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An ear for music: thousands have Shi to thank for their enjoyment
By Xu Wenwen |
September 22, 2009, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IN the action movie "Face Off," Nicolas Cage puts a pair of headphones on a small boy to put him at his ease while all around him a fierce gun battle rages.
When I put on headphones in Shi Letian's Sennheiser headphone store, I was reminded of the soothing power of music that I remembered from that scene in the cinema.
The 68-old-year lady is sitting in a 5-square-meter crowded room that is an exclusive agency in Hangzhou for Sennheiser, the German hi-fi manufacturer.
Featuring all types of Sennheiser headphones piled in shelves and desks, a major attraction of the store is "Old Lady Shi" herself.
She is well-known among music lovers in Hangzhou mainly because of her forte: non-stop chat, especially chat mingled with English words and Cantonese.
The nickname "Old Lady Shi" is one of respect, and it originates from her good name when she was in the retail business in an electronic market on Hushu Road N.
When you entered the market, anyone would tell you exactly where Old Lady Shi's store was and it was a popular haunt of numerous Hangzhou audiophiles.
Though Shi has now closed her retail store and began to focus on wholesale three months ago, many people still buy from her because of her reasonable price, great service and of course the opportunity to chat.
Her customers describe her as "progressive, super talkative, mystical and fashionable."
One has said: "I love to talk with her, she never deceives, a normal person but great."
Another describes her as "awesome." Yet another says: "She's an absolutely fashionable old woman."
Conversations between customers and Shi range from Chinese history to the information age, from feudal society to world politics, and those nonstop, unrestrained and vigorous talks are much welcomed by her customers.
Shi started her business in 1994 after she retired from her job as a languages teacher.
"Music can heal people's hearts, music belongs to everyone, that's why I chose to sell headphones, as an indirect way to spread music," Shi says.
Shi loves to read and the latest work by her bedside is a business novel called "Trap" written by Wang Qiang who is popular among young readers.
She is very much in favor of a sentence in the book: "Selling goods is equal to selling thoughts."
"I hope my goods are acceptable, thus I am content," she says.
She not only reads books but gives them to her customers, along with CDs. "Books and music endow people wisdom, peace, kindness and harmony, and is good for the young," Shi says.
"People like to bargain but I cannot reduce the price to grab customers from other stores, which is breaking the trade rules, so I give gifts."
As one of the first high-end headphone sellers in Hangzhou, Shi is a businesswoman with principles.
She never sells electronic games because she believes they are harmful to the younger generation.
She doesn't enter into bargaining because her products are reasonably priced.
Aiming to make exorbitant profits would set a bad example to other sellers, she says.
Shi has met thousand of customers in her 15 years of selling headphones.
But there was one encounter which touched her deeply.
Once a boy tried out a pair of headphones pricing at around 2,000 yuan in the store, but he didn't have enough money to pay for them. He determined to save up but, just a few months later, Shi learned that he had died from cancer.
Shi got the news from his friend and regretted that she did not know about his condition as she would have ensured he got his prized headphones.
"Good headphones are for music lovers. I definitely would have given him them if he had told me.
"When I am too old to run the store, I'll distribute all the headphones and CDs to my friends and loyal customers, hoping they can share music with their friends and family."
Shi is opening a music salon in a small room next to her store and she has purchased sofas and stereos. The salon is going to open at the end of October, and the next plan is to buy some lights and curtains, "to create some sentimental and elegant tone!" she laughs.
Address: 569 Moganshan Rd.
How to get there: Buses K70, K30, K23, K15, K1, K188, K133 to Dasuo Bridge stop
Tel: (0571) 8808-5841
When I put on headphones in Shi Letian's Sennheiser headphone store, I was reminded of the soothing power of music that I remembered from that scene in the cinema.
The 68-old-year lady is sitting in a 5-square-meter crowded room that is an exclusive agency in Hangzhou for Sennheiser, the German hi-fi manufacturer.
Featuring all types of Sennheiser headphones piled in shelves and desks, a major attraction of the store is "Old Lady Shi" herself.
She is well-known among music lovers in Hangzhou mainly because of her forte: non-stop chat, especially chat mingled with English words and Cantonese.
The nickname "Old Lady Shi" is one of respect, and it originates from her good name when she was in the retail business in an electronic market on Hushu Road N.
When you entered the market, anyone would tell you exactly where Old Lady Shi's store was and it was a popular haunt of numerous Hangzhou audiophiles.
Though Shi has now closed her retail store and began to focus on wholesale three months ago, many people still buy from her because of her reasonable price, great service and of course the opportunity to chat.
Her customers describe her as "progressive, super talkative, mystical and fashionable."
One has said: "I love to talk with her, she never deceives, a normal person but great."
Another describes her as "awesome." Yet another says: "She's an absolutely fashionable old woman."
Conversations between customers and Shi range from Chinese history to the information age, from feudal society to world politics, and those nonstop, unrestrained and vigorous talks are much welcomed by her customers.
Shi started her business in 1994 after she retired from her job as a languages teacher.
"Music can heal people's hearts, music belongs to everyone, that's why I chose to sell headphones, as an indirect way to spread music," Shi says.
Shi loves to read and the latest work by her bedside is a business novel called "Trap" written by Wang Qiang who is popular among young readers.
She is very much in favor of a sentence in the book: "Selling goods is equal to selling thoughts."
"I hope my goods are acceptable, thus I am content," she says.
She not only reads books but gives them to her customers, along with CDs. "Books and music endow people wisdom, peace, kindness and harmony, and is good for the young," Shi says.
"People like to bargain but I cannot reduce the price to grab customers from other stores, which is breaking the trade rules, so I give gifts."
As one of the first high-end headphone sellers in Hangzhou, Shi is a businesswoman with principles.
She never sells electronic games because she believes they are harmful to the younger generation.
She doesn't enter into bargaining because her products are reasonably priced.
Aiming to make exorbitant profits would set a bad example to other sellers, she says.
Shi has met thousand of customers in her 15 years of selling headphones.
But there was one encounter which touched her deeply.
Once a boy tried out a pair of headphones pricing at around 2,000 yuan in the store, but he didn't have enough money to pay for them. He determined to save up but, just a few months later, Shi learned that he had died from cancer.
Shi got the news from his friend and regretted that she did not know about his condition as she would have ensured he got his prized headphones.
"Good headphones are for music lovers. I definitely would have given him them if he had told me.
"When I am too old to run the store, I'll distribute all the headphones and CDs to my friends and loyal customers, hoping they can share music with their friends and family."
Shi is opening a music salon in a small room next to her store and she has purchased sofas and stereos. The salon is going to open at the end of October, and the next plan is to buy some lights and curtains, "to create some sentimental and elegant tone!" she laughs.
Address: 569 Moganshan Rd.
How to get there: Buses K70, K30, K23, K15, K1, K188, K133 to Dasuo Bridge stop
Tel: (0571) 8808-5841
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