If you are a shop-a-holic, then you'll find shopping in China has a lot to offer, if you go searching for it. You may need to ask the right questions to find the kind of venue or experience you are looking for. Be prepared to barter. Learn some Chinese or take someone Chinese along with you.

Tip: every place that you go to - ask for a business card. That way, the next time you want to go there, you can simply show the business card to the taxi driver. It makes life much easier and you gain a lot of personal independence. In China you can easily buy wallet size business card holders.

In China, everywhere is downtown. It is not like the west, where we separate the single-family dwellings from the business and shopping areas. In China, on the ground level, is store after store after store of small privately owned shops. Every neighbourhood has its own market.

In most cities in China, and in Hong Kong, products are usually found grouped together in districts. So if you wanted furniture, you would go to the furniture district. If you needed office supplies you would go to the office supply district. If you needed fabric, you would go to the fabric district.

Department Store Shopping in China

There is usually a specific downtown area where you will find at least one main department store and a market. In the department stores, you pay the price shown on the ticket. There is no bartering. Department stores are very generalized, carrying everything from shoes to appliances. They will have a lot of products – but maybe available in only one style or one color. When you make a purchase – it is generally not returnable.

Generally, you can barter down about 30% off the price quoted – however, if you are a foreigner – they may double the price quoted and try to make some money off you. So, for the first little while, when shopping in China, it is best to take someone Chinese with you, or know the going prices before you decide to barter. It is considered in bad taste to barter a good deal and then walk away without purchasing it. However, some of the best bartering happens when you decide that the price is just too high and you don’t want it that badly, you turn and walk away, and then the store owner comes running after you and concedes to the price you originally wanted. Best to learn a little Chinese - especially numbers, currency, and how to say "too expensive" (tài guì le)

Shopping in China's Shopping Centers and Walking Streets

In the large coastal cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and many others, you will find high-end malls with brand name retail stores. Hong Kong is full of these high-end glitzy malls. Most larger cities also have a walking street of shops – which is always a favourite place to spend several hours looking for a bargain.

Shopping in China - Export Markets

In Shanghai,Guangzhou and Shenzhen, there are several export markets, where you can find things produced for export, but not generally found in the Chinese shops. Here, things can be bought at wholesale prices. Fabric markets can be huge – some several acres in size – servicing the garment industry. It is not usually open to the general public and purchases made in the market are usually made by the bolt. However, if you go there and act like a foreign buyer, you can tell them you are making samples and need only a few yards. They will usually allow you to buy. You can design your own business cards for just a few dollars in China – and voila – suddenly you are a fashion designer shopping in the world’s largest selection of fabrics! Then you take your fabric to a tailor to have it made into whatever you choose. The tailor needs only a picture – they require no pattern to work from. They simply take your measurements and can give you what you want.

Shopping in China - Food Markets

For most of inland China – most of the grocery shopping is done at the local market as opposed to the supermarket. The local market is dirty, wet and full of stalls selling everything from fresh local vegetables, homemade tofu, and eggs, to live poultry ready for slaughter. There are also lots of dried medicinal type foods available.

You won't find a nice sliced pork chop or a roast here. You might buy a whole chicken, and the stall owner will take his cleaver and chop it up into a hundred pieces for you so it is ready for you to cook in your wok – with head and feet in a bag on the side. Beef comes ready cooked as a small roast that sliced and added to noodles or stir-fry dishes.

The Chinese like fresh food, so they shop daily for their immediate needs.

source: 外国人在中国