Wal-Mart in China. Big Box in an established City

In past blogs, I have talked about my expectations of and those were told to us.  You'd think we were going to a place that did not have running water or electricity.  China is a little more advanced than that.  Even western companies are flocking to this country.  Soon there will be a McDonald's on every corner.  As scary as that sounds, it's happening.  Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, Wal-Mart, Ikea.  They are all moving into China.

I would like to describe our first visit to a Wal-Mart.  In Beijing, they are there.  They were far outside of the area we were visiting.  In Jiangxi, we were able to visit Wal-Mart.  Angie was excited.  She wanted to see if the sales matched the ones at home.  Out group got into the bus at the hotel and drove to the center of the city.  In the middle is a big Memorial of the August 1 Nanchang Uprising.  We did not visit it, but our guide pointed out to us as we passed by.  At the far end is the Wal-Mart.

Due to the fact that it is in a city, they had to configure the store to the buildings that were there.  Most of the stores we have seen are multi-storied.  When you go in, the first floors are the check outs, produce and meat.  You take an escalator up to one of the upper floors.  This escalator was more like a moving sidewalk that let you bring your cart with you.  On the upper floors were the electronics, clothes, baby products, etc.  I was happy to find movies.  It was great to find movies that were current at a more reasonable price.  My joy was cut short on returning to America, where the Customs agent told me everything they sell in China is counterfeit.  I wonder if Wal-Mart knows they are selling counterfeit movies?

Angie went through the store getting Michelle clothes and things that she would need, like formula.  I looked around.  This first outing was to get things for the children.  Our guide gave us a certain amount of time and then it was time to check out.  On checking out, we saw that they had a KFC.  I don't think we got anything.

Later, another couple and us decided to take a cab back to the store.  We did some more shopping.  We got things we forgot, like soda, juice, etc.  After checking out, we stopped by the KFC and got some sandwiches.  They were good, but a little spicy.  Funny thing is that each time we went, Angie would spend over $100 Yuan.  I would joke about it.  Of course, the exchange rate was like $8US to $1 Yuan.