Thanks, Arlene. I figured they had to be somewhere, as our tour guide said there was not much of a welfare system. It's interesting how they do not cross the borders of other neighborhoods or seem to line the streets as beggers as in other cities.
Lynn, the beautiful clothes and materials were there. They were just horribly expensive. There aren't deals for westerners anymore since the Chinese became so wealthy. The prices have gone up. Only jade, pearl, Chinese knicknacks are safe purchases. The merchants have become greedy and raised their prices to meet the Mainland Chinese demand. We aren't their targets anymore. I think silk is still a good purchase in China, but you could get ripped off on quality if you don't know what you are doing. As far as watches and electronics, they are about 12-25% less for Chinese and have no tax effect, but NY is now cheaper.
A lot of our clothes are made in China, so you can buy some of that there, but not the high end stuff. I feel I got some nice deals on the freshwater pearls, but I didn't pay more than $4-10 a necklace, so if I got ripped off, who cares?
