Shopping Beijing & Shanghai - need advice please
Apr 10th, 2007, 08:29 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 75
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Shopping Beijing & Shanghai - need advice please
We will be traveling in Beijing and Shanghai/Suzhou in July. We do not ussualy shop much when traveling except souvenirs, prefer to spend time sightseeing and besides, we live in NY and everything can be bought here. But everybody says you must shop in China - pricewise at least plus to buy some unique souvenirs. So I have a few questions:
1. Where is the best to shop: Shanghai or Beijing? I would prefer Beijing since this is our last city in China. Is there anything that is specialty of Beijing or Shanghai?
2. Are fakes in China really much better than on Canal Street in NY, especially handbags?
3. I will be traveling with my 21 years daughter. Where is the best place to buy silver jewelry with semiprecious stones? I would like to go to a place that guarantees that stones and silver are real, not fake.
4. Where is the best place to buy silk kimonos? What silk items Suzhou is famous for? Where to shop in Suzhou?
5. What souvenirs are China famous for?
All advices are much appreciated.
1. Where is the best to shop: Shanghai or Beijing? I would prefer Beijing since this is our last city in China. Is there anything that is specialty of Beijing or Shanghai?
2. Are fakes in China really much better than on Canal Street in NY, especially handbags?
3. I will be traveling with my 21 years daughter. Where is the best place to buy silver jewelry with semiprecious stones? I would like to go to a place that guarantees that stones and silver are real, not fake.
4. Where is the best place to buy silk kimonos? What silk items Suzhou is famous for? Where to shop in Suzhou?
5. What souvenirs are China famous for?
All advices are much appreciated.
Apr 10th, 2007, 09:59 AM
#2
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 895
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Buy what you can in Beijing and what you can't in Shanghai. There are good shops about but it's a matter of finding them. Don't buy in tourist traps like the one you'll be dragged into on the way to the Great Wall at Badaling but at the Wall is an excellent market with dirt cheap prices where everyone tries to undercut everyone else.
If you're buying silver or precious stones, there are no guarantees they are not fake except maybe at a place where they will cost more than at home. Silver should be stamped with parts per thousand, etc.
China is famous for jade, glass balls (painted on the inside. Good place at the tea garden in Shanghai). Lots of knick-knacks. When I was in Beijing a few years back (in December), Russians were stocking up on fur coats at around $2000 a time.
If you're buying silver or precious stones, there are no guarantees they are not fake except maybe at a place where they will cost more than at home. Silver should be stamped with parts per thousand, etc.
China is famous for jade, glass balls (painted on the inside. Good place at the tea garden in Shanghai). Lots of knick-knacks. When I was in Beijing a few years back (in December), Russians were stocking up on fur coats at around $2000 a time.
Apr 10th, 2007, 10:40 AM
#3
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 253
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You can get great quality replica watches at the Pearl Market in Beijing. Yaxiu (ya-show) in Beijing is also excellent for clothing. If you're in Beijing on the weekend, make time to go to Panjiayuan (dirt market) for the best swap meet you've ever been to. Skip Wangfujing and the Friendship store - both are have shoddy merchandise that is extremely overpiced.
Shanghai really just has Yuyuan for tourists. It's a nice shopping district with the usual tourist fare, but good for gifts.
You get a much better selection of fake goods than on Canal St., at much better prices if you are a good negotiator. The level of quality varies as well, so look around before you buy.
As for real stones, despite what anyone might say, there are no guarantees in China, period. Be careful.
Never buy from a shop on an organized tour - there are always kickbacks built into the price, even after you haggle them down.
Shanghai really just has Yuyuan for tourists. It's a nice shopping district with the usual tourist fare, but good for gifts.
You get a much better selection of fake goods than on Canal St., at much better prices if you are a good negotiator. The level of quality varies as well, so look around before you buy.
As for real stones, despite what anyone might say, there are no guarantees in China, period. Be careful.
Never buy from a shop on an organized tour - there are always kickbacks built into the price, even after you haggle them down.
