in one store we saw a chang dynasty wine amphora that was supposed to have belonged to someone named chen fei in the 1890s and a strikingly realistic three-colored tang horse , but for the most part we waded through mobs of people who stood twenty and thirty deep in front of counters displaying the latest sweaters or shirts available to the chinese in 1980 , which meant that when we finally got close enough to actually see what all the pushing and shoving was about we were invariable surprised to find that the item was bland in color and almost nondescript in terms of style .