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The Chinese never feel they’ve made a good purchase unless they’ve haggled over the price first! And they drive a hard bargain too. Whether you make a purchase at a street stall or a department store, everything is up for negotiation.

In this clip, we also visit a cloisonné factory to see how the ancient art of making enamel pots is still going strong. This clip covers asking how much things are, some examples of prices, useful phrases for bargaining and the colours red, blue and yellow.

This clip can be used as an introduction to buying or selling phrases. Use the clip to introduce key phrases, then ask the students to create their own auction event for selling different items. Students can take it in turn to host the auction while the rest of the class bid by saying different prices in Chinese. The clip could also introduce the cultural element of pricing in China. Compare this with pricing in the UK, and explain why prices in China are likely to include an 8, 6 or 9. What is the currency exchange rate between the British pound and the Chinese renminbi?