As I had to pack my baggage for China it was impossible for me to take everything I need. I had to compress my whole life in only 23Kilo. But what can I leave at home? What do I really need? That leads to the main question:Â What can I buy here in China?
You can find nearly everything here in Zhuhai. There is the big underground market, the walking street and a lot of shopping centres, where you can buy clothes, shoes, handbags and stuff for your mobile phone and a lot of other things.
The underground market in Gongbei is located right at the boarder to Macau. It’s like a huge labyrinth – two floors and loads of corridors. One small shop is next to the other. In these shops they nearly use every centimetre to place their products. From very cheap over handmade up to “brand” clothes and handbags: every sector is available. You can find some shops for the men’s world as well, like electronics, mobile phones, DVDs, watches and outdoor equipment. However, you have to be careful – when you are a foreigner and you don’t have an idea of the prices they try to rip off your money. So you have to know that these prices aren’t fixed – you HAVE to bargain. For me it’s kind of fun, though, to walk around and bargain with these people for the price.
If you want to shop in common stores like H&M you will be disappointed. Zhuhai itself has no H&M store but we have “Only” and “Vero Moda” which are more or less the same quality-wise. If you really can’t live without H&M you can go to the three big cities next to Zhuhai: Hong Kong, Macau and Guangzhou. As these stores are all over the world, the prices are the same as everywhere. For more Western shops you can go to the international plaza – a huge shopping centre with Western brands. Fast food chains like McDonalds, KFC and Starbucks can also be found there.
You are also interested in the local shops? Then you can go to one of the many Shopping centres in our city and the famous pedestrian zone of Zhuhai. There you find common Chinese stores that are similar to the European H&M.
Keep in mind sizes are smaller than in Europe – so don’t be ashamed to take a bigger size. The Chinese women naturally have a smaller and tinier figure than we have.
Would you like to help Pia bargaining in Zhuhai? Then apply for an internship now!