Wa Er Mah

One of my weekly destination here is Beijing is Wa Er Mah, the Chinese Wal Mart. I guess I have always resisted going to the superstores and the megasuperhumongous markets, as it is not my cup of tea. In general, you need to walk miles to stand in front of rows and rows of products, with a limited selection of brands, but in sizes fit for a family of 10. My fridge and cupboards can never accommodate all these large size containers, my feet are too soft to walk so much (well I like hiking, but not in a store) and I am usually in search of a larger selection of brands, products, and I guess, a more "real" experience.

However, when you get in China, you can find the real Chinese experience in the Wal Mart. I really mean it. 

First you have the people experience. Wa Er Mah is usually crowded, whatever time of the day you go. You will find people everywhere, customers of course, but also incalculable number of "associates" as they are called. They are busy handing you flyers, cleaning, ordering and unloading merchandise, serving and guiding customers, weighting your fresh produces, handing you a cart, serving a new product, standing and waiting there, or yelling in a microphone the benefits of a new drink, and even helping you out with your heavy bags. Even if there would be no customers, you would feel quite surrounded, so now imagine shopping at rush hour!

Then you have the product experience. I guess by choosing to go there at first, I was expecting an American type of product choice. Wal Mart equals America in my mind. Well, not quite here. You find almost exclusively Chinese products, for a Chinese market.  I guess I should not have been surprised. Import products are japanese, korean or indian. There is of course Coca Cola, and a few others "incontournables" but their labels are disguised under a layer of Chinese characters, sometimes making them hard to recognize. You can find a immense variety of noodles; eggs ones, vegetable ones, large or small, translucent or bent, some with ready mixes in cup, bowls or bags, with a huge selection of flavours (and of course with MSG flavouring). There is a great variety of sea-food, a range of meat stomach-churning delicatessen, a huge selection of vaccum-sealed Peking duck, live fish, including live crab and (poor) soft-shell turtles. As expected, there is a range of unknown products, and such a wide selection of beans and condiments that I would not know what to do with them. Even if Wa Er Mah is more of a extremely large grocery store, there is a non-edible sections,. They feature the latest in the main stream Chinese fashion (think padded jackets and thick long johns), various household items (think your grandmother's flower curtains)  and low-end household appliances (I returned an air humidifier after a week of use). 

Then you have the noise experience. I had to overcome my hearing sensitivities. I am having quite a bit of difficulty to shop in an environment that uses noise as an attention grabber. But in that regard Wa Er Mah is just like anywhere else in China. TVs are located all over the store, each of them competing with the voice of an agent on a speaker, telling you the latest deals to be found in the store, and at times interrupted by tellers calling their supervisors. And through all this, there are the high pitch voices of some young women, dressed in costumes similar to majorettes, enticing you to try their new product in a microphone. The ambiance is at its best invasive, at worst overwhelming and aggressive. But with some practice, I have got used to it (zen was develop in Asia, no?!). However, every visit with Noam has been a bit too much for the poor baby. After a few minutes of the general ambiance, coupled with the numerous attempts from customers and staff to make him smile or to touch him, he would end up screaming his way through the store, a bit like a siren warning others of our imminent arrival, and certainly a great deterrent to anybody trying to approach him. Simply put, he gets over stimulated, while I get overly anxious to find my way out the fastest as possible, with the optional the product X or Y. 

So our few first visits to the store were essentially exploratory visits. We watched the turtles and the fish, contemplate a few unknown bags (are they sugar or flour?), push the cart aimlessly in a number of aisles, trying to remember through the general noise, amplified by my son's screams, what am I looking for again, before rushing to the cashier and then out for some (fresh) air, with only half of what I needed. 

Don't take me wrong. After considerations, and without the company of my son as shopping assistant, I love Wa Er Mah. I can find here lots of interesting food items, fresh fish and fresh produce, even some "organic" ones. I can also learn about the local value of most vegetables and fruits, no hassle and no bargaining. And at the same time, I can have a glance at what modern China eats today.