250rmb, never again

One thing about living in another country is that we must always approach eveything with an open mind. Try to understand how others live, try to understand what a small deal to us can be a big deal to others.

Just the other day, we went to a shop to get some things done. The owner was a nice man and he gave us a price for the things which we wanted. Like all prudent buyers, we always try to get a good price. We tried to bargain with him and offered 250rmb for the item. He immediately rejected the price and asked us to settle for 260rmb. He said that he wasn't concerned with the extra 10rmb it was just for the good of his business, you know, like an auspicious number. We agreed thinking that perhaps, 260rmb was a good number for him.

Later when we checked with our friend who helped us get around, he told us that 250rmb was referring to someone stupid!

Gosh...we were surprised but it taught us that in every country, there are different values, different cultures and different beliefs. We do not have to follow everything they do but we sure have to respect them.