Essay
Zoyi
Essay3ObservationNote.docxDaian Yu
Dr. Rhee
English 0812
4 April 2018
Observation notes
observation of Asian supermarket in Chinatown
The Asian supermarket is located in 143 N.11th Street, Philadelphia, Chinatown. The first time when I came to the Chinatown, the Asian supermarket did not attract me a lot. Because it looks like old and shabby from the outside. After asking my friend the recommendations about supermarket in Chinatown. They told me the Asian is one of the biggest supermarkets in Philadelphia’s Chinatown.
As I said before the appearance of Asian Supermarket is shabby. There is a big glass door in the entrance. And I cannot see the internal presentation from outside. Because there are many advertisements are pasted on the door. And it also makes the market look like inconspicuous. After I went into the entrance, I realized the market is built in the basement. This is the reason why I can't see interior decoration from outside. There is a lot of space inside the supermarket, which is very different from that small entrance. Although, the space is larger than normal Asian market, there are too much stuff here. It makes the aisle much more narrow than normal American supermarket. And I can find almost everything that I want, especially the snack. I can find many snacks from China, also there are many snacks from Taiwan and other Asian countries. The price of vegetables and fruits are much cheaper than normal American market. Also, the quality is good. And the price of seafood is a little higher than the area that I live in China. Maybe, the reason is that Philadelphia is not close to the sea, it is hard to carry seafood in a long distance. So, it makes the price seafood are higher. Also, I heart from the local customers and friends that the quality of seafood is not good. As for meat, pork is one of the popular meat in supermarket. Some customers are preferring to buy pork than beef. Because the price of pork is cheaper. And many Asians are much more like pork than beef. This is one difference of food culture than America. The Asian supermarket is also affect by American culture. It also sells American food, suck like cheese, pasta and different types of drinks. It is a good way to attract more customer.
Furthermore, I notice that there is a big difference than supermarket in china is that the language on the whole stuff here is traditional Chinese, maybe it associated with the first generation of immigrants’ language from Hongkong or Fujian. Sometimes, I cannot understand the character on the stuff immediately. And I also find an interesting thing is that, the owner of market keeps a black cat in the market. The cat walks around the market and shuttles between the shelves. Or sometimes following the customers, just like a guard.
when I checked out, I saw cashier talked with an American lady. The cashier introduced the way about how to cook with ingredient to taste better. After I checked out, I found that there are two doors in the Asian supermarket. One the is I said before, the other is connected with a parking lot. I think it is convenient for customers who drive car.
Overall, the Asian supermarket is pretty nice. And there are still more development space for the market.
