shopping for shades and sunscreen in shanghai

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Almost all my shopping excursions in Shanghai start with some time at the computer. I hear about places, people give me addresses without cross streets or metro stops and so I usually need to figure out where the market of the day is. Today's market was the eyeglass market. I have heard stories about this place for months, and was even given the address and yet I still started off at Google to get my info straight.
After recently losing my very expensive and perfectly good prescription sunglasses, this market seemed like the answer to my prayers. Cheap and fast and also a possible story for the blog.

I found some articles about the market in question but they were dated 1-2 years ago. In Shanghai, that means it's likely a store or market is either out of business or in a new location. Add to this research the fact that I had also read that the eyeglass market was moving locations made me a little wary. I was still hopeful that I could find it.

I had read and heard that the market was beneath the Shanghai Railway Station, exit 4. I went to exit 4 and saw a huge sign saying the market had moved to a new location. I was so glad about the sign. That is not typical in my experiences. Not only was there a sign with info on where to go, there were also 2 men in bright yellow shirts handing out direction cards for the new location. Oh and not only that, one of the guys offered to walk me there. Unprecedented. After we walked a bit, and I saw these huge signs continued along the way, I said I was okay, I would find it, and he left. It was a little strange and it appeared that it was a bit of a walk, so I didn't want to follow him for 15 minutes. Turns out I was nearly there. I exited the underground shopping area that is connected to the Railway Station, and got outside and saw no signs of the market. Then I looked up and across the street I saw a giant version of the same sign I'd been following. I figured that was the building I wanted. It was not as easy as simply crossing the street since that very intersection was under construction which prevented me from crossing directly. I had to go around a big barricade, walking against traffic. I wanted those glasses. You'll soon learn why.

I finally saw another sign saying "take the elevator to 5" but it was outside a food store. I went into the store and looked around for the elevator which I did finally spot since they were covered with that all too familiar signage. I'm guessing the eyeglass mall people figured that they really needed to direct traffic to the new location and if I could find it, then anyone can. I went up to the 5th floor and when the elevators opened, it was just as I expected. Row after row of eyeglass stores. Just like the other markets but this time it was all about glasses and contacts. In fact, I had a little giggle when I got in the elevator and everyone in it had glasses on. Including me. It was like this private club for the poorly sighted. I am a member.

I had no plan at this point. The only thing I knew was that I should not pay more than RMB200 and that the lowest possible price I should expect was RMB120. That's a range of about $17-$28 USD. For prescription sunglasses. Really. All I knew was my target price, and the fact that I needed to pick a large enough frame to prevent freakishly thick lenses. I read about that too on the forums.

I saw a few vendors and then when a woman said hello and spoke to me in very good English, I went with her. I am all about trying to speak Chinese, but this was uncharted territory. I know none of the optometry-related words besides eyes. That wasn't going to get me far. I stuck to English with my salesperson and we got down to business.

Because I knew these glasses would be way cheap, and because I knew there was a chance they were not going to be the right strength, cause me blinding headaches after use, or perhaps turn my brown eyes blue due to improper UV coating, I didn't spend tons of time on the frame selection. I tried on a bunch, narrowed it to two pairs that were basically identical and then put it to a vote with the 3 people in the store at the time making the final decision. They thought I was crazy. I am crazy.

I was more concerned with the lenses and their thickness. I was told (no surprise) there were really, really good quality lenses that cost more and then there was a very cheap but also not great quality choice. I of course, wanted the good kind of lenses. The bad ones were all foggy and bad looking. Only the best for me and my eyes. Well, only the best in the world of cheap glasses that is. We had a lot of back and forth about quality and thickness and then we were ready to talk total price. I think I handled this negotiation like a pro. I had my target price, I knew the starting price would be absurd and I had this great strategy of threatening to just go check prices at a couple other stores if we couldn't get to my target price. Every time she tried to talk me up I would say "well, sure, but I know what it should cost and I can always go to another store and come back later." Totally did the trick. I am not a fan of the long, drawn out bargaining sessions where I start at RMB10 and they start at RMB400 and we finally end up at $200. In this case I think the starting price was RMB 465 and my final price (including "exam," case and lense cloth) was RMB160. Technically, I was shooting for 150 and I could have gotten there but I was getting sick of the game and that $1.50 USD was not worth the 10 minutes it might have taken to get there.

