I wonder how they will view the US currency now. Your currency is taking a real beating at the moment. Can hardly believe ours is worth $1.09 to your dollar.

Refreshing the topic again as I leave 4 weeks today.

What is the best spot to shop in Beijing? I have been told that is where the best shopping is.

Bargaining? Any hints?

Hi, MLT,

a popular shopping centre for tourists is The Pearl Market.

However, if you have a local guide, ask them to take you to the shopping centre they actually shop at....it will be a lot better than other options.

Major shopping centres in Beijing are as expensive as you will find at home in Canada. So, you will need to go to The Pearl Market or the Guides' local shopping centre to find less expensive outlets. Our guide took us to the retail centre she personally used and it was better than The Pearl Market. She also took us to The Pearl Markets as some of our group wanted to go there as well. After shopping in both centres the group unanimously agreed that the Guides' centre was the better.

The driver did not want to take us to the local market and so we all tipped both he and the guide additionally at the end of that day.

A polite way to tip in China is to hold the money, or envelope, in both hands as you hand it to the person. Bow slightly, by dipping your head, as you hand the tip/business card, whatever and say "Thankyou" as you do so. We made sure that we tipped the driver this way, as he tended to be a bit on the stroppy side. In the end, he was pleased that he took us, but he gave the guide a hard time.

Prices are not negotiable at the shopping centres near the hotels. However at the markets the prices are negotiable.

So, a couple of things to know about bargaining.
This information was provided to me by our guide, whom I got to know a little whilst on tour.

Firstly, your guide is not permitted to help in the process and stands to lose their registration if they do help. The guide will leave the group and "disappear" whilst shopping/bargaining is in process.

Do not bargain unless you actually intend to buy. The retailers, rightly so, get very upset if you bargain just to have some fun with them.

Offer less than half (by a small amount) of what is ticketed.

Be prepared to come to half, or just over for the item.

Walk away if the price does not suit you. The retailer will follow you if they are prepared to bargain more.

Learn the Chinese words from 1 to 10. It helps to understand the hand signals for these numbers too. Carry a calculator; that way you can show a price on the calculator if you feel uncomfortable saying the numbers.


Know the Chinese phrases for:

Too expensive.

I don't want to buy, thankyou.

Have a great trip. It will be an exciting place to be one month before the Olympics.... a bargain will be more difficult to find as a result of the Olympics, I think.

PS. Where else are you visiting?

I have friends that have just returned from a trip to China. It is a place I have always wanted to visit, but after hearing all about their experience it has made me even more eager.

MLT, are you going to Xi'an or doing a cruise down the Yangtze to see the 3 Gorges?

There is some good shopping to be done in both of these places.

MLT, a discussion on another thread regarding laundry services has reminded me of something I had completely forgotten.

The hotels will offer laundry services and it is as cheap as chips, reliable and speedy. You will not need to turn your hotel room into a laundrette whilst in China.

Penny ~ That is enought to send us all to China.

Thanks Penny for the information. I am going to Beijing, Xi'an, a nine day cruise down the Yangtze, then on to Shanghai. We are extending the trip with a visit to Bangkok and Siem Reap. Between those two stops it takes another week. We are on a tour so we should be well taken care of. We have some free time in Beijing before the tour starts, which is why I was asking about shopping. I would like to get it done and over with. I am not much of a shopper but need to buy something for the son and daughter. I thought I would see if I could find Chinese jackets for my great nephews. They are turning 5 this October and I think they would enjoy them.

We were told by several people that the laundry is even cheaper if we have it done on the ship.

Less than four weeks now till we leave. Too much to do though before we go. UG.

MLT, you will be able to purchase the Chinese style jackets from the Pearl Market. The Pearl Market is a Chinese/Western style shopping complex, about 5 or so stories high. Each story specialises in a few items. For eg, one level may have clothing whilst another level may have cases etc. There are many, many stallholders on each level, often selling the same items.

It is at 16 Hongqiao Lu, Beijing. It is very close to the city centre, so you may find it is within walking distance to your hotel...we walked back to our hotel after shopping there.

It is on a metro line and there are buses that go by it. If you are not confident with those options, you could take a taxi. Have the name written on a piece of paper and ask for the price of the fare before getting into the taxi.

Alternatively, you could liaise with the concierge and hire a guide for a day (or 2). That way you could be taken to many different places, shopping and tourist destinations alike. This option is quite reasonably priced.

The Pearl Market has recently been refurbished and I think the prices will reflect this and the impending Olympics. If you were to hire a guide you could ask to be taken to a less touristy option where the shopping will be more authentic and offer a more realistic price.

The laundry is indeed very inexpensive on board the Yangtze cruises. The river cruise was our favourite part of our China visit. It was very relaxing and the scenery beautiful. You will see some amazing places. Where do you join the cruise and where do you finish? Don't pass up the optional tours they offer from the cruise. You will have the opportunity to see some extraordinary places. In addition, to see the Chinglish signage in more remote areas is a treat in itself. It will bring a smile to your face everytime.


Have a great time.

Penny We get on the ship at Chongqing and sail to Nanjing which is near Suzhou which is near Shanghai. They do not have optional tours off the ship, but everyday we are taken off the ship to see various villages or temples. My husband is looking forward to seeing the Three Gorges Dam as that is his type of engineering specialty.

