Sunday, October 18, 2009

Holiday Inn Mall Party

Malls are huge here. Both literally and figuratively. This city has more malls that I could begin to count - even our metro station has an underground mall attached to it. And, most malls are enormous - 6, 7, 8... stories or more. There is definitely a consumerist mindset here (from locals and expats alike, I think) and people seem to love to spend time in malls. Promotions are also big here - supermarkets have countless employees dressed in a variety of uniforms/costumes handing out samples and speaking into microphones about their great "product of the day." Yesterday, we felt like we were at the epicenter of this culture: the "Super Brand Mall," an 8-story mega complex where I went to get a hair cut (at a Korean salon - that's another story.) While there, we were ushered through a huge display about soup broth, with samples and a live demonstration. But, my favorite promotion in recent memory was this one: the Holiday Inn's. Besides this band, which did Norah Jones and Smooth Operator covers while we were there, there was a display bed, complete with a display model in silk pajamas, available for picture taking and a sample lounge. Never a dull moment...

4 comments:

  1. Carrie,

    I want to hear the haircut story:) !! Will you go back again? Is it really different than here? Are your cute curls still intact? Spill it girl. Love Mom

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  2. This is great - I'm imagining the mattress model explaining to people what her job is :).

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  3. The haircut is not bad. The salon had been recommended to me, so that helped, I think. But, the staff didn't speak much English and my Chinese (and Korean) is non-existent, so it involved a lot of gesturing and nodding. For 90rmb, though, (about $13), I got a hair wash, scalp massage, and a very thorough cut by a very nice hairdresser named Sunny. My curls are still intact. They are pretty tough.

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