Of all the places I go to regularly in Shanghai, Lawson, a Japanese chain of convenient stores around Shanghai, has to be my most frequented place. I first visited Lawson within hours of my arrival to Shanghai, and since then have faithfully returned two to three times everyday. At first, Lawson seemed like any other small, 24-hour convenient store with drinks and snacks, fluorescent lights and vinyl flooring, and of course a distinct smell; however, over the last three months, I’ve realized how much this one store captures so much about my life in China.
The Purchases
Anyone who knows me, knows I often eat the same thing day in and day out—this is no different from the food I pick up at Lawson. My top three daily purchases:
1) Magnum Bar—a delicious Dove-like ice cream. Besides very expensive Haagen-Dazs, China does not have traditional hard ice cream. My 5RMB Magnum Bar adequately satisfies my need for ice cream.
2) Aloe Yogurt. This yogurt is similar to most yogurts in China. It is a drinkable consistency and the aloe flavor is sweeter than plain yogurt but not as sweet as fruit based yogurts.
3) Iced Green Tea. Unlike most sweetened iced teas in the United States, the brand of green tea I drink here has perfected the amount of sweetness. I can still taste the tea flavor, but it is sweetened just enough to be a refreshing drink.
The Smell
Entering the store, you cannot avoid its distinct, Chinese smell. At the counter, they have 3-4 different pots filled with oil and different fried meats on sticks that local students always eat. During the last few months, I have eaten some pretty bizarre foods, but I will never eat the hot food from Lawson. I am not sure how often they change the oil, but I couldn’t imagine it is too often.
The People
The Lawson employees are what make this convenient store so great.
The number of employees is always more than necessary. Most of the day, the employees sit around on milk crates talking/yelling to each other. There are two cash registers, but unless it is extraordinarily busy, only one person works behind the counter. Sometimes I see the employees doing an inventory, but this is rare. For months we’ve tried to figure out why they need six to eight people working at this tiny convenient store, but it just makes no sense.
My favorite Lawson employee works the evening shift. He takes his job seriously and is the most careful person I’ve seen with money. When he gives back change, he counts the change behind the register, then, instead of putting it in my hand, counts it back, double checks to make sure the bills aren’t stuck, and puts the change on the counter. As the line grows behind me, I fumble to pick up the spread out bills and coin. The process of checking out with this evening man is always slow, and no matter what, I cannot get him to put the money in my hand.
Hi Ryan,
As always another very interesting blog! I found it fascinating the sign is written in English. Is it common to have stores/signs in English? Pretty funny your thoughts about not eating the meat in Lawson’s. That’s exactly the same thinking I feel when I go to our convenience stores. There’s no way I’d eat a hotdog from one of those machines where they are spinning around and around all day long, or one of those pizza slices that appear to have been sitting there overnight. On another note. . . . I recently evaluated a 3 year old girl who was adopted from China. The adoptive parents noted she was toilet trained at age 1!!! I was wondering if you knew if this was limited to the orphanages or if this is a common occurance in the Chinese culture??
A lot of chains have signs in English–there are number of Hong Kong convenient/drugstore chains around Shanghai, and Western chains downtown. Local restaurants and stores don’t usually have English signs, but those that try to cater to foreigners/appear to be a foreign store use English (often very poorly). Shanghai is such a cosmopolitan, international, and wealthy city, so this is not the norm for the remaining 98% of China’s population.
That is interesting about toilet training–I don’t know the cultural customs off hand. I do know poorer children, less so in Shanghai and more in the country, have holes in their pants, so there isn’t a need for diapers. I see it every now and then here, but again, Shanghai is definitely the most progressive/Westernized city in China.
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