I have a new definition of The Great Crusade: Finding an open Games Workshop in Shanghai... when you don't know your way around.
I recently visited Hong Kong and Shanghai. No GW stores in HK, although I did manage to find a local games club. More of a shop really, with a focus on board games more than table top miniature games... which when you consider the average floor space enjoyed by HK families is not entirely surprising.
In Shanghai my partner (who speaks Mandarin - I only speak English and BS... in English) did some research on the web (itself a surprisingly challenging enterprise in China) and found an address for a GW store in Shanghai. It's not like we mistook it for a tourist attraction, but with more than 2 decades of recreational shenanigans and god only knows how much hard earned currency poured into this hobby I figured I should pop in - just on principle. After taking my Partner shopping, some trial and error with taxis and numerous stops for directions (Police and security types were actually quite helpful) we found ourselves in the sort of up market mall where only the premium brands are on sale and even that costs more than it does in Australia. We found the shop number and it was a clothing boutique. Apparently we had missed the GW by about 6 weeks.
The next day, after taking my partner shopping again, we decided to walk from the Mall to the address we had for where the GW had moved to. 30 minutes wading through humid 38 degree smog and we found it. It was closed. At this point I was wondering just how much I cared about going to a GW store. I mean, they do tend to a certain sameness, even in China. But my partner had her blood up. Nothing gets between my girlfriend and a shop.
A couple of days later, after a day trip and even more shopping, we took a taxi to the Science and Technology Museum in Pudong (that's the part of Shanghai with the crazy tall buildings - I mean half a kilometer high... that <b>[censored]</b> freaks out even the birds). We walked around the museum, past a woman having a yell and smacking her husband with her sandal, to exit 6 at the back of the Museum, across the courtyard to a market, around the market a few times until we realized the directions were for exit 6 of the the metro station attached to the market attached to exit 6 of the museum and not the market at exit 6 of the Museum (which the directions had inferred) and found it!
We met the bloke called John who worked there who told us that really it wasn't that hard to find. Presumably he means if you already know where it is, and can read directions in Mandarin. We also met the only customer in the shop, who was also Australian. Not sure if I should read anything into that but there you go. Turns out Shanghai GW is a tad cheaper than Australian GW so I bought a pack of Blood Letters and a Blood Thirster (yeah I know that's not a wood elf but I've been playing good guys for decades - and my WE keep getting thrashed by Demans) which shall be known henceforth as the greater demon of Shanghai.
The Crusade
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The Crusade
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- Beithir Seun
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Re: The Crusade
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em right?Turns out Shanghai GW is a tad cheaper than Australian GW so I bought a pack of Blood Letters and a Blood Thirster (yeah I know that's not a wood elf but I've been playing good guys for decades - and my WE keep getting thrashed by Demans) which shall be known henceforth as the greater demon of Shanghai.
It's also nice to know that I'm not the only person who makes a point of finding the GW store in every place they visit
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Re: The Crusade
So there are at least two other people in the world who do this?Beithir Seun wrote:It's also nice to know that I'm not the only person who makes a point of finding the GW store in every place they visit
Always remember the first rule of military command: "They don't like it up 'em!"