The Guangzhou Bus/ Train Station is a stone throw away from IKEA.
Therefore we went there to buy some storage
shelving for J. after inquiring about our bus tickets.
The Guangzhou IKEA is located in a tourist area
of the city.
 |
| IKEA looks the same in China as it does in Canada |
We should not be surprised that IKEA looked pretty well the same as it does in Canada.
 |
| IKEA Guangzhou has a big candy section for customers |
The only difference was that it was way more crowded and it had a big candy section.
I sold more food items at its food market.
 |
| IKEA in China serve food catering to local taste |
The bistro also served more food than just hot dogs. Catering to local taste, it served fish, chicken and beef balls and the plain ice cream was only sold at 1 RMB each which was like 25 cents in Canada!
 |
| Even kids like the store! |
A wildly popular store in China, the IKEA store in Guangzhou was packed to the rafters! Though the place was extremely crowded, people were well behaved. There was no pushing, shoving or jumping in front of queue.
 |
| IKEA is a popular store in Guangzhou, China |
Everyone seemed to really enjoy the experience there. There was no inappropriate behavior such as teens running around chasing each other, playing basket balls ( it happens often in Canada!), screaming or using profane language which could happen in Canada where there are large crowds of people.
 |
| Chinese shoppers trying out the IKEA furniture |
There were lots of people relaxing and sitting on the sofas while enjoying the air-conditioning and talking on their cell phones.
Many people tried the furniture while some kids jumping and having a good time in the kids bedroom section!
 |
| The unmistakable Swedish meatballs served in IKEA, China |
While waiting in line for dinner at IKEA, we met Robin – a Canadian teacher from British Columbia teaching in a private boarding school in a suburb of Guangzhou. She taught in China for three years.
 |
| We had dinner at IKEA |
Unfortunately, she did not have a very positive experience in China, therefore she decided to go back to Canada trying to find a job and settle down in Kitchener, Ontario. We hit it off and talked for more than an hour while she was waiting for her friend.
After dinner, we looked around in the IKEA store and bought a shelving unit for J.
 |
| The cashiers at IKEA Guangzhou were very efficient |
Though there was a huge number of customers waiting to pay for their
purchases at the checkout counters, the
Chinese cashiers were extremely efficient and it did not take long at all when it
was my turn to pay for mine.
Though it
did not go through at other stores like Aeon,
my visa card was accepted at IKEA with no problem! That was a plus for
us as we didn’t have to spend our cash for our merchandise.
Loaded down with our shelving and baskets, we tried to hail a taxi back to the hotel.
It was very difficult and we ended up taking the metro instead after waiting for more than 30 minutes. All the taxi seemed to be full or the taxi drivers were not willing to go further than a certain distance.
After getting back to the hotel, we watched the TV programs on CCTV, the Chinese channels, and we slept like babies again.
No problem of jet lag here, Amen! My husband's other health issue seemed to have disappeared as well when he is in China. Praise God!
R.T.
IKEA
Guangzhou, China
No comments:
Post a Comment