116 ANN VEECK ity, providing a daily opportunity for consumers to mingle with their neigh bors and form new friendships. Long-term, trusting relationships can develop between the food retailers and their customers, with both partners gaining economically and socially from the alliances. 8 Since most Nanjing food shoppers made frequent shopping trips, usually at the same time to the same food market(the one closest to their homes). one might expect the shoppers and vendors to have developed social net- works similar to the ones that have been observed at other nations open- air markets. The food markets of Nanjing would seem to have the poten- tial to become a public sphere that supports relationships beyond those of the family and the state. Yet in 1995 and 1996, little social activity could be observed in Nanjing food markets between customers and vendors Extended alliances can provide benefits for both partners in exchange relationships. As transactions move from discreet exchanges to relational ex- changes, buyers and sellers alike experience less risk and more satisfaction in the exchanges. But the main ingredient necessary for relational trans- actions to develop is trust without trust, transactions are necessanly ex tremely restricted. 2 In the food markets of Nanjing that I observed, there was a distinct paucity of trust. almost all of the food shoppers expressed their distrust of the men and women who managed the booths from which they bought their fruits, vegetables, meats, and other staples. A 52-year-old shop- per explained her choice of a particular vendor by saying, I like to buy pork from this man because, compared to other vendors, he's fair Of course. he also cheats, but he cheats a little less than the others A few shoppers had established relationships with particular vendors and accrued benefits from those relationships, such as the ability to order spe cial products in advance, but most consumers were cynical about their rela tionships with vendors. The shoppers claimed that vendors cheated thein in a number of ways: by selling unsanitary or counterfeit products, charging unreasonable prices, and using scales that inflated the weight of products This last practice seemed the most prevalent. To defend themselves against these dishonest vendors, many consumers brought their own scales with them to the market and reweighed products themselves, particularly more costly items. Many claimed that they weighed everything with their own scales be fore paying for their produce. One consumer felt that it was enough just to show vendors that she carried her owm scale to be confident that she would De c harged fairly Some food markets placed a public scale prominently in the middle of 18. See Goldman 1974: Kaynak 1g85: Kaynak and Tamer 1g82: Yavas, Kaynak, and Borak 19. Dwyer. Schurr and Oh 1987: see also Mac Neil 1980 20. Schurr and Ozanne 1985: Douglas 1g89