Ningbo or bust…the bank! The ladies hit the road for another shopping trip. This time to Ningbo for furniture. Our good friend, Mary, is going back at the end of the school year so she is buying for her home in America. The four shopping ladies were the same crew that hit Jingdezhen (or as Jim calls it Jingdejunk) last October.
Ningbo is about three hours from Shanghai. We took my driver, Mr. Nie, and Mary’s driver, Mr. Wu. They are both so helpful. Mr. Wu has great English which is a bonus.
The first stop when we arrived at the furniture warehouse was the bathrooms. Just one comment, once you leave the City, you always have a toilet story. The bathroom had a trough running down the three bathrooms stalls. Of course, the bathroom stalls didn’t have a door. This trough style was a first for me. However, NOTHING tops the bad bathroom we all four used in Jingdezhen so no one even blinks.
The plan was to shop all day Friday and to buy on Saturday. We hit two very large warehouses. One had five floors of furniture, therefore, it didn’t take long for the day to get away from us. We finally ate our sandwiches we brought from home in the vans around 2pm – we were hungry!
Jim did remind me we have no room and less room in our SMALLER house in California before I left. I told him not to worry, I will come home with something!! I had three pieces in mind. I wanted a cabinet for the kitchen, a cabinet for the stuff that piles up on the floor in the office and a small phone desk in the office. Since Emersyn got her large desk, the phone has been on the floor. I found all three pieces at the second shop stop.
We booked a hotel in Ningbo without realizing the furniture warehouses are no where near the City. It took us over two hours to drive to Ningbo and find the Sheraton. Hum, we could have drove back to Shanghai! We enjoyed some pub food across the street along with wine and chat time back in the rooms.
Saturday was for buying. Mary was the big buyer, of course. Faith followed right behind her. Jennifer was the small buyer of the weekend putting me in the middle. I added a small table to my purchases to set up a sewing table for Emmy.
The place did not negotiate. At one point, the lady told me if I continue to ask for a cheaper price, she would cancel my whole order!! The prices were really good, but we are in China and there is always room for “cheaper”.
This last photo is Mary shopping in the lift for a piece she liked. They were unable to sell it to her, but she tried.
By the time we finished buying, it was 6:30pm. Time to drive home for the tired, cold shoppers. We had a protein bar for lunch and the warehouses are cold with no heat.
The delivery man brought our cabinets a week and half later on Wednesday evening. Something about permits to drive into the City, therefore, he came at night. By the time he delivered to Mary and Faith, it was 11:30pm when he arrived at our place. My driver, Mr. Nie, drove to each home to help unload the truck. It was after midnight on a school night by the time we moved my pieces into our apartment.
The office cabinet to hide the “junk”.
The phone cabinet.
My favorite, the kitchen cabinet. It is an old Chinese kitchen cabinet that held chickens in the bottom half.
The sewing table did work out. The table was too tall. So, I did the next best thing, I went to Ikea to buy a cheap sewing table for Emmy. It cost 79rmb ($12) – can’t beat that for cheap!!