Next, time for the exam. First I was told to sit at a machine that looked familiar--you stick your chin on that rest (no nice little tissue like at For Eyes to avoid chin disease) and then I looked through and there were noises and then the machine spit out a printout for the woman examining my eyes. Then, we moved on to another stool in the corner--I could barely get back there--and I was given glasses with lenses that she could pop in and out with different power levels and I was told to read the chart. Well, not really read it, but tell her if I could read it. It was the E in various orientations, just like home. Three lines of E's. I was not feeling great about the power numbers she told me for my lenses, but they weren't so off from my contacts and there was a lot of talk of the fact that the glasses frame has a big curve and that somehow mattered.


Now I realize this might sound a little risky but rest assured, the process was very much like my experiences at For Eyes or any other optical retailer back home. Of course, the person who helped me was most likely not an Optometrist (in fact, I'm pretty sure of it). However, she did know how to use the machines that told her my prescription and also how to check the prescription on my current glasses. It was impressive regardless of how crazy it all was.

Finally, we settled on the prescription--which I felt like I was negotiating for and that concerned me--and I was told to come back in 30 minutes. Lens Crafters is "about an hour," right? This was 30 minutes. I was going to leave and come back later but after careful consideration of the hassle of doing that, I decided to stay in the area, get some lunch and then return to pick up my new shades.

I found a Japanese noodle shop (Ramisen I think it's called) around the corner in the same building. It's a chain. Cheap and good. I walked in and the woman screamed "Yi Wei!!!!" One person. I was taken to this long table in the back filled with various ones and twos eating noodles out of giant bowls. I ordered my lunch (udon with veggies and a tiny bit of meat). Sometimes I can't have that hot, hot soup on a hot, hot day. Plus I had the soup kind of Japanese noodles the day before with my friend, Ian and I was trying to mix it up a bit.

After lunch, I returned to the eyeglass market via escalator and discovered the building is full of all sorts of camera, film and photography related supplies. Frames (for pictures) and paper for printing. Another visual-equipment related themed set of floors occupied floors 2 and 3. Floor 4 appeared to be costume and set design stores. I didn't spend a lot of time, but the shops I saw were filled with very fancy dresses, some wedding, some just fancy. I'm guessing they are rental shops since the wedding photo shoot is a huge industry here. it was interesting to see all these shops. Of course, as is typical in these very specialized shops, most were empty and there were many salespeople waiting for customers.

I returned to get my glasses and they were ready. I thought maybe it would be one of those deals where they say 30 minutes but mean 45, but they were completely ready. I read about other people's eyeglass market experience and one person said she was told her eyes would take a while to adjust and that was normal. She said in her case they didn't adjust and had to get the lenses fixed. My salesperson gave me that very line before I got the glasses. I put them on and they seemed okay but made me feel a little dizzy. She said I needed to wear them and get used to them, but I am not so sure that will really work. I hope it does. I want it to work. I want these glasses for my trip to Thailand. But if, in the end, they are not good, it was an experience and a cheap one at that. I guess I'll see!


My other quick shopping tale is about sunscreen. I needed to buy some sunscreen for our upcoming trip to Thailand. I have previously looked at lotions and potions here and many contain whitening agents. The Chinese are not fans of the sun, and apparently, they are fans of skin whiteners in their lotions and creams. And sunscreens? Seems very odd to me, but when browsing the options, I saw whitener in all the ones with English descriptions. I found a kid sunscreen that said "sensitive formula" SPF 30, and there was no mention of whiteners. Still not convinced, I asked one of the 5 saleswomen in the aisle if this bottle of sunscreen had whitener. I looked up whitener on my iTouch dictionary. She answered me in Chinese and I think she was speaking a different version of Chinese because I knew none of the words she spoke. Shanghainese? Other? No clue. So finally she pointed at the whitening kind and said "yes" and pointed at the kid one I had and said "no". I think that meant I was a-okay with the kid one. We'll soon find out. If we all end up bleached after a day at the beach, don't expect photos.

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Photos

construction at every turn
I did not see parents with these kids. I'm guessing they were in one of the restaurants or stores nearby.

the sign on the building
hard to miss

never made it around the place
too big. I turned right. I walked a bit and found my friend who spoke English. That was the end of my tour.