Apr 24
More Equipment!
I got my new mixer home the other day, only to find that I needed a new mic holder thingy. The stand that I had bought came with a clip, but I needed a bigger holder for my big, compressor mic. I went to the place where I got the mixer, but the only holders I could find were 300RMB, which is, quite frankly, an outrageously exorbitant price for a bit of metal with some rubber bands strung around it.
Some things are much cheaper in China, some are more expensive. Anyone looking for cheap electronics on their visit to mainland China is going to be disappointed. Anything that isn’t made in China (and you’ll find that most popular electronics aren’t!) will be considerably cheaper outside of China. But anything made IN China will be a bargain. You can get decent (acoustic) musical instruments so cheap that you’ll consider taking up the trumpet. But I digress.
I was pretty certain that my microphone-holder (I found out that the Chinese word is 防震架) fell into the “dirt cheap” category and wasn’t about to pay 300RMB for one. So Aika and I made our way to 宝山路.
I’m not sure how to describe the 宝山路 area. There are hundreds of stalls there, selling all sorts of electronic equipment. But these aren’t anything like anything you’ve seen before. You won’t see any brand names or new models. You’ll see second hand models, items that look like they were lifted from somebody’s pockets, electronic dictionaries that were made in the ’80s, cassette players, computers from the early 90s, things that people have put together themselves… the last time I was there, I saw a stall with nine (yes, NINE) large electronic organs. Each was about the size of a dinner table, and as tall as an adult. They sounded terrible. They sounded like the first CASIO keyboard that I got when I was five. And this guy had nine of them. He was actually really angry at me when I didn’t buy one. Another time I found quite a new, expensive PDA at a stall of otherwise crappy electronic devices. I asked the owner of the blanket that they were all laid out on what he wanted, and he took it out of my hands, turned it over a few times, and said “1000RMB”. I didn’t buy it, but you could just tell by the way he was handling it that he had no idea what it was. He was turning it over every which way, and was fascinated by the slot for the SD card in the bottom. He could see that there was something in there, but couldn’t get it out. If I hadn’t pressed down on it to pop it out for him I’m sure he’d still be there trying to work it out!
Anyway, I found my 防震架 for 50RMB. The guy I got it off was very friendly, and knew immediately what a 防震架 was when I asked for one. Not everyone knew what one was. He bade us a pleasant day and gave us a big smile as money changed hands, which is usually a sure sign that you’ve paid too much!
I noted with regret that the dirtiest, most dodgy part of the area has been demolished. I took a photo of the ruins today, and it’s included at my blog. As I looked on the screen of my digital camera I noticed the crowd that had gathered in the foreground. I wandered over. A policeman was writing out a citation for someone, and there was a lot of debate about what was going on. “What’s going on?” I heard someone ask. “Well…” someone helpfully started, but then the conversation switched over to Shanghainese and I was lost.
By the way, I’ve included a recording of this blog post on my homesite http://www.maxiewawa.com . It was recorded on my condenser mic, which as I speak is cradled in my new 防震架.