Apr 10th, 2007, 11:49 AM
#4
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 85
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
HONG QIAO MARKET ¡V I¡¦ve heard it called the Red Market or Pearl Market as well was pretty fun.
Hong Qiao Shichang 4318 4th in the Chongwen District near the Temple of Heaven
Open Hours: 8.30am-7pm daily. This strange 4 story building houses just about everything, and has several hundred vendors. It¡¦s one stop shopping for all the souvenir items you saw around (but at better prices), antiques, clothing, silk, luggage, jewelry, linens, paintings and watercolors (the list goes on and on). The top 2 floors didn¡¦t open until 10 am, and we didn¡¦t have time to wait, so I didn¡¦t get to the jewelry places.
Make sure you bargain hard. I noticed they would give me a price, and after bargaining, I usually paid half of what they were asking for. There are also so many vendors selling similar items, you can always go to another stall if you don't get the price you want.
I bought several sets of 6 silk placemats, matching napkins, and chopsticks for $5.00 each. I saw a set in the U.S. for $30 so I thought I got a great deal. I also bought beautiful silk brocade tablecloths for $12 a piece. If I had more time, I could have spent more time bargaining down because I bought 5 at one stall. I bought beautiful silk covered photo albums for $4, which was great to put all my China photos in.
I bought several hand-painted watercolors of flowers for $3 a piece. When I had them framed at home, they really look wonderful.
I also bought antique hand carved wooden window decorations for $15. When I returned to the U.S., Gumps had similar ones in their catalog for $195 a piece! I wish I had bought more.
ƒ¼
Hong Qiao Shichang 4318 4th in the Chongwen District near the Temple of Heaven
Open Hours: 8.30am-7pm daily. This strange 4 story building houses just about everything, and has several hundred vendors. It¡¦s one stop shopping for all the souvenir items you saw around (but at better prices), antiques, clothing, silk, luggage, jewelry, linens, paintings and watercolors (the list goes on and on). The top 2 floors didn¡¦t open until 10 am, and we didn¡¦t have time to wait, so I didn¡¦t get to the jewelry places.
Make sure you bargain hard. I noticed they would give me a price, and after bargaining, I usually paid half of what they were asking for. There are also so many vendors selling similar items, you can always go to another stall if you don't get the price you want.
I bought several sets of 6 silk placemats, matching napkins, and chopsticks for $5.00 each. I saw a set in the U.S. for $30 so I thought I got a great deal. I also bought beautiful silk brocade tablecloths for $12 a piece. If I had more time, I could have spent more time bargaining down because I bought 5 at one stall. I bought beautiful silk covered photo albums for $4, which was great to put all my China photos in.
I bought several hand-painted watercolors of flowers for $3 a piece. When I had them framed at home, they really look wonderful.
I also bought antique hand carved wooden window decorations for $15. When I returned to the U.S., Gumps had similar ones in their catalog for $195 a piece! I wish I had bought more.
ƒ¼
Apr 28th, 2007, 10:30 AM
#6
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 130
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
1. There are differences between Shanghai and Beijing, but you won't really notice. If you're getting typical stuff - knockoffs, clothes, souvenirs - then it's all exactly the same.
2. Knockoffs are going to be the same. NY gets these from China.
3. Forget about precious stones. No way to tell what's real. I'd focus on pearls instead - China is the best place in the world to buy cheap, real pearls.
4. Uh, kimonos are Japanese.
Oh, by the way - don't buy souvenirs in the airports. They sell the same crap that you'll see at every tourist shop in China marked up 10x. Seriously - 10x.
2. Knockoffs are going to be the same. NY gets these from China.
3. Forget about precious stones. No way to tell what's real. I'd focus on pearls instead - China is the best place in the world to buy cheap, real pearls.
4. Uh, kimonos are Japanese.
Oh, by the way - don't buy souvenirs in the airports. They sell the same crap that you'll see at every tourist shop in China marked up 10x. Seriously - 10x.
