"Dont get locked in!!!" Shanghai Warnings Or Dangers Tip by jono84

One thing that I had to experience before truly believing it, was the way Chinese department stores shut.....!

It was late one evening, probably between 9.30 and 10pm, and I was trying on a shirt on the 8th floor of a department store. I was fully aware that the store would be closing shortly, but no announcements of any kind had as yet been made.....

When suddenly to my horror, all the lights went out, and all the staff were literally running toward the nearest exit!! I had to pinch myself, was this really happening?

I quickly got changed (which isn't easy in the dark), and prepared to hand the shirt to the store assistant which as far as i knew was still waiting just outside the changing-room, but she had already locked the till and gone!!

It seemed it was every man for himself just to prevent from being locked in over night......so i dropped the shirt and followed the shouts and screams from the staff coming from the other side of the floor..... I really could not believe what was happening. No one seemed to care that customers could be locked in?!?

Anyway i eventually found myself at the very back of a mass crowd of staff, all pushing tryng to get onto the one lift out of the place!
Fortunately, *to my huge relief*, one by one they recognised I was not one of them, and they let me get to the front...... but as I was let on first, so what seemed 40 staff crammed in behind me!! Luckily im not chlostrophobic!!

The lift led to an exit behind the store, down a back-alley...and I was just glad to be out!!

I can look back and laugh about it now, but at the time I was speechless...... Just a word of warning, beware of shop closing times, and ASK a member of staff how long it is until the shop closes..... Don't assume like me that you'll be given warning that the shop is abruptly closing!!