Caveat Emptor

Having the Olympics in China has lead to a lot of stories about the country which is very, very different from the USA. A lot of these stories have to do with the strange things you can buy (fried scorpions, anyone?) and the bargain prices one pays for them.

But, as anyone who's been to China can tell you, there is a catch. The catch is that what you think is a bargain may really be just a fake. If you find a high quality fake, you may still feel you got a good deal. If not, well....

The first time my family went to Hong Kong, my parents went on a shopping spree. My dad was especially interested in buying a gold watch band for his Rolex. Gold products, if you could find real ones, were much cheaper in Hong Kong than they were in the United States.

My dad, with my mom, my two brothers and my sister tagging along, visited many, many jewelry stores in search of the perfect watch band. After a couple of days, my dad found one in which the shopkeeper spoke the same dialect (there are hundreds of different versions of the Chinese language - dialects - spoken in China, though the official language is Mandarin) as he did. Through this common bond and persistent haggling (everything is negotiable in China) my dad was able to strike what seemed like an incredible bargain for an imitation Rolex watch band made of gold.


"This is gold, right?" my dad asked, just before leaving.

"Yes, yes, Hong Kong gold!" replied the shopkeeper. "If you don't like, you bring back!"

We left the store and walked back to our hotel. Once we got there, we found an old man outside selling jade jewelry that he'd spread out on a blanket.

Still excited from getting such a deal on the watch band, my dad started haggling for some jade rings. After several offers and counteroffers, my dad, satisfied that he'd worked the old man down to a rock bottom price, purchased a jade ring for each of us. We walked away happy.


A couple of days later, we left Hong Kong for Tokyo and after that, Honolulu. My dad, proud of his flashy watchband, wore the Rolex everywhere we went, including to the beach.

One day, while sitting on the beach, my dad decided to go for a swim. In order to do so, he had to take off his watch. When he did, he discovered that the moist tropical air had turned the inside of the watchband green.

It was made of brass.

When we got home, my dad decided to test the rings. After all if a shopkeeper could sell fake gold, what would a street vendor do? The test was to throw the rings in hot oil. If they were real jade, they would keep their color. If not, the oil would dissolve the green dye.

We tossed all of the rings into the oil at once.

They all turned white.

The moral of the story? Caveat Emptor - latin for "let the buyer beware"

Epilogue: The following year, we returned to Hong Kong. While there, we visited the store where my dad bought the watchband. The same guy was there and greeted us warmly. My dad started yelling at him (in his own dialect). The shopkeeper first hid in the back of the store, but once he realized my dad wasn't going to leave, came out, took the watchband and refunded my dad's money. A week later, we traveled to Singapore, where my dad found a 24 karat gold imitation Rolex watchband that he has to this day.

We never saw the old jade vendor again.