It Only Got Commercial Later That Day…
One of the things that leaves a particular mark in James’s tour in China
is the tourguide brings them to some factory, and into a room where the
owners hope you will buy their wares. Now, this I suppose is to be expected,
but the guide almost always bring them to some factory or shop at every
opportunity to the annoyance of the tour group. This really makes me think
twice about visiting dear old 中國 in such an arrangement. What’s good
in Korea is that the guides don’t lead you everyday to some factory you
may not care too much. Most likely, the government regulate and make sure
the tourists are immersed more in the culture and adventure than the commercial
side of Korea.
After our last cultural immersion, we go to something commercial but uniquely
Korean. We go to a Korean ginseng shop. Other tour groups are also led
to this shop, so we had to wait a few minutes. Meanwhile, Irene manages
to get ginseng tea samples. They are in small cups. Everyone drinks the
samples. It’s so sweet and tasty, we craved for second servings… :P
It is sweet because the tea is mixed with honey, otherwise the tea actually
tastes bitter. Korean ginseng apparently is highly regarded. It has more
nutrient (saponin?) than Chinese, American or Japanese ginseng. The Korean
government even regulates its exportation (raw products not allowed).
Everybody goes up the lone elevator in the building in batches. Irene is
also studying Chinese, so she practices when possible. Since we’re also
Chinese descent, we can converse a little. Describing the tea, we corrected
her it’s 好喝 not 好吃. Don’t worry, Irene, you’ll perfect it.
We enter the lobby and to the left there is this guy standing behind a counter
full of ginseng related products. To the right, is a wall of preserved
ginsengs from one year old up to the most mature seven year old. We are
introduced to this guy who is a salesman. Talking in perfect English, the
guy describes the health and benefits of Korean ginseng. He then introduces
us to the different ginseng products they have: concentrated, powdered,
pills, skin application.. For the ginseng to be effective, you have to
take it everyday for a long period. At least the guy was being frank about
the efficacy of ginseng. This in contrast to this one product introduction
in a 隴西 meeting, where the guy claims the efficacy of mangosteen to be
so effective that a miniscule contact with a mangosteen product would give
an immediate effect and make you strong.
Anyway, buying these ginseng extracted products is not cheap. Some packages
are as high as $ 1000. Dollars and Won accepted. Not everyone of us can
afford it. One of the families in our group are in another room buying
loads of ginseng products. The others bought one type and that’s it. There
is a poster displayed advertising the efficacy of ginseng.
After the Ginseng Center, we make our way to another part of the city, an
amethyst factory. It’s actually a building not so large. Apparently, Korea
is rich with amethyst or so the company’s president claims. And that the
amethyst has a positive energy aura properties. You can sample the positive
energy by stucking your head into a hollowed amethyst rock. Like any stones,
there are different qualities in amethyst.
The president declares that for the special offer, we are given up to 50%
discount on their products. Hmmm… They have lots of amethyst jewelry.
Their salespeople are pretty persistent, but I declined from buying. The
others bought what they liked. Buying a jewelry comes with a certificate
proving they are really amethysts.
With the business done, we go to lunch… at Tony Roma’s.
