Bartering with Vendors

One of the most memorable experiences I will have is bartering with Chinese junk vendors. On my first try, I was attempting to buy a red shirt with a printed image of Mao Tse-Tung on it. The older Chinese woman picked out my size of the color I wanted as she said things like, "Good size for you!" And, "You like shirt, look very good!" Then I asked how much it costs and she said "285 Chinese Yuan!" Which is nearly 40 dollars. I thought that a ridiculous price, so I almost walked away. But she pulled out a cardboard sheet and a pen and asked me to write a lower price. Without thinking, I wrote something like 140. This was still far too much, but give me a break, it was my first time bartering. So we wrote prices on this sheet back and forth for a little bit, she went lower and I went higher for a while. Eventually, she said, "Final price" as she wrote 190 on the sheet and circled it. So I said, "Five less!" as I held up my five fingers. This being the agreed price (still about five times the shirt's actual value), I handed her 200 and she fumbled around the vending stand for 15. I held out my hand to shake hers, and this moment I will always remember. The other four or five vendors, unoccupied, had gathered around this ordeal. She looked at me with a gigantic grin and said "Welcome to China!" in an impressive English. At this, all the other vendors laughed loudly. Ignorant, I walked away smiling, thinking of how nice the gesture was. Very soon, I found out that I had overpaid in the extreme. But I justified the extra money being spent in the experience I had just encountered.