06.12.08
What to buy in China…What not to buy in China
This past week I’ve been spending my time getting everything ready for my upcoming trip to China. This will be the fifth time traveling from the United States to China, so I have my routine down pretty well. Before my first trip to China, I distinctively remember a feeling that I would need to buy all necessary items for my trip before I left the US. While there certainly is worth to the old Boy Scout adage of “always be prepared,” you can save yourself quite a bit of money buy waiting until you arrive in China to buy certain products. Here’s a rundown, from my experience, of what to buy in China, and what to buy before you go to China.*
Contacts and Eyeglasses
The last time I bought a pair of glasses in the US, they cost me $250 USD. The last time I bought a pair in China they were only 400 RMB (approx $60 US). The frame quality was similar, and I could see perfectly out of both of them. For this upcoming trip to China I plan to buy 2 new pairs of glasses, a full-year supply of contact lenses, and athletic goggles. When I figured everything out, I estimate I will save around $500, compared to buying them in the US. Moral of the story: stock up on eyewear in the Middle Kingdom, and save yourself a bundle of money.
Footwear
Last week I bought a pair of Teva sandals. They cost me 50 dollars. I bought my previous pair of Tevas for the same price two years before I first left for China. I wore them throughout my junior and senior year of college, before finally throwing them out after my first semester in China (a total of nearly 3 years). After that point, I went through a series of Chinese Teva knock-offs each purchased for around 100 RMB (approx $14 USD). The longest any of them lasted before completely falling apart was four months. I’ve had similar experiences with athletic shoes and hiking boots. Additionally, if you wear bigger than a size 10 US, don’t even think about shopping for shoes in China. You’re wasting your time. Footwear may be cheap in China, but when you consider how often they need replacing, you pay almost the same as you would had you bought the name brand. Do yourself and your feet a favor and buy your footwear before you go to China.
Note: Name brand shoes such as Nike and Reebok can be purchased in most Chinese major cities, but will typically cost more than they do in the US.
Cigarettes
Chinese cigarettes come in many varieties, both expensive and cheap. The ones I most often see smoked by foreigners cost around 7-8 RMB a pack (approx $1 USD). Currently cigarettes in Chicago are selling just under $8 a pack. So from a cost-basis standpoint, it’s certainly worth it to puff on those Zhong Nan Hai’s while you’re in the Middle Kingdom. Be warned however, from my limited cigarette smoking experience, Chinese cigarettes are considerably stronger than American ones, and contain more even tar and nicotine. Most Chinese kiosks do sell “Marlboros,” but 99% of them are just Chinese cigarettes in Marlboro packaging. If by chance you are looking to gain some face with Chinese men, bring a carton of real Marlboro cigarettes to distribute as gifts. Make sure the recipients know these Marlboros are the real ones, purchased in the US, not bought in China. Do not give cigarettes to Chinese women as gifts.
Toiletries
Toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, shampoo, conditioner, combs, brushes, cue tips, hairspray and just about any other bathroom product imaginable can be purchased in China for a fraction of their cost in the US. There’s no reason to risk having them leak or explode during your flight, when you could just buy them in China cheaper than they would cost back home. The one exception to this rule is deodorant, which by in large the Chinese do not use. When it is used, it is somewhat of a low-volume specialty item and can be more expensive than it would be abroad. In major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, deodorant can be purchased in most department stores, but if you’re going anywhere else, you may want to bring your own, just to be safe.
Electronics
These days, many name-brand electronic devices such as laptops, cell phones, PDAs, and cameras are produced in China. However, this does NOT mean they are cheaper when purchased in the Middle Kingdom. In fact, most name brand electronics are actually more expensive in China than they are in the United States. The only electronics which will be cheaper in China are inexpensive, off-brand, Chinese-made devices such as MP3 players and cell phones. However, the quality on many of these devices can be suspect. From my experience, you’ll be lucky if they last more than a few months. To avoid any hassles, buy your electronics before you go to China.
