What to buy when in China?

[chloesilverado]

I'll be traveling to China at the end of June. Any ideas on items that I should try to buy there? Are luxury items cheaper? Anyone have any experiences?

[Deleted]

No clue.  Maybe ask on the travel board?

[buckeyegirl]

I bought a jade bracelet and pearls. Might have been a tourist thing but it seemed like areas I went to were known for those items.

[MrsPotatohead]

Where you are going to be? It's sort of a big country...

Overall I'm much more into finding good experiences over buying things, although H and I usually pick out a piece of art to take home (not $$ just sentimental). So depending on where you are there are lots of different things to see/do.

[ilovebed]

I would get a set of black pearls. I've always loved them.

[chloesilverado]

May 21, 2015 20:36:06 GMT -5 MrsPotatohead said:

Where you are going to be? It's sort of a big country...

Overall I'm much more into finding good experiences over buying things, although H and I usually pick out a piece of art to take home (not $$ just sentimental). So depending on where you are there are lots of different things to see/do.

I'll be in Beijing and Xi'an.

[captainmel]

I haven't done China personally but I have a friend that did China and she's a huge fabric snob and super knowledgeable. 90% of the things people said were silk were actually polyester so if you have a hard time telling the difference I would stay away from fabrics.

[Deleted]

Luxury bags? After reading the Purse Forum you can get the VAT tax refunded at the airport. This article explains how to do it.

www.reidsguides.com/t_mo/t_mo_vat.html

It's written for travel within Europe but I'm pretty sure the same applies for China.

[heliocentric]

When I'm in Hong Kong the luxury stores are crammed with people from the mainland looking for deals, so I don't think luxury goods are cheaper there. I don't think VAT in China is the same as it is in Europe.

I'm not sure about the cities you're visiting, but the ones just over the border from HK offer great deals on custom clothing and services like massages.

[Deleted]

Luxury items, especially handbags, are not cheaper in China. I think the only things to buy are cheap selfie sticks, tbh. I wouldn't trust any silk or jewelry to be authentic.