I have been told to go to the Pearl Market by several of my students. They are from mainland China. One of them has offered to meet me and take me shopping. I feel as if I shouldn't, but she was a terrific student. They also suggested going to the Silk Market, but I only have one afternoon to shop in, so will probably be limited to going to one market. We picked a tour that was more educational than shopping time. I enjoy history and finding out about other cultures and do not really enjoy wandering around stores, so we picked this tour for that particular reason. To be honest I don't like shopping with the husband because he can never make his mind up whereas I see something I like, I buy it and I am finished shopping.

We are staying at the Westin Financial in Beijing. I don't know how close that is to the Pearl Market. I would rather walk there after spending the night flying to Beijing. Our flight leaves Vancouver at 2:55 am. Fortunately, I can sleep on planes, so I will be ready to go when we arrive. We try to stay awake until about 9 pm the day we arrive so that we can swing on to their time zone as quickly as possible.

MLT, Chongqing is an amazing city. Something like 33 million people, modern, busy and quite remote. We spent a day there before boarding our ship and enjoyed exploring right away from the mall where we were dropped. We found people to be extremely friendly, especially if we responded to their "hello English" calls. Once they got passed the fit of giggles when a "Lowai" greeted them it was fun. It is in the province where the earthquake recently hit and I wonder if they were effected; the province is huge.

I also taught mainland Chinese students and understand the dilemna. Why don't you get one to take your husband out to the Olympic site so that he can marvel at the engineering feats whilst you go shopping with another. My experience is that they are very pleased to return assistance when you are visiting their homeland. It is their way of saying thankyou.
OR, just agree to meet at the exit at a set time and go your separate ways....that's what we always do. I would become a banshee, otherwise.

Our tour was similarly based on historical sites with just 1/2 a day for shopping in Beijing.... it suited us to a tee as we are not huge shoppers either. However, we thoroughly enjoyed the shopping we did do. For history, we enjoyed Xi'an the most.

As for the options on board the ship, I guess options was the wrong term to choose. It is off ship excursions and they were included in the price of the cruise. However, optional in the sense that you could choose to stay on board the ship.

I have just looked at my notes from the cruise and found a Laundry receipt. For a men's jacket (evening) it was 35Y, a blouse was 25Y, jeans 25Y, socks (pair) 6Y, trousers or slacks 20Y, T shirt 12Y.

The mini gorges and the Snowy Jade Cave in Fengdu are not to be missed. You will get to go up into the mountains you have been cruising by and the caves are beautiful. This is where some of the hilarious Chinglish signs are.

I hope visibility at the 3 Gorges dam project is better than the day we were there. With fog and pollution so bad, we couldn't see anything but the first lock immediately in front of us. The guide held up a coloured photo of what we could see had visiblity been better. We thought that was hilarious as she was so prepared. So despite what she said about it being a rare thing, she knew to expect it. It wasn't pollution either, according to her. It looked like pollution to us though. There are some lovely opportunities for a good walk at the 3 Gorges dam project if you are tired of being cooped up.

Going through the locks was an amazing experience. That will also amaze your husband, I am sure. I think it took the entire night for us to get through the 3 required, to go downstream.

We will be seeing the Terra Cotta Warriors in the morning and flying to Chongqing in the afternoon to catch the ship so I don't think we will have much time to see the city. We have been watching every China show possible on the TV so that we have an idea of what we will be seeing.

I wonder how similar the Three Gorges Locks are to the Panama Canal. I have been through the Panama Canal but my husband hasn't. I found the locks fascinating.

I am not sure if we will be going to the Snowy Jade Cave as they closed it after the earthquake and are substituting something else instead. I am hoping that they will be reopened again by the time we get there.

We have our visa's now and I have put our passports in a safe place. Now all we have to do is pack. Knowing me, I will be packing on the day before we leave as I have too many other things to do before we go. Tickets should be arriving mid month. I am getting excited and can hardly wait to go.

We are talking about taking a river cruise next year in Europe if we like this one. The idea of not having to pack each day is very appealing.

Hi Mid Life Traveller
We travelled to China 2 years ago and we loved the Silk Market in Beijing (ended up going there 3 times). It's easy to get a taxi but get a hotel card from the concierge so you can tell the driver where you need to go - they often have common places printed on them to help tourists. The market has 5 levels with each level specialising in particular items eg. shoes/handbags, pearls, watches, clothing etc. You can get some great bargains, lots of copies of designer brands but be prepared to be constantly approached by vendors. Our guide told us to offer 1/8th of the asking price which surprised us. My husband likes a challenge and proved her correct even if the vendor did throw a shoe at him! Don't be fooled though with "ahh you killing me with your price", they get cross but if you walk off they will come down. And then it's all smiles and "you very good!" talk. Our children and even I became good at it (& I hate bargaining). My husband had 2 suits and 3 shirts tailor made in 24 hours for a great price and they are still in good condition. Beware of the street sellers & their "Rolex" watches - my son was sucked in & it fell apart 2 days later. If you go to the Great Wall there are market stalls where you can find cute stuff for kids too.
Hope the smog has improved for the Olympics and you will love the Terracotta Warriors - they're incredible.