Night Markets

Dear Jesse,

Wow! I sure am tired. It’s almost midnight and I just got back from the night market!

Just about every city in China has at least one outdoor night market, and usually it is HUGE! You can spend hours walking up and down the rows of stalls and kiosks that are filled with every imaginable type of toy and clothing and household items and electronic equipment. Then when you need a break, you can sit down on a stool at one of the food stalls and order a bowl of noodles or some boiled chicken feet or a shish-kabob of meat. There are SO many choices. When the weather is cold, you might even want to order a red bean sundae!

Most people who shop in the night market enjoy bargaining. It is part of the fun! This is how it goes. If you see a computer game that has a price tag of 30 RMB (Chinese dollars), you might want to offer 20 RMB. Then when the seller says 28 RMB, you might want to make a counter offer of 22 RMB. Then when he goes down to 27, you might want to try to get him to settle on 25 or 26 RMB. If he shakes his head “no”, then you might want to turn as if you are walking away. He will probably say, “Okay, 26 RMB.” It’s just like a game, and in the end you have made a purchase and the merchant has made some money.

But you know what? Sometimes it is hard for me to bargain because, even though I am not rich, I feel that I have so much more than many of the street vendors who push their carts of merchandise to the market every night to earn a living. So sometimes I don’t bargain at all. I just pay the price that is first asked and breathe a prayer of thanksgiving that God has given me everything that I need.

Sometimes I wonder why God allowed me to be born into a wonderful Christian family. It seems as if I have always had so much love and strong Christian teaching and opportunities. My desire is to be a giver to the peoples of the world who haven’t been so fortunate. But I’m talking about a lot more than paying full price at the night market. I realize that the best thing I can give them is the gospel of salvation. That is worth a lot more than anything that you can buy in the night market. It is priceless!

Love from China,

Auntie D