I went over to Taikang Rd over the weekend and friends tipped me off to the old Ka De's reincarnation: Oscar Club. Ka De Club was the original mega underground DVD shop on JinXian Rd a few years back. They had stores on Zhenning Rd and DaGu Rd also but after some kind of crack down, they changed their name. I haven't been to this one at all, since I was pretty happy w/ my Dagu Rd shop. The first thing we noticed was that the shop offered FREE cokes, bottled water, AND beer (ok, just some Sapporo light), no purchase necessary. The funny thing is that not a lot of people seemed to have noticed the sign or the frig, which was standing right at the entrance. I guess people were in a rush to go to the inner room to check out the new DVD's.
Oscar's selection is still pretty extensive, but with so many other look-alike shops, it's no longer that impressive to me. More over, it's by far the most expensive expat-oriented shop I've seen -- $8 for DVD and $16 for DVD-9. Darn! I'd give them that if they categorize by some scheme or had on-line ordering and free delivery service or something. I guess it goes to pay for the free drinks we had at the door...
For cheaper DVD's, find a reliable shop near where you live (so you could return your defective discs) or try my favorite shops.
2008年3月24日 星期一
2008年3月18日 星期二
Knock-offs, fakes, copies - where do you buy them post-Xiang Yang Market
When the famous (infamous) Xiang Yang market shut its door back in June, 2006, local and tourists alike lost their must-visit shopping mecca that had been around since 2000. What remains are the streetside peddlers holding worn-out catalog cards who promise nice fake LV's, Gucci's, and Rolexes.
So where do you find the stuff you still want to buy now (ok, no moral judgements here)? The vendors are now much more discreet and don't flaunt the really good AAA stuff in plain sight. For top brand bags, try the little shops along ChangLe Rd and XinLe Rd, between XiangYang Rd and Shannxi Rd. Befriend the shop owners by buying a few pieces first, and then they might bring out the really nice ones. They don't come cheap considering they're fakes -- prices range in the thousand(s) of kuai-- but the materials they use are much better than what you'd see on the street. I prefer bags without blatant logos that can stand on its design and materials. You can also pick up "brandname" shoes, sun glasses, and clothing that make you wonder whether they are leaks from the real factories.
For electronics, luggages, and more casual fashion items, head for Taobao Mall (580 Nanjing West Rd near ChengDu NorthRd). The clean and modern mall is a much more pleasant place to shop than Xiang Yang market. Ironically, all the shops have a sign out front that says that everything they sell are authentic... Here, you tend to find 2nd tier/niche brands whose legal powers are not as strong as the top brands.
Another bunch of shops migrated to the underground shopping mall at PuDong's Science and Tech Musuem (Subway Line 2). I find the items, both clothing and souvenirs, very attractive here and if you go on the weekdays when there's less traffic, you might be able to bargain harder (although some people also told me that if you go on the weekdays, you'd be the target for ALL shop owners). There's also a row of restaurants next to the shopping mall for you to grab a bite after you're done.
You can also check out QiPu Rd Wholesale Clothing Market, which is near Subway line 8's QuFu Rd station. You can find trendy styles here and for cheaper, but the quality tends to be lower than the two places above. Inspect items carefully before you buy.
A word on bargaining -- the old rule of thumb is to counter offer at 70% off and make the deal around 50% off, but the vendors can outsmart you by opening at even higher prices. To gain upperhand is to be walk away from things when the price isn't what you want. Remember, these items are sold at more than one shop!!
So where do you find the stuff you still want to buy now (ok, no moral judgements here)? The vendors are now much more discreet and don't flaunt the really good AAA stuff in plain sight. For top brand bags, try the little shops along ChangLe Rd and XinLe Rd, between XiangYang Rd and Shannxi Rd. Befriend the shop owners by buying a few pieces first, and then they might bring out the really nice ones. They don't come cheap considering they're fakes -- prices range in the thousand(s) of kuai-- but the materials they use are much better than what you'd see on the street. I prefer bags