake. So, be prepared to bargain, with a smile..

Some of the most interesting shopping can be found on side streets and hutong alleyways. You will find everything from Mao memorabilia—statues, alarm cocks, wrist watches, just to name a few things,, as well as the usual Chinese bric a brac. Browsing is allowed. Bring small change.

BIO: I am a teacher, documentary film producer and traveler. In Spring 2008 I was faculty member on the Semester at Sea sponsored by the University of Virginia and in Summer 2006 I traveled to China as a Fulbright Fellow.