{"id":1142,"date":"2010-06-17T17:14:31","date_gmt":"2010-06-17T17:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=1142"},"modified":"2010-06-17T17:14:31","modified_gmt":"2010-06-17T17:14:31","slug":"group-purchasing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/group-purchasing\/","title":{"rendered":"Group Purchasing"},"content":{"rendered":"

While on the train to the Shenzhen border from Hong Kong, I saw a group of 12 people \u624b\u5fd9\u811a\u4e71<\/strong> (shou3mang2jiao3luan4 – lit. hand busy foot chaotic, “rushing”)\u00a0 to fit some objects into their bags.\u00a0\u00a0 I had seen this sight before.<\/p>\n

There’s an interesting phenomenon in China called \u56e2\u8d2d<\/strong> (tuan2gou4 – group purchasing), where large groups of people purchase hot-ticket items at the same time in order to negotiate better purchasing terms.\u00a0 The trend picked up quickly after Taobao went online, where Singaporean Chinese groups would purchase items en masse.\u00a0 There are signs of it in the US with websites such as Groupon, but the scale that happens around Hong Kong is visibly impressive.<\/p>\n

Part of the reason for purchasing items in Hong Kong has to do with the differences in pricing and \u5173\u7a0e<\/strong> (guan1shui4 – tariffs) compared to the mainland.\u00a0 However, each person can only carry a certain amount before reaching the law-ordained \u9650\u5236<\/strong> (xian4zhi4 – limits).\u00a0 In this case, a closer look revealed that these 12 people had purchased roughly 100 \u786c\u76d8<\/strong> (ying4pan2 – hard drives) and were stuffing them into purses, shopping bags, a fanny pack, and backpacks.<\/p>\n

Ever since the \u81ea\u7531\u884c<\/strong> (zi4you3xing2 – free travel) policy was enacted, the \u6b21\u6570<\/strong> (ci4shu4 – number) of trips permitted to Hong Kong and Macau has been variable.\u00a0 The Macau restrictions have been in part to lower the incidence of problematic \u535a\u5f69<\/strong> (bo2cai3 – gambling), but I think it has just increased the amount of money gambled since enaction.\u00a0 The next time you’re at a \u5173\u53e3<\/strong> (guan1kou3 – port) and see people shuffling around with suitcases, don’t be afraid to ask what the item was.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While on the train to the Shenzhen border from Hong Kong, I saw a group of 12 people \u624b\u5fd9\u811a\u4e71 (shou3mang2jiao3luan4 – lit. hand busy foot chaotic, “rushing”)\u00a0 to fit some objects into their bags.\u00a0\u00a0 I had seen this sight before. There’s an interesting phenomenon in China called \u56e2\u8d2d (tuan2gou4 – group purchasing), where large groups…<\/p>\n

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