Adieu smelly shoes!

'Tis now just over a week ago but still worth telling: I have bought shoes in China! Yes, after twenty-odd unsuccessful visits to all kinds of places, Beijing's Yashow Market has proved a revelation for my big, desperate feet. Aimed at big-spending tourists, this place sells everything from t-shirts to underwear, from MP3 players to cosmetics- everything you can fake, that is. I thus ended up with six pairs of shoes, all "Adidas", "Puma" or "Tod's" and have finally kissed that beaten, deformed and smelly old pair of work/leisure/walking shoes goodbye. Since Yashow is a market and not a shopping mall, of course you had to bargain, and the amount of foreigners present meant that it's not quite as cheap as some of the more "local" places around. Whatever, though- I still bargained hard and got some good deals (a tight old German I am indeed), and, hey, they have my size!

When you're a big nose, buying shoes can be quite an ordeal in China as chances are that your feet are, indeed- big. My size 40/41 is rather common for women in the heights of northern Europe; however in the Middle Kingdom asking for anything above a 38 (or sometimes 39) will get you a confused look, a shake of the head, and probably a snicker in the staff room. Even Germany's own Adidas, who seem to have about a million branches here, don't stock shoes to fit their creator's countrypeople. My previous attempts to find that comfy pair of runners for the stroll to work had therefore all ended in frustration.

One particularly hopeful day off spent on Wangfujing Street (where one also finds lots of big-footed foreigners) became a true walk of shame. By the end of it I barely dared to ask for a larger size, fearing that dreadul sentence, "39 is the largest we have".

One Adidas salesman decided to make the experience even more humiliating for me by adding (quite some) insult to injury. Asked if they had my pink pair of choice in 40, his first response was, "These are women's shoes". A pained "Yes, I know" from me, a flash of realisation across his face and a sneaky look down at my freakish feet, and there it was- "Mei you"- "We don't have it."

That's all in the past now though! I'm so proud of my new babies that I've posted a picture below- aren't they beautiful?

Bis dann,

Nadine

No less than six pairs- aren't they gorgeous?!