The World’s Biggest Wholesale Clothing Mall

OK, I'm not entirely sure that it really is.  But it sure felt that way.   Let me back up.  First off, the important news—our agent confirmed that Clare's paperwork with the U.S. Consulate has been officially approved.  We're scheduled to go to the consulate at 2:30 this afternoon.  So by the time most of you read this, she'll have been sworn in as a U.S. Citizen.  Of course, technically she's not taking the oath herself; it'll be us doing it for her.  All the other adoptive families will be doing the same for their kids in one big swearing-in.  As I said earlier, it'll be a moment to remember.  Unfortunately the memory will not be supplemented by photos, because the consulate does not allow cameras or camcorders.  They're very uptight in general, banning everything but our passports, one bottle for Clare, and one change of diapers.  That's all we're allowed to bring with us.       As usual we had time to kill today, so we took the subway to this massive wholesale clothing mall we'd heard other families talk about.  As I'd mentioned earlier, the subway is very clean, spacious, modern, and absolutely thronged with Chinese scurrying in every direction.  Most were accommodating of Clare in her stroller, probably more so than the subways in NYC would have been.  But the air underground is not aggressively circulated and filtered, making it feel suffocating and claustrophobic.  Still, the token machines were bilingual and the maps quite clear, so we had little difficulty in finding the correct stop.   The wholesale clothing mall was several stories, all underground and directly connected to the subway system.  Aboveground was a retail mecca the likes of which I've never seen. I half expected the Chinese equivalent of Austin Powers to start a street dance along with a cadre of trendy-looking shoppers.  The subway also connected to a gargantuan bus terminal whose electronic schedule was as long and sophisticated as any airport hub in the States.   I know I keep using phrases along the lines of "unlike anything I've ever seen," but that's what this wholesale clothing mall was.  It seemed to be arrayed in a giant cross, with the central areas having the escalators and coffee kiosks while each arm of the cross was crammed with clothing stores of every kind.  The majority of them were geared toward women in their teens through early forties, with a heavy emphasis on spaghetti-strap cotton tops featuring sequins and/or images of various Western icons like Britney Spears and Lady Gaga.  (Nice to see that the most important things about the U.S. are making it overseas.)  Apparently the hippie look is big in China these days, as peasant skirts and tie-dyed tops were also a common theme.  There were plenty of men's shops, too, mostly aimed at the metrosexual crowd who like their blue jeans painted on and their button-down shirts not buttoned at all.  One arm of a lower level was choking with children's stuff, everything from Disney paraphernalia to hypertrendy street clothes to froo-froo dresses to footwear of every kind you can imagine.   The prices were genuinely wholesale, not the "factory-outlet" sucker deal you get in the States.  It really opened my eyes as to how little clothing really costs, and the markup we see in the U.S.  A full woman's dress here cost $45, probably less than half what it would have back home.  Professional soccer jerseys including embroidered logos ran for $6-7 when they'd cost at least $50 in the U.S. or Europe.  My advice: don't ever, ever buy clothing in a U.S. store unless it's a serious discount, because they're probably still making a tidy profit even on sale.   Of course, I'm not entirely sure about whether some of this stuff might not be irregulars or brand-name knockoffs.  One clue is that they were really persnickety about cameras in the mall.  And I was politely reprimanded for photographing the logo of the coffee kiosk at the center of the complex.  Gee, does it remind you of anything in particular—say, a purveyor of similar goods based in the U.S., specifically out of Seattle?   Another problem with the mall is that there were no changing booths in the stores, so if you wanted to pick up a pair of jeans or a dress, you're pretty much either letting it all hang out in public or just guessing that you have the right size and fit.  So for Christy and me, who already have a hard time finding clothes that fit well, it wasn't worth the hassle.  Besides, there were so many stores it became overwhelming.   One member of our trio, however, could not get enough of the place: Beebee.  She was waaay overdue for her nap, and we were sure she'd just zonk out in her stroller.  But she had other ideas—she wasn't going to miss a thing.  Our little princess is already showing signs of being a shopaholic, enthusiastically taking it all in and showing not a whit of fatigue until we made it back to our hotel room.  It probably helped that all the clerks and shoppers were staring at her, making cute faces and noises.   Speaking of which, considering that this little one's grown up in an orphanage where it was several babies per nanny, she's gotten used to full continuous doting from two parents awfully quick.  The perfect picture of contentment and happiness gets cranky mighty fast if we lay her on the bed and do something else for even just two seconds.  We've been talking about how much of an adjustment it will be for Cedric when we get home, having a new baby sister that competes for attention from us.  But I'm starting to wonder whether Beebee's reaction might be even worse.