One of things that Lezil and I said we would do upon returning from our Australia trip was to get Lezil’s eyes checked out. More than a month later and finally we get to an optician. It had been more than a year since her last visit and Lezil had been commenting that her current pair of glasses had become less effective when it came to viewing things sharply at a distance.
| Mentioning this to a friend in passing, his response was “I’ll take you to my uncle friend’s store. They will look after you…”. That’s what I love about life in China in general. If someone is remotely connected to a business or industry, and they know you, chances are you’ll not only getting the pick of the bunch, but at a good price too. Call it a type of ‘guanxi’ – a connection or relationship. It’s an almost unspoken rule where by two parties look to do favours for each other, mostly seen when doing business in China. |
| Well, this particular vague-type-of guanxi (cue my friend Jening) took us to a nondescript apartment block in downtown Shanghai. Pressing for the 8th floor, the elevator silently ascended and I curiously asked Jening where exactly we were heading as, minutes before, we had passed a small shopping complex en route to the building we were now in. “To the glasses store,” he responded. Not at all what I was expecting. Sure enough at the end of the short corridor on the 8th floor was a glass door entrance still with its residential door bell for entering. | 
The glasses store in a residential Shanghai apartment block.
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Lezil admiring a pair of blingy (and pricey!) frames as Jening (left) looks on.
| Once buzzed in, the once-before-apartment had been converted to a well-lit frames-and-shades store with practically every luxury brand on show. Gulp. I was worried that Jening had mistaken us as uber-rich folk by bringing us to a high-end store, with the inevitable high-end prices. I picked up the nearest pair of Dior sun glasses. Price tag: RMB 3,000 ($ 480). Already my mind was coming up with all sorts of excuses to put off any purchase that day (and to eventually prevent a future re-visit). Trying to sound as casual as possible I posed the question “Where are the lower priced glasses?” I was shown to the far wall. Armani, Gucci, Chanel all adorned any number of differently styled frames. For those brands, the word ‘budget’ is a blatant swear word. |
Sure enough, the cheapest I could find was a pair at RMB 1,200 ($200). Lezil, meanwhile, was busy trying on different frames. Had she not seen the little white stickers with the prices printed in black and white on them?
| Remembering Jening’s initial comment about “being looked after” – I bit the bullet and called him over. “Um, these frames are all wonderful but they are a bit more expensive than we were expecting to spend.” (I went for a more tactful open statement instead of a direct “How exactly will we be looked after?”) “Don’t worry, I get you a good price, this is my uncle’s good friend,” he said with a massive grin. Not wanting to be over bearing, but needing a concrete starting figure, I grabbed a pair of nearby Burberry’s which had RMB 2,000 ($320) marked on them. “OK, but how about these? How much?” I said handing him over the glasses. He disappeared into the office next door. A bit of cost-bartering followed and he re-emerged. “You can pay around RMB 600 ($95),” he told me. And that, he continued, would include the eye test and the manufacturing of the lenses. | 
Lezil gets her eyes tested.
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That was a huge price knock down. “Lezil, babes,” I hollered, “have you had a look at the Marc Jacobs by any chance?” pointing enthusiastically at a shelf.
The Armani whites - a close contender.
| Now that I knew that some of these beautiful people brands were within our financial grasp I was going to make sure we tried on as many pairs to find that exact fit for her. In the end, it was a toss-up between two strong contenders – a bold white Armani with slick lines versus a jet black Marc Jacobs with soft rimmed edges. Although I was trying to convince my wife to go with an outspoken fashion statement (namely the Armani), she opted for the latter MJs as these were more adaptable (as she put it). The optician on duty looked barely over twelve years old, but despite his deceiving youthful looks, he showed in depth knowledge ensuring that Lezil’s eyes were tested thoroughly. An hour later and her new pair of Marc Jacobs were ready to be taken home. Final cost: RMB 450 ($70), down from the original price of RMB 1,700 ($270). And yes, before some of you sceptics get your claws out, these were the real deal imported in from Europe. |
I can now report that not only has Lezil got her razor sharp vision back, but she is certainly rocking some style in the process. Thank you Jening for the MJs hook up.
Lezil's final purchase - a beautiful pair of jet black Marc Jacobs.
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