Buying gear in mainland China...

[bmm]

Hi all,

 

Its been a while but I've been travelling for work. Fortunately my D80 has

been in tow, in particular for a gorgeous weekend on the East Coast of

Tasmania where the kangaroos seemed to be downright begging to have their

portraits taken!

 

Quick question - what is mainland China like for purchasing photographic gear?

 

Is it a particularly good place, or no different to others (price of course,

but also range and quality of gear)?

 

And does anyone have recommended shops and/or good or bad experiences,

especially in Beijing or Shanghai?

 

Many thanks!

[ronald_olsen]

In Beijing there is a photographic mall 2 km from Wukesong subway station, on the western side of the city. At least 60 stores here, with many specializing in bags, hard cases, digital cameras, used gear, medium format, and large format. The prices are a little higher than what you would find them for on the internet in the USA, but less than in Europe. In January I bought a Chinese tripod there which fell apart four days later and which I had to carry around China for three weeks, but the owner let me trade it in for a good Japanese-made Velbon when I returned.

[cmulcahy]

Nothing worse then vain kangaroos.

[bmm]

Thanks Ronald. I'm guessing that 'less than Europe' also means less than down under. We pay a premium of about 30% over the (exchange rate adjusted) prices to be found from major US online sellers. Anyway, I'll go havee a look....

[samirmainali]

if u dont believe them u can try finding official dealers u can google it . thats how i buy my gears ....i buyed my d50 in a small shop as i was unware of things first ..any way it was good and price was reasonable ..

 

it depends where u want to buy shnghai, beijing, guang zhou ,congqing...... .......

 

u can also go to small stores( color lab) and ask them where biggest is, famous is

 

like in shanghai it is in luban lu street .thers a big mall of 2-300 shops .

[gord_hayes]

Hi Samir,

 

Where abouts is "luban lu street" in Shanghai? Is it close to Nanjing or?

 

And you say "thers a big mall of 2-300 shops" are they all photo shops?

 

Thank you