I spent Saturday wandering around without really having a fixed plan. I sent some postcards, had a look at the Lama temple near to my hotel and went for a walk in a big park with a big lake (called Beihai park).
On the way between places I was popping into the odd electrical shop to check how much their web cams cost. Not knowing the Chinese name didn't help too much but I managed to find plenty of places selling them early on in the evening. I was having fun asking questions like "How many types of web cam do you have?" and getting lots of useful practice with words/phrases like these, those, therefore, so, if and (especially, since I am a bit tight) "a bit cheaper" ("便宜一点儿"). I often got stuck when the shopkeeper replied. One shopkeeper was getting frustrated with me. Before I knew it a couple of other people were standing next to me and then there was a crowd or five or six around the stall. I wish I had taken my camera but I had just been back to my room and dumped all my stuff.
I didn't buy a web cam on Saturday night in the end but I did find out the name. I also found out that visiting several shops that are all close together helped get the price down. I was then looking at paying about two-thirds of the first price I was given. However, a quick check on the internet revealed that I would have paid more in Beijing than Australia for the same model. My well reheased phrase "a little cheaper" was in for more practice.
Today I went back to the shop and wasted the shopkeepers time by going through the same stuff as yesterday. I just wanted more practice but he probably thinks I am a little bit stupid now. I ended up buying a model but not before testing it on my laptop, in fact I tried out two for comparison.
