Gadgets worth buying in china?

[Twister_Ken]

Out walking today with my 'pocket' bins. Had them 20 years or so and very good they are. Pentax 8x21. "Assembled in China" they say. Whether you'd want 8x21 on the boat is another matter.

Still available, pretty much unchanged.

http://sport-optics.pentax.co.uk/en/porro-prism/porro-prism-8.5-21-Papilio.html

 

[lenseman]

Yes, but were you faking your amusement?

Nigel might even have bought a fake Bavaria because the keel is still attached !



.

 

[GHA]

Baofeng UV 5r radio's are a tenner in the back street shops, str they are about £34 on eBay. Haven't found binocular street yet. Think I'll hunt for a high power laser pointer as well.

 

[Humblebee]

Watch out for counterfeits. I got stung with what I thought was MacBaren's pipe tobacco...

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I shop in Hong Kong on a fairly regular basis (once a year!).

Basically, small consumer electronics are pretty cheap. Things like headphones, mobile phone cases, memory sticks and such-like. Mobile phone batteries are also readily available at sensible prices; much cheaper than UK prices. Ordinary clothing USED to be cheap, but last time I was there I bought very little; prices seem to have risen and there were no good deals.

Watches - even legitimate, branded goods - are somewhat cheaper than in the UK. I got a Casio G-Shock Sea Pathfinder for maybe 60% of what it would have cost in the UK. That was in a regular watch store in a westernized shopping Mall.

In Hong Kong, laptops, tablets and so on are actually dearer than they are in the UK. YMMV in mainland China.

I bought a decentish pair of binoculars for a reasonable price; nothing special, but they seem OK.

DON'T buy cheap fakes; they won't be worth what they charge! The exception to this rule is what i'd call good quality fakes; they may actually be made with the same machinery as the real thing, and actually be just as good without the ridiculous mark-up that a well-known name gives. Oddly, some of the cheap mechanical watches are good value; the manufacturing plant was bought from Switzerland, and the movements are OK; the cases tend to be rubbish, though!

A useful tip is to go shopping with a Chinese friend or colleague, and let them do the bargaining; preferably without them seeing you together. They'll get a better price than you will! I go with my wife (who is a native of Hong Kong), and we try not to let stall-holders in the street markets see us looking at things together.

Again, YMMV in mainland China, but NOTHING yachtie is cheap in Hong Kong, except, perhaps, sails (and you can deal on the internet for those - no advantage in being there in person). The chandlers tend not to sell much in the way of wet weather gear, which would be the obvious place to make savings (I gather that practically all technical clothing is made in a few factories in China, regardless of the name on the label). Otherwise, prices are similar to the UK.

You might find fasteners and everyday chandlery (such as shackles, blocks and so on) pretty cheap in Chinese stores on fishing ports like Sai Kung or Aberdeen, but of course you have no way of knowing the quality, and it won't be "yacht" finish - it will be what they sell to the local commercial boats. Explaining what you want will be a challenge - even with a Cantonese speaking wife, we had problems getting over the concept of a pelican clip! They didn't have any either, though after sketching one we did get recognition of what I wanted.

 

[30boat]

I shop in Hong Kong on a fairly regular basis (once a year!).

Basically, small consumer electronics are pretty cheap. Things like headphones, mobile phone cases, memory sticks and such-like. Mobile phone batteries are also readily available at sensible prices; much cheaper than UK prices. Ordinary clothing USED to be cheap, but last time I was there I bought very little; prices seem to have risen and there were no good deals.

Watches - even legitimate, branded goods - are somewhat cheaper than in the UK. I got a Casio G-Shock Sea Pathfinder for maybe 60% of what it would have cost in the UK. That was in a regular watch store in a westernized shopping Mall.

In Hong Kong, laptops, tablets and so on are actually dearer than they are in the UK. YMMV in mainland China.

I bought a decentish pair of binoculars for a reasonable price; nothing special, but they seem OK.

DON'T buy cheap fakes; they won't be worth what they charge! The exception to this rule is what i'd call good quality fakes; they may actually be made with the same machinery as the real thing, and actually be just as good without the ridiculous mark-up that a well-known name gives. Oddly, some of the cheap mechanical watches are good value; the manufacturing plant was bought from Switzerland, and the movements are OK; the cases tend to be rubbish, though!

A useful tip is to go shopping with a Chinese friend or colleague, and let them do the bargaining; preferably without them seeing you together. They'll get a better price than you will! I go with my wife (who is a native of Hong Kong), and we try not to let stall-holders in the street markets see us looking at things together.

Again, YMMV in mainland China, but NOTHING yachtie is cheap in Hong Kong, except, perhaps, sails (and you can deal on the internet for those - no advantage in being there in person). The chandlers tend not to sell much in the way of wet weather gear, which would be the obvious place to make savings (I gather that practically all technical clothing is made in a few factories in China, regardless of the name on the label). Otherwise, prices are similar to the UK.

You might find fasteners and everyday chandlery (such as shackles, blocks and so on) pretty cheap in Chinese stores on fishing ports like Sai Kung or Aberdeen, but of course you have no way of knowing the quality, and it won't be "yacht" finish - it will be what they sell to the local commercial boats. Explaining what you want will be a challenge - even with a Cantonese speaking wife, we had problems getting over the concept of a pelican clip! They didn't have any either, though after sketching one we did get recognition of what I wanted.

Very much my experience.I lived there for 8 years and found that anything yachtie would cost a lot.There used to be a chandler in Sai Kung with acceptable prices but in the end it was a lot cheaper to buy from West Marine in the US.

 

[GHA]

Yachty bits were never on the list. Tsingtao with a dozen bottles for £3.50 does seem a better deal
Back to electronics district tomorrow for a mooch about.

Great food.

 

[st599]

I've had a load of good Chinese electronics off eBay in the last couple of years

Degen DE1103 Radios
Yongnuo photographic gear
Eye-Fi card rip-off

They're currently able to manufacture most goods, and their designs are starting to hit the levels of manufacturers like Sharp - give it a couple of years.