dj_canada

Need area rug for new house. Any chance of finding good quality rug in Thailand or Hong Kong? Recommendation or Suggestions???

If we find one, any advise on shipping back to Canada?

USNR

In Hong Kong and very near the Ocean Terminal Market you will find a Friendship Store, run by the government and displaying all kinds of things from all over mainland China. We found two matching cloisonne lamps there. The store can arrange all shipping of your carpets. Takes about five weeks.

Cicerone

Before you go, spend a few hours at some rug shops in your area to get an idea of quality and price. This is the only way you will know if you are getting a bargain in Asia. There are bargains to be had, but an educated consumer gets the best price. I believe the store mentioned above is the Chinese Arts and Crafts Store. They have fixed prices, so you cannot bargain. At every other shop, do some VERY hard bargaining. Walk out of the store if you don't get your price, you can always come back.

The address of the Chinese Arts and Crafts store is:

China Arts and Crafts Department Store
Star House, 3 Salisbury Rd. (Tsimshatsui)
(at the Star Ferry Pier)

In Hong Kong, you will find many rugs shops along Hollywood Road on Hong Kong island. This is also an interesting street with lots of antique shops and some restaurants, and a temple toward the end. Shopping here makes for a pleasant afternoon or morning. On the other side of the island not to far from Aberdeen is an area called Ap Lei Chau, where you will find a large warehouse called Horizon Plaza full of antique shops, some of which sell rugs. A good one I have used in the past is:

Shambala
2md Floor Horizon Plaza
2 Lee Hing Street
Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong
Tel: 852-2555-2997
Website: http://www.shambala-art.com/

You can take a taxi from central (about $25), or a bus. There may even be a shuttle bus run by the warehouse. Take a look at the website for Shambala, it has a map and directions.

There are sometimes rug auctions at hotels on weekends in Hong Kong, check the Friday or Saturday main English newspaper, the South China Morning Post.

With regard to shipping, this may cost as much or more than the rug. Try to bring the rug with you. You would be amazed how small the rugs can be folded and wrapped. Even a 9 by 12 rug can be folded into a square (albeit a heavy one) which you can check. You may have to pay excess baggage, but this should be cheaper than shipping. If you want to ship, the store can arrange it for you. This is probably the easiest way. It would probably be too large to ship by using Mail Boxes, etc (but see locations below if you want to try.) Shipping by DHL or FedEx would be very expensive, IMO. You can also ship yourself by using a commercial shipper, but if you are there for only a few days, it is probably not worth the time and hassle of finding a shipper, bringing the rug to them (they are often at the airport or near the piers), and picking it up at the other end (as they often don't deliver, just do point to point).

Don?t forget that you may have to pay customs duty on the rug when you bring it in or have it shipped to Canada. You should look into this before you leave as well, as you will want to add this to the overall price of the rug.

Cicerone

I could not find any Mail Boxes Etc locations in Hong Kong (take a look at mbe.com yourself, maybe I missed something). I did find UPS locations at:

Ground Floor, Loyal Centre
828 Cheung Sha Wan Road
Kowloon
Hong Kong
Mon - Fri: 09:30 - 19:30
Sat: 09:30 - 18:00
Sun and Public Holidays: Closed
Customer Service Hotline: 852-2735-3535

I think this would be a very expensive way to ship.


Mail Boxes Etc in Bangkok:

CENTRAL PINKLAO, 7/1 BAROMRAJCHONNANEE RD.
BANGKOK, 10700 - THAILAND
Phone: 66-2-884-6778

2929 CARREFOUR RAMA 4, ROOM 8, RAMA 4 RD. KLONGTON, KLONGTOEY
BANGKOK, 10110 - THAILAND
Phone: 66-2-661-5695

BTS PROMPHONG STATION, E5-11/3 SUKHUMVIT KLONGTON
BANGKOK, 10110 - THAILAND
Phone: 66-2-663-4800

3300 TESCO LOTUS - RAMA 4, RAMA 4 RD. KLONGTON, KLONGTOEY
BANGKOK, 10110 - THAILAND
Phone: 66-2-298-0678

1710 LOTUS SUKHUMVIT 50, SUKHUMVIT RD., PRAKONONG KLONGTOEY
BANGKOK, PRAKONONG, KLONGTOEY - THAILAND
Phone: 66-2-742-9800

Jacquie

Our experience with rug buying in Hong Kong is not a favorable one. We bought two rugs, a circular one for the foyer of our apartment and a small area rug for under the coffee table in our living room. Both were wrapped into very small packages that we placed in luggage which we purchased there (very inexpensive) and checked as luggage. When we got home, the rug that was supposed to go under our coffee table was not the size we picked out; it was smaller. Also, one of the local department stores was running a sale on oriental rugs. We went to check it out and found our rugs for the same price we paid in Hong Kong. Guess we didn't hard bargain enough. We sure won't buy rugs out of the country again. Not worth the hassle.

Kathie

Cicerone's advice to explore prices at home first is excellent. Make sure you know exactly what you are looking for - a classic Perisan? a Chinese? a Persian pattern made in Pakistan? Wool? Silk? I assume you want a hand knotted rug rather than a machine made rug.

IF you know your carpets you can get good deals in Asia. I've not purchased in Hong Kong or Bangkok, but I have purchased Persian carpets in Singapore - both larger ones (9x12) and smaller ones over last last 15 years or so. I find that if I know what I want and what the prices are here in the US (at most rug stores in the US you should bargain as well) I can get carpets for about half of the bargained US price in Singapore. I've always carried mine home in my luggage (for smaller rugs) or "as" luggage (folded, wrapped, and with rope handles) for larger carpets.

If you don't know much about carpets, you can almost guarantee that you'll pay too much for something that is not what you were told it was.