Shopping in China: tips for visitors
What you need to know about shopping Beijing, Shanghai and Lhasa... but your tour guide may not tell you
This page contains a little basic information that all short-stay China visitors should be aware of. It may save you a considerable amount of time, $$$ and frustration! There are more tips on shopping in China for art and antiques at this link.
Understanding your tour guide
Generally, a tour guide in China (and most Asian countries) will only take you (willingly) to shops that offer a kick-back. These kick-backs can be large (often 20-50% of the price that you pay) and so the incentive to do this is overwhelming. For the visitor this is unfortunate since it means they usually end up paying higher prices than they need to in shops that cater exclusively to tourists. When asked to take you to a shop that is not giving kick-backs (such as ours) guides come up with a variety of entertaining excuses "the store is closed" "it's too far away and we don't have time" ... and so on. This applies to Beijing, Shanghai and (especially) Lhasa.
If you have a guide and want to visit our store...
If you are with a guide and want to visit us you will either have to insist (remember, you are in charge of your trip, not your guide) or you will need to come on your own (not hard to do). Bear in mind that hotel concierges also get payments for directing tourists to particular stores and attractions, so their recommendations are usually not unbiassed. For the best shopping experience it is better to consult reputable guidebooks and make your own choices. Guides with a few top companies (for example, Imperial Tours) don't accept kick-backs, and can actually help you shop more effectively.
What if I don't speak Chinese?
Travel and shopping in Beijing and Shanghai are actually not that hard even if you don't speak the local language. Equip yourself with a map that has English and Chinese on it, and print out maps and directions from websites such as ours. Show these directions to taxi drivers and you will easily find your destination. Taxis are cheap and plentiful - one of the bonuses of traveling in China. You will also find that many younger people (30 or under) in the main cities speak some English, and are happy to have the chance to practice by giving you directions ;-) Using your mobile phone You can buy a pre-paid SIM card to plug into your mobile phone when you arrive in China: these are sold at most airports. You can then make cheap local calls - very useful for calling stores to get directions for taxi drivers. This also enables you to call your hotel in case you get lost - they can give directions to your driver.
Other Watch-outs
Be wary of people who want to "show you around" for no charge in popular spots. They may tell you that they just want to practice their English, but most are acting as touts and will try to lead you to a particular store, to a "student painting exhibition" or something similar! The good news is that apart from such nuisances Beijing, Shanghai, Lhasa and other cities are very safe places to visit, with lower levels of crime than in most international cities.
Do your own research
Buy guidebooks to the cities you visit and also pick up the free magazines (The Beijinger, That's Shanghai, City Weekend, Time Out, Eight Days, Shanghai Talk) that are available everywhere. You will get an objective view of what's hot and what's not.
Shipping larger items
If you buy a larger item (eg furniture) and ask for it to be shipped, take care to understand exactly what service you are getting and what the cost and terms are. It is common practice to ship furniture by sea on a "door-to-port" basis since this is generally the cheapest method. This means that the item will arrive in a bonded customs warehouse at a port in your home country and that you may have to do the customs clearance paperwork yourself, pay the customs charges and arrange shipment from the port to your home. If you do not take care of the customs formalities quickly you may incur extra charges for storage at the bonded warehouse.
At Torana we use door-to-door air courier services to ship our carpets to avoid these issues.
Enjoy!
Beijing and Shanghai are some of the safest, most fun and exciting cities in the world to visit and shop in: we are looking forward to meeting you :-)
Follow this link for more on shopping for art, antiques and decorative items..