Chung Chou City

I’m at that age, where it doesn’t seem right to be making $, AND greedily taking red envelopes filled with lucky money.
So this year, I’ve decided to bring something besides the generic and cheap fruit offering for Chinese New Year. I’m going BIG this year.
There are certain food stuffs that are highly regarded:
Bird’s Nest-​I thought this was an actual nest, but it’s jarred and the color and texture of honey, okay, it’s basically bird saliva. Said to be good for health and skin, celebrities in China consume this product on a daily basis. Uh no thanks. I’ll stick with my multivitamin.
Dried Oysters/​Mushrooms-​picked up a few boxes of these.
Fat choy-​some dried hair-​like vegetation from the mountains in China. Supposed to bring luck and prosperity.
They are having a huge sale throughout the store. Bargaining and haggling are welcome here. Lots of other goodies also, from teas, to ginseng, to dried sea cucumber and seahorses. Don’t ask me what the Chinese do with cute little seahorses, it ain’t a tradition in my family.
The two ladies who run the shop are fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and English and a little bit on the pushier side. I made sure to ask if the items were high quality and authentic, the taller lady with cropped hair guaranteed it and told me if not, I can bring it back.
Many locations throughout the country, so again, I felt comfortable in knowing that this place is reputable, and even has a website! Three in SF, two in NY, Milpitas, Cupertino, Vegas and UC.
The items I bought were all boxed neatly in boxes and placed inside a green plastic shopping bag. She also added 15 bags of ginseng tea and a pack of red envelopes as complimentary gifts.
Today, she was not as giving. Probably b/​c of they met their quota today. Chinese biz is definitely fickle. Still got discounts, but no freebies. However she did give me the red shopping bag today. You see, the RED bags are special, and for bird’s nest purchasers.