Cell Phones
Chinese cell phones all use SIM cards. The SIM card can be taken out and replaced by another one, effectively switching your cell number. If your phone uses SIM cards, try taking it with you and buying a Chinese SIM card (approx $5 USD). For owners of phones which do not have a SIM card slot, you are going to need to buy a new phone in China, which is not cheap (the cheaper ones start at around $100 USD). However, the service will be much cheaper than what you would pay for an international plan. If your phone uses the cards, take it with and try your luck. If it doesn’t, just leave it at home.
Clothing
Most clothing in China comes in 2 kinds. There’s the expensive, glitzy, name-brand stuff, of which each article costs more than the average migrant worker’s monthly salary. Then there’s the cheap stuff, in which each item usually costs no more than a meal at McDonald’s. I have encountered two major problems with cheap Chinese clothing. Firstly, like shoes, the quality is generally not good. If you buy a shirt for 20 RMB, look at it like clothing rental, since it’s probably going to fall apart after a couple washes anyway. The other problem is that Chinese clothing styles are very different from those worn in the West, and finding clothes which appeal to Western tastes can be a taxing experience. If you’re tall, matters will be even more complicated. I’m 6 feet 1 inch. When I would finally find a shirt or pair of pants in China which appealed to my tastes, more often than not it wouldn’t come in my size anyway. Make matters simple and buy your clothes before you get to the Middle Kingdom.
With all this in mind, my bags are packed—clothing, shoes, deodorant, and electronics all in place. Next post will be coming from Beijing.
*These comparisons all come from US prices. I can’t vouch for prices in other Western countries. Anybody care to comment?
maxiewawa
said,
June 12, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Everything in this post is true for Australian readers too. Just change “cell phone” to “mobile phone”, “6 feet 1 inch” to “180cm”, change the cultural references (“Teva”??)and delete the part about cheap phones without SIM cards (they don’t exist in Australia) and it might have been written by an Australian.
Mark
said,
June 12, 2008 at 6:22 pm
About the cell phones – most of the cell phones in the States that use SIM cards are locked, meaning that they will only work with a SIM card from that service provider. You usually can not just switch a new SIM card into the phone. However, when you buy a phone over here in China they are all unlocked and will work with any providers SIM card, you just need make sure that it is GSM and has both tri-band and quad-band.
Although the phones are more expensive, it is about in some ways better then the states in that you are not tied to a 2-3 year contract with a cancellation penalty, and with the unlocked phones we can simply buy SIM cards wherever we travel and get a local number that we can use for the time we are there. I think in the US that only companies that have SIM cards are T-mobile and AT&T, but that may have changed since we were last back….
Tora
said,
June 12, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Actually 6′1″ is 185cm, and I definitely agree about the clothing. I’m 205cm and I have trouble finding clothes and shoes in western Europe without even mentioning what it was like for me when I was in China.
Turtlewind
said,
June 12, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Two points to add to the “phones” section:
*Many countries that use SIM cards lock the phones to a single operator, so you can’t just drop in your new China Mobile SIM, but most mobile stores in China will unlock your phone for a small fee.
*High-end phones in China often have less features than the ones you buy abroad, but cost the same price or more. I’m talking about official models here, not knock-offs – for example, the Chinese version of the Nokia N95 has no WiFi and no 3G or HSDPA, but it costs the same as it would elsewhere. Fortunately there are places to buy grey-market handsets imported from HK or Europe.
Benjamin Ross
said,
June 12, 2008 at 8:02 pm
@maxiewawa
Teva’s are sport sandals, that have been popular on-and-off for years in the US. “Teva” is Hebrew for “nature.”
@Mark
I would agree with you that in some ways the cell phone system in China is better than the one in the US, only I would axe the phrase “in some ways.” Even though phones are expensive in China, you end up paying a lot less because there are no contracts, cancellation fees, etc. If you go over your minutes, you’re charged up the wazoo, and if you don’t use your minutes, they’re gone forever. In China, when I buy a phone plan, I actually feel like I have some power over how much I spend/use. In the US, I’ve always felt like signing up for a cell phone plan feels like a modern-day consumer form of indentured servitude.
Andy
said,
June 12, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Regarding clothing — The conventional wisdom for packing is to take older clothes that you don’t mind leaving behind when you return. But for China, I buy new clothes in the US, which never fits me off-the-rack, and then have it altered as soon as I arrive in China.
For instance, US t-shirts that fit my shoulders are usually too long. But shortening an item costs $10 here — prohibitive relative to the value of the item. In Beijing I have them done for 5 RMB, and I know the cost is even less in smaller towns. Plus, Chinese tailors will turn it around in a day. Here the delay is several days.
Andy
said,
June 12, 2008 at 9:33 pm
One more — Custom-made clothes is cheaper than much of the selection in department stores, name-brand or not. Dress shirts for 100 RMB, slacks for 200 (cotton) or 280 (wool) RMB, and suits for 800 RMB. This is in Beijing in a tourist area. Even though I had a native help me with the bargaining, I probably paid too much. Any other price data out there?
Benjamin Ross
said,
June 12, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Andy’s comment about clothing size just reminded me of another major problem of buying clothes in China. Very few people (foreigners included) own dryers in China. Therefore, cotton clothing doesn’t shrink. In the US when I buy cotton clothes I always try to get them a tiny bit too large because I know they are going to shrink the first time I put them in the dryer. In China, this is not necessary because clothes don’t shrink since most people don’t use dryers. The problem is when you take your Chinese bought clothes back home, they all shrink the first time you put them in the dryer. I had to throw out at least half of my Chinese bought clothes as soon as I came back to the US because they all shrunk.
东南罗
said,
June 13, 2008 at 10:15 am
@Mark and Ben, regarding cell phones. Maybe a little bit clearer description of the cell phone and SIM card thing:
If you consider taking your mobile to China, you should look for the following:
1)-if it has a SIM card – that is, a Cingular, SunCom, AT&T, and maybe some others i don’t know; however, NOT a NexTel card, even though it looks like a SIM card (that is another system, IDEN and not GSM like in China). If your US phone does not have a SIM, or has a NexTel SIM, then leave it in the US and get one in China.
2)-If you have already determined that your phone has a SIM card, then check the frequency your phone – which is a radio device – works on. You will need 900 MHz and maybe 1800 MHz in China, while in the US the common phones use 1900 MHz, and rarely 850 MHz. If your phone does not have 900 Mhz, then leave it in the US. You can find this information either on the phone itself, underneath the battery, or, if not there, then in the owner’s manual, or on the manufacturer’s site – most manuals are available to download.
3)-If you already found that 1) and 2) are compatible with the Chinese cell networks, then you have to find if your phone is locked – to be able to use only one cell network. You can try with a friend of yours, who has another GSM cell – for example, you have Cingular and s/he has SunCom or so – to swich SIM cards and see if your phone still works. There are companies in the US that can unlock your cell phone for you, for a small fee, or you can call your cell company in the US, they should unlock it for you too. They may act stupid at the beginning, try to sell you expensive packages such as international roaming etc, but, if you are firm and you show them you know what you are talking about, they would do it for you. Most of the time this can be done over the phone, you just have to type a passcode on your phone keyboard.
A side note – even if your GSM phone is labelled as tri-band, if you have a Motorola phone with an AT&T logo on it (on the phone case itself), then, chances are that ~the euro-asian frequency was disabled for phones supposed to be sold in the US~… a ridiculous policy, the chip itself is missing from the phone hardware. Nothing to do in this case, leave your phone in the US.
Hope this helps… Good luck, and have a nice trip to China, Ben..
Another Ben R. from Kansas City now living in China
said,
June 24, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Hey, Ben, I knew you would come back. I have lived in China for six years. I go back to the US every year and always return to China. I hate this place, but the chicks, jobs, prices, and the south China weather makes it hard to leave.
I swear, you must be my long lost brother. We are from the same place, live in the country, speak the same languages, are the same height, think nearly the same, and are almost the same age. I like your list of things to bring to China, but here is another list I found:
Deodorant
Dental floss
Underwear
Large clothes
T-shirts
Your Shampoo
Socks
Syrup
Razors
Shaving cream
Mustard
Pancake mix
Croutons
Pickles
Big shoes
BBQ sauce
Tacos
Taco sauce
Coffee?
Cobbler pies
Turkey
Stuffing
Fruit cocktail
Canned tuna
Whip cream
Gelatin
Aspirin
Cranberries
Cranberry juice/sauce
French bread
Frozen strawberries
Index cards
Cherries
Litter boxes
Salsa
Pop tarts
Parsley/oregano/paprika/dry mustard/cumin/basil/thyme/dill weed/celery
salt/rosemary/peppercorns/cinnamon/garlic salt/tarragon/onion powder/cilantro
seasonings
Worcestershire sauce
Frozen pizza
Hamburger buns
Waffles
Toasters
Fish batter
Tartar sauce
Corn dogs
English books
Large bras/condoms/sweatshirts
Tampons
Perfume
Power converter
Bibles
Cereal
Pasta
Gyros
NyQuil
Pepto Bismol
Diet Coke
Chapstick
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Breath mints
Nachos
Chex Mix
Pretzels
Marshmallows
Graham crackers
Tortillas
Shrimp cocktail sauce
English muffins
Fortune cookies
Eggrolls
Snapple
Cotton balls
Calamine lotion
Construction paper
Felt
Duct tape
Powdered sugar
Baking powder
Pudding
Chocolate syrup
Conditioner
Large towels
Cake mixes
Easter egg dye
Caramel
Kool Aid
Gatorade
Lemonade
Bacon bits
Pot pies
Lasagna
Potato salad
Ice cream cones
Ranch/French/Italian dressing
Food coloring
Canned pineapple/prune juice
Blueberries/raspberries
Pumpkins
Hot dog buns
Cake decorations
Chilli
Casseroles
Clam chowder
Cotton candy
Baking pans
Ovens
Melba toast
Romaine lettuce
Garlic bread
Rye bread
Pie shells
Shortening
Bagels
Muffins
Cupcakes
Donuts
Au gratin potatoes
Meatloaf
Brisket
Bumper stickers
Smoke detectors
Insulation
Fluoride
Birth control pills
Cinnamon rolls
Danishes
Campbell’s chicken noodle soup
Macaroni and cheese
Mashed potatoes
Hash browns
Potato pancakes
Baked potatoes
Pita bread
Canned fruits/vegetables
Pulp-free orange juice
Mountain Dew
Dorito’s
Cheeto’s
Frito’s
Funyun’s
Cigars
Angel food/Carrot cake
Peanut butter/Chocolate chip cookies
Cheesecake
Cowboy boots
Bounce dryer sheets
Flour
Vegetable Oil
Cornmeal
Laundry baskets
Pizza cutters
Cake mixers
Dishwashers
Trail mix
Beef jerky
Caramel
Candy apples
Roast beef
Vegemite
Brown rice
Rice pilaf
Sweet and sour pork
Kung pao chicken
Eggrolls
General Tsao’s Chicken
Brussel sprouts
Asparagus
Hominy
Artichokes
Eggnog
Wrapping paper
Licorice
Funnel cakes
Water softeners
9 volt batteries
Jukeboxes
Sour cream
Carrie in Hunan
said,
June 26, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Ben, this obviously doesn’t apply to you, but to your female readers – BRING TAMPONS. Outside of major cities they are not available at all, and in the big cities they only have expensive OBs (no applicators- yuck).
If you’ll be living in China for a while I also recommend packing your favorite condiments (I’m addicted to Ranch salad dressing) and medicines. I haven’t been able to find Aleeve (aka naproxen sodium, a very effective pain killer that is safe to take after drinking alcohol) or NyQuil anywhere here.
Since bottles of liquids and medicines can’t be mailed out of the US, I like to ask people back home to send me treats like beef jerky and spice packets (marinades, pasta sauces, taco seasoning, etc).
Benjamin Ross
said,
June 26, 2008 at 1:20 pm
@ Carrie in Hunan
Glad you brought that up. I should have added that to my list. I remember once explaining to my Chinese ex-girlfriend that many women in the US use tampons. She thought the idea of sticking anything up there while her Old Auntie was in town was absolutely repulsive. China is definitely a maxipad dominated country. On that note, it seems like finding bras without padding in China can be difficult as well.
By the way…Ben R from KC, your list had me laughing out loud.