Visiting Zhongguancun electronics market in Beijing - any advice?

[kzig]

I live in the UK and I am going on holiday to China for a couple of weeks with my girlfriend towards the end of March. While we're there, we're planning to visit the Zhongguancun electronics district in Beijing, and I was thinking of picking up some hardware to take back to the UK and put in a gaming PC for her. We have an ample baggage allowance for our return flights, so I was thinking of maybe picking up a CPU / graphics card etc.

 

Are there any particularly good deals to be had in that area? Any pitfalls to beware of? I would love to hear from anyone who has been there recently or done something similar.

[Roswell]

Judging from the videos I've seen, parts like CPU/GPU/RAM aren't any cheaper than they are in the west. Other parts can be found on the cheap, but you're getting what you pay for, questionable Chinese SSDs, power supplies and the like.

[Blue4130]

12 hours ago, kzig said:

I live in the UK and I am going on holiday to China for a couple of weeks with my girlfriend towards the end of March. While we're there, we're planning to visit the Zhongguancun electronics district in Beijing, and I was thinking of picking up some hardware to take back to the UK and put in a gaming PC for her. We have an ample baggage allowance for our return flights, so I was thinking of maybe picking up a CPU / graphics card etc.

 

Are there any particularly good deals to be had in that area? Any pitfalls to beware of? I would love to hear from anyone who has been there recently or done something similar.

I have been living in Beijing for ten years now. As a foreigner, I don't even bother trying to shop there. Unless you want to spend an hour trying to get the price to match UK prices, its not worth wasting vacation time. Spend it seeing the city instead. 

[Bombastinator]

Don’t drink the water.  This isn’t China specific. I’d tell a chinese person visiting America the same thing.  Different cultures are used to different things in their food and drink.  Make sure everything is heated to 60c before you eat it.

[NumLock21]

Might want to get some face mask there is a virus outbreak going on over there.

[porina]

Be aware anything of value you buy and bring back will likely be taxable. Most would probably run through the green channel at customs and try their luck, which is technically smuggling. If you pay tax, obviously that'll make any deals less good.

 

Personally it might be worth a visit just to experience the place, but don't plan on buying anything significant while there.

[Bombastinator]

34 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

Might want to get some face mask there is a virus outbreak going on over there.

Face mask help with not making other people sick rather than getting sick yourself.  Semi obsessive hand washing is more useful for that one.  Might be a good idea by itself though.  Air quality is famously variably bad.

[NumLock21]

49 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Face mask help with not making other people sick rather than getting sick yourself.  Semi obsessive hand washing is more useful for that one.  Might be a good idea by itself though.  Air quality is famously variably bad.

What?!

By your logic, that means soldiers during WWII who wear gas masked were already gassed themselves, so they wear a gas mask to prevent other from getting gassed? That makes absolutely no sense.

 

People wear face mask is so they protect themselves from getting sick, not the other way around. And if that person is already sick and wears a face mask, then good for them, where they have thought of others, from getting sick. Also the virus I'm talking about, that's happening over there right now, isn't just a common cold. With the Lunar New Year just a few days away where there will be heavy traveling, travelers needs any means necessary to try and cover up and not get caught with the virus.

 

 

[Bombastinator]

12 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

What?!

By your logic, that means soldiers during WWII who wear gas masked were already gassed themselves, so they wear a gas mask to prevent other from getting gassed? That makes absolutely no sense.

 

People wear face mask is so they protect themselves from getting sick, not the other way around. And if that person is already sick and wears a face mask, then good for them, where they have thought of others, from getting sick. Also the virus I'm talking about, that's happening over there right now, isn't just a common cold. With the Lunar New Year just a few days away where there will be heavy traveling, travelers needs any means necessary to try and cover up and not get caught with the virus.

 

 

Nope.  There are different kinds of masks. The word should be “respirator” Surgical masks aren’t meant to keep germs out they’re meant to keep germs in.  A respirator can be made of cloth and look a bit like a surgical mask but they’re designed very differently for a different purpose.  A “gas mask” was not a mask.  It was a full face respirator.

 

respirator 

 

Mask

 

I happen to prefer these using generally HEPA filters designed for asbestos work.  They fit my face well and fit is critical 

 

[NumLock21]

14 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Nope.  There are different kinds of masks. The word should be “respirator” Surgical masks aren’t meant to keep germs out they’re meant to keep germs in.  A respirator can be made of cloth and look a bit like a surgical mask but they’re designed very differently for a different purpose.  A “gas mask” was not a mask.  It was a full face respirator.

 

respirator 

Spoiler

 

 

Mask

 

 

Most people over there usually wear something like these. Some have designs, like in the picture or just plain ones. A bit of protection is better than no protection, even if it's just a mask and not a respirator.

