Where can I buy a Mao Watch?
 

Hi,all. <BR>I will be visiting Hong Kong and Guangzhou in September. I want to purchase several Mao watches. Where I can buy them? Where are the good places to buy? How much should I pay for it?<BR><BR>Thank you for your help.<BR>Tomi

Tomi,<BR><BR>Do you mean the "waving Mao" watch? In Hong Kong, try Shanghai Tang at one of the following locations.<BR><BR>Pedder Building, Central District<BR>Peninsula Hotel, Kowloon<BR>HK International Airport<BR><BR>Price is around $48 US.<BR><BR>In Guangzhou, you might try one of the "wholesale" outlets. These are buidings with many stores specializing in clothing and accessories like watches, jewelry, handbags, etc. If they won't sell to you, flash a business card and say you have a retail store back home. Sorry I didn't get the addresses when I was there. Prices should definitely be lower on the mainland than in HK.<BR><BR>Bart<BR>

I haven't personally shopped for these in Guangzhou, but in Beijing the asking price in markets can be Y100 (US$12.50) or more, but I've bargained that to Y25 (US$3) without much difficulty, and a friend who bought two or three paid Y18 each (US$2.50).<BR><BR>Peter N-H<BR>http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html

Thank you, Bart and Peter. <BR>Your information is really helpful. In fact, we will also visit Nanning, Guangxi. So, we should check the watch there. It seems like you can buy Mao watch in any provice in China, correct?<BR><BR>Also, it seems that things in HK are much more expensive than in mainland China. I should wait to shop until we get to Nanning and Guangzhou.<BR><BR>Again, thanks for your advice.

I think it's a pretty safe assumption that the watch purchased at Shanghai Tang will be of a much higher quality.<BR><BR>The watches available in the marketplaces are pretty cheap & the quality reflects that. They seem to work fine, and aren't TOO obviously cheap-looking, but they are definately novelty watches, not serious timepieces. Shanghai Tang tends to do things only in high quality, so I would assume that a watch purchased there would last better.<BR><BR>We've bought the marketplace Mao watches for around 20 RMB, which is under $3. I think you should be able to find them in the markets in GZ and HK with no problem.<BR><BR>Good luck!