Question for our fellow Chinese Flashoholics!!!

[John_Galt]

Hey all!

A friend of mine is going to China this summer, so I thought about taking advantage of his trip to (hopefully) purchase a few nice Lights at lower prices than here in the US.

I was wondering what type of lights were available in stores in these cities:
Xi'an
Shanghai
Beijing
Hong Kong

I'm hoping he'll be able to find me a Fenix TK30/40, or any of the Jetbeam or Fenix line-up in any stores. He's going as part of a "student ambassador" program, and, after they're done with touring various landmarks, etc. they will have time to go out in groups and explore the cities on their own. He's looking to get some electronics or whatever, and he asked if I wanted anything picked up.

Simple deal, I give him some cash and a list of stuff to look out for while in the cities, and he brings them back, if he finds them.


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It's a really neat program. They're all learning some Chinese, such as how to ask for a bathroom, the US embassy, etc.
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Thanks for any insight!

 

[SmurfTacular]

Your anticipating on finding Fenix lights in China? Are they really made in China now?

I don't know if your friend is going to have luck walking around the city and finding a 4sevens factory. Not that I've been there, but I doubt you'd be able to find any flashlight factory, Hong Kong is huege. If you can, why don't you invest in $1000 or so and but 100 of them to resell. I'd buy one if you could sell it for lower than MSRP.

 

[csshih]

Your anticipating on finding Fenix lights in China? Are they really made in China now?

Fenix Lights have always been made in china.

If you can, why don't you invest in $1000 or so and but 100 of them to resell.

LOL... business isn't that easy...

 

[yourmelody]

If you interested in electronics and lamps, the best place is Shenzhen. I'm Chinese, I could introuduce the feature of every cities

 

[yourmelody]

Hey all!

A friend of mine is going to China this summer, so I thought about taking advantage of his trip to (hopefully) purchase a few nice Lights at lower prices than here in the US.

I was wondering what type of lights were available in stores in these cities:
Xi'an
Shanghai
Beijing
Hong Kong

Xi'an---- A good place to travel, many place of history there. average economy level in China
Shanghai----trade and financial centrl of China
Beijing----politic and culture central
Hong Kong--- trade and habour city

Shenzhen is a good place for you---The biggest electonic trading and manufacture central

It is not advertise, I'm Chinese and I live in Shenzhen

 

[gcbryan]

He's going to find essentially what you can find at DX without going to China. Every shop and street stand looks like DX.

 

[Locoboy5150]

Good luck. Based on my experiences in China, I didn't find anything really worth buying. The items that I was interested in like cameras (Nikon) and watches (Casio,) were *way* over priced compared to here in the US. I didn't see any flashlights worth buying.

My girlfriend is from Shanghai and she hasn't seen any of the type of high quality lights that we all love for sale there, even though some of them are made there by companies based there. Just the other day she sent some digital photos of my Fenix lights to her parents in Shanghai and they were blown away by them. Her father emphatically said on the phone to her that he thought that they were really cool. They both have never ever seen those types of lights in their lives.

I wish your friend the best of luck, but don't hold your breath on him finding any super deals over there. My girlfriend has told me that electronics really are better priced over here, unless you're looking at models that are not sold in the US. She said that if you can buy it here, you're better off buying it here because 9 times out of 10 it will be less here in the US.

 

[gcbryan]

The only things that I saw were knock-offs of Rolexes and Waterman pens! As you said most things were more expensive that I could get back home.

I bought a couple of trinket letter openers that looked like they came from China and called it a day!

 

[John_Galt]

He's going to find essentially what you can find at DX without going to China. Every shop and street stand looks like DX.

Yeah, this is what I had figured... Oh well, I'll still hope he can find something.

 

[f22shift]

i was in shanghai earlier this year, moving in a month. there's nothing there. even the cheap stuff is the cheap crap i wouldnt buy. i remember looking for a itouch cover and it was actually cheaper for me to order through dx and ship to the u.s. oddly dx is block on the internet unless vpn
knockoffs are crap too. any good electronics is more expensive than u.s. any good clothes more expensive than u.s.
china is good for the abundance of ppl=cheap labor=labor stuff is cheap.

i guess no market there for premium lights.

 

[horizonseeker]

your friend will be better off buying online and take advantage of the cheap and fast domestic delivery in China. The stores (those that are easily found) are not likely to have the type of lights you as a forum member would find interesting. or if they do, the prices are not going to be favorable (selling to the "outdoor/adventure" fans with more money than sense is their main business).

I've been through the same situation, but I was able to find the regional distributors and deal directly with them. Unless your friend has the energy and time to do this, just have him buy online and take delivery locally, the delivery charge and time is much cheaper and faster in China.

Make sure he's dealing with a reputable shop, have him check out shoudian.com , this is one of the larger flashlight forums (I assume he can read Chinese), use the authorized dealers on that forum and you shouldn't have problems. or at least, i did not.

 

[Locoboy5150]

I found it fascinating how it seems like 99.99% of the goods in America are made in China, yet 99.99% of the Chinese population have no idea what they produce because the products are not marketed to them.

As an example, I was visiting my ex-gf's relatives in China a couple of years ago. (This was a different girl than my current gf that I mentioned before who is from Shanghai.) All of her family was absolutely fascinated by my watch, at that time a 20+ year old Casio digital thermometer watch. They had never seen anything like it before. They were also blown away by the outdated LED light that I had with me, a 2 AA Lite Pro Spitfire with a Luxeon III emitter.

Honestly, after that trip, I *really* appreciate the nice things that I have readily available to me here in the US. It was a real eye opener.

 

[gcbryan]

The problem is no one has any money in China. Everything is directed for the export market.

I worked with someone from China once (this was in banking). This person didn't make a lot at her job by our cost of living standards. It was hard for her to go home to China to visit because everyone would treat her like a rich American who had "made it".

She knew she had to dole out about $2,000 in gifts in various ways every time she went home. It would be embarrassing for her parents and other relatives if she were to come home and not give out gifts like this so she didn't go home as much as she would have liked to otherwise.

She knew that was just the way it was. That's basically why you can't go to Hong Kong and get any deals. Half of it is just trinkets and the rest is as expensive as it is here (or more so). No Chinese person (or very few) are buying or can afford to buy any of it.

Most of China isn't like Hong Kong either (meaning the situation is even worse).