I’ve been in Qingdao for 4 weeks now and have been settled really well here. The  initial feeling of just being on a vacation is over and I have finally realized that this is my new home for the next 5 months. There are many things I really appreciate here in China; One new activity I’ve really fallen in love with is my absolutely favorite online shopping website www.taobao.com. It’s a paradise for everyone even if you are not into shopping at all.

A relatively young company just like any of these e-shopping platforms, Taobao was founded in 2003 by the Alibaba Group. Very similar in process to the famous Amazon and Ebay sites, it facilitates C2C transactions which aids the sale of goods for individual’s small businesses and entrepreneurs. According to a Wikipedia statistic there were around 800 million product listings even in 2103 so girls you cannot say there is not enough choice for shoes!

But for me, and let’s say I might be a little shopping addict – its heaven. Taobao is offering all brands from around the world for just the purchase price. Due to the fact that most of the European and American brands are producing here in china, everything is very cheap. Like I said, its HEAVEN on earth.
For example this week, I ordered two dresses and one top of Zara, one TopShop dress and a really nice necklace for about 350RMB means around 40€ which is very cheap compared to the prices I normally pay in Germany. Unfortunately, you are is only able to order stuff from taobao via a Chinese bank account which means my lovely colleague Amber helps me out with that, poor her. But my closet in Germany will be thankful for her help! I already have a list for other clothes  I will buy in the next few days, but well.. you only live once and like it’s said life is a party and you should dress like it.

The only question that will come up now is of course, how I get all this stuff home?! Well to be honest, I haven’t really thought about that. At the moment I’m acting more like a hamster that gorges himself for the winter. I still have 5 month left which probably means in the end I have to get a second suitcase but well, it’s defiantly worth it 😉
Take a look !!! www.taobao.com

Enjoy the best shopping market in the world during your internship – Apply now for an amazing experience in China

Image and information Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taobao
https://bontonstyleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012_02_01_archive.html
https://thedailyneuron.com