超市 Chao1shi4 (Super Market)

Take a trip with me to the local foreign grocery store. It is basically a Super Wal-mart with a different name, Carrefour (out of France). We do have Wal-marts here as well. In order to enter, you must first go to the top floor even though the grocery section is on the bottom floor. They will not let you enter. You have to walk through the entire top floor, to remind you of the other things you need to buy, then take the escalator down to the grocery section. This is maddening and keeps me shopping at the local outdoor markets. Anyway, there are many fresh items to choose from, pork with tail, fresh fish heads, any number of organs, some recognizable, some not. The slabs of meat hang from racks for you to pick from. Whole gutted chickens lay on ice staring at you. You can pick your fish from the tank and have it prepared while you wait. Meanwhile, people and megaphones scream the weekly deals at you from all directions. In the produce section, you may have people at each fruit display yelling the price as they stand under a huge sign with the price posted on it. I think maybe they like the noise. All produce must be weighed and priced, so get ready to stand in a long line. And be prepared for people to cut in front of you at any time. When you get the counter, put your purchases on the scale as quickly as possible before someone else does and then squeeze your way back out of the line to head for the register to do it all again. I much prefer going to the Chinese grocery stores. They are usually not so crowded and the produce is much fresher. My favorite is an outdoor market near our home where I can wander around freely and find all sorts of fruits and vegetables. There is no yelling. They are even nice enough to tell you how to cook vegetables that you have never seen before. The produce picture was this week's purchases. We paid about 63Kuai total, about $9.20 This will keep the four us fed for most of the week. (We still have guests). Well, thanks for going with me to the store, it was much less maddening with all of you along. Where would you like to go next?

mandy
“We conducted a survey of 1,146 consumers last September where we asked them if they would pay more for groceries in a pleasant shopping environment and 45 percent said they would. That's surprising, because we do live in a Wal-Mart world where consumers are exceptionally price savvy.”
Candace Corlett