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Not quite Chinese
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The mushrooming China Bazaars where you can pick up anything for Rs. 65 are a great hit. The fact that the goods are not from China is hardly a deterrent for the die-hard shopper.
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Irresistible bargains at the bazaar. - - Photo: K. Ramesh Babu
THE HYDERABADI and shopping go together and any new shopping experience is welcomed with open arms. The latest entrant is the China Bazaar with about 30-40 small exhibitions in prime footfall areas near the crossroads and flyovers across the twin cities and the response, true to form has been positive.
"I liked the ice cream bowls," Vijayalakshmi, a researcher at IICT said. Vijaylakshmi happened to see one of the banners on her way home and decided to walk in and ended up buying a few take homes and gifts.
These bazaars are more like home-need exhibitions, and have people queuing up to buy plastic ware, coffee mugs, steel utensils and even Kolhapuris. Even as one wonders how Indian utilities are fabricated in China, there is a chalk-written notice in a corner of the bazaar that reads "Made in India."
"The name attracts people and we have a great response," one of the China Bazaar representatives said. A venture by a group of business enthusiasts who specialise in organising small fairs across Maharashtra and other states be it in textile or home needs, has hit bulls eye in the twin cities.
As for the products -- the plastics, steel, stuffed toys and other buys are sourced from the Mumbai, Delhi and apna Begum Bazaar! "The products are reasonably priced but one cannot vouch for the quality," one of the customers said.
The stuff here is interesting and invariably has the bric-a-brac that appears on the must-buy list for the home. One can pick up any product for Rs.65 and on offer are pillows, purses, stuffed toys, kitchen racks, hot packs, buckets, bins, mops, tubs, steel utensils, coffee mugs, glasses, toys and lamps.
"Kuch karo please. It is misleading and people are getting confused," a shop owner of the Hong Kong Bazaar near Paradise Circle said of the China Bazaar.
The Hong Kong Bazaar, incidentally, has been there from over a decade and is popular for the walkmans, cordless phones and other electronic goods imported from China, Taiwan and Malaysia.
One can buy a VCD for as less as Rs.2, 300 or a walkman for Rs.150 onwards.
Branded electronic goods from Sanyo, Aiwa, Panasonic are good buys here apart from the mobile sets which come at 30 per cent lower rates when compared to the market.
"Japanese electronic goods' companies are located in China and Taiwan due to high cost of labour in Japan, and thus the goods we import have Japanese technology.
There has been import of goods from China in Hyderabad over the past 20 years but the influx has been more since a couple of years," says a shop owner at Hong Kong Bazaar.
Thus the hype in the market is it for the motorbikes, electronic goods, and the much talked about rice from China, products which are envisaged to be easy on the Indian purse.
As for the China Bazaar, with people shopping till beyond 10 PM and products such as the glasses for lemonade, water coolers and jugs, it seems like a novel bazaar for the coming summer.
SYEDA FARIDA
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