While on the train to the Shenzhen border from Hong Kong, I saw a group of 12 people 手忙脚乱 (shou3mang2jiao3luan4 – lit. hand busy foot chaotic, “rushing”)  to fit some objects into their bags.   I had seen this sight before.

There’s an interesting phenomenon in China called 团购 (tuan2gou4 – group purchasing), where large groups of people purchase hot-ticket items at the same time in order to negotiate better purchasing terms.  The trend picked up quickly after Taobao went online, where Singaporean Chinese groups would purchase items en masse.  There are signs of it in the US with websites such as Groupon, but the scale that happens around Hong Kong is visibly impressive.

Part of the reason for purchasing items in Hong Kong has to do with the differences in pricing and 关税 (guan1shui4 – tariffs) compared to the mainland.  However, each person can only carry a certain amount before reaching the law-ordained 限制 (xian4zhi4 – limits).  In this case, a closer look revealed that these 12 people had purchased roughly 100 硬盘 (ying4pan2 – hard drives) and were stuffing them into purses, shopping bags, a fanny pack, and backpacks.

Ever since the 自由行 (zi4you3xing2 – free travel) policy was enacted, the 次数 (ci4shu4 – number) of trips permitted to Hong Kong and Macau has been variable.  The Macau restrictions have been in part to lower the incidence of problematic 博彩 (bo2cai3 – gambling), but I think it has just increased the amount of money gambled since enaction.  The next time you’re at a 关口 (guan1kou3 – port) and see people shuffling around with suitcases, don’t be afraid to ask what the item was.