Spoiler

 

[RonnieOP]

On 1/16/2020 at 6:57 PM, Bombastinator said:

Don’t drink the water.  This isn’t China specific. I’d tell a chinese person visiting America the same thing.  Different cultures are used to different things in their food and drink.  Make sure everything is heated to 60c before you eat it.

Unless its a third world country with poor water conditions you dont have to worry about the water. 

 

And not sure what you mean by make sure everything is heated to 60c. Theres not a general temp for every meal. If your eating chicken for example that has only been heated to 60c then your eating undercooked chicken thatll get you sick. Doesnt matter what country you are in  then if your eating steak and they are cooking it to 60c thats going to be medium to medium well. Which obv isnt going to hurt you but neither would one cooked to around 50-55c for med rare.

 

 

[Tristerin]

I went to Market 28 in Mexico, off the beaten path and was told by the resort - not worth it.  I didn't want to BUY anything, just to experience the market.

 

I got robbed.  So take it as you will but not worth (and Im 6'2" 240 lbs and own an MMA gym so it doesn't matter when they have a gun) imho.

 

Since that experience I have been to the many other countries and do not stray off the beaten tourism path.

 

Also, if you bring back to much tequila and don't announce it...yes the TSA will pull you aside for a search.  And if you are lucky, the bro likes to drink too so lets you keep it all and take it home

[Bombastinator]

13 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

I went to Market 28 in Mexico, off the beaten path and was told by the resort - not worth it.  I didn't want to BUY anything, just to experience the market.

 

I got robbed.  So take it as you will but not worth (and Im 6'2" 240 lbs and own an MMA gym so it doesn't matter when they have a gun) imho.

 

Since that experience I have been to the many other countries and do not stray off the beaten tourism path.

 

Also, if you bring back to much tequila and don't announce it...yes the TSA will pull you aside for a search.  And if you are lucky, the bro likes to drink too so lets you keep it all and take it home

What would I bring back?  Probably otherwise impossible to obtain computer parts.  One of those $8 4 pentium CPUs and a mobo to run it on perhaps.  Unobtainium iPhone parts. Stuff that can’t be gotten outside of China.  Well useful stuff anyway.  No dried yak penises or “medicinal cures”.  Gunpowder black tea if it could be found.  That will be pricey even in China.  Full computer systems are iffy.  No whole phones.  Nothing with code in it.

[Tristerin]

56 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

What would I bring back?  Probably otherwise impossible to obtain computer parts.  One of those $8 4 pentium CPUs and a mobo to run it on perhaps.  Unobtainium iPhone parts. Stuff that can’t be gotten outside of China.  Well useful stuff anyway.  No dried yak penises or “medicinal cures”.  Gunpowder black tea if it could be found.  That will be pricey even in China.  Full computer systems are iffy.  No whole phones.  Nothing with code in it.

TBH I would make sure to snag up a few of those reverse engineered Chinese mobo's for X79/X99 etc systems and pay next to nothing (sometimes only $40-60 shipped on Aliexpress) and hope to get it through customers

[Blue4130]

Wow, so much bad information here in regards to china/Beijing... 

 

1. You will not get robbed. Even if you go down the dark alley off the beaten path. Robbing is extremely rare here. You will get taken advantage of at the market. 

 

2. Drink bottled water. The tap water is fine for brushing your teeth, but actual drinking, used bottled water. It's everywhere and it's cheap. 

 

3. You likely won't find those crazy x58/79 boards in Beijing. They all come from shenzhen. 

 

4. The air has been very good this year and has been much better in the past 3 years. Peak shit was 2014 or so. That was the the wakeup call. 

 

If anyone is interested in a guide, I am more than happy to show you my adopted home. 

[wasab]

Always bargain in China unless you wish to be ripped off. Individual merchants usually put items on sales at 10x the actual market value and you are expected to haggle. You will only see MSRP at retail chains, not independent hardware stores. Conversely don't bother haggling in retail chains, employees are not authorized to give you discounts so you are simply wasting everyone's time. Keep that in mind. 

 

Other than that, try e-commerce sites like taobao. 

[wasab]

On 1/16/2020 at 7:39 AM, Vitamanic said:

Judging from the videos I've seen, parts like CPU/GPU/RAM aren't any cheaper than they are in the west. Other parts can be found on the cheap, but you're getting what you pay for, questionable Chinese SSDs, power supplies and the like.

Western products are actually more expensive in China than in the west. You may be paying $1000 for iPhone in USA but it will be $1300 equivalent in China. This is due to large import tariffs that China impose on foreign goods. If you are gonna buy recognize foreign brands like msi or Intel/amd proccessors or Samsung phones in China expecting cheaper prices, don't bother. The opposite is true. However if you look for domestic Chinese brands then you may be able to find bargains. I will say however, aside from recognize brands like phones from xiaomi or drones from DJI, I wont take the risk. The quality is very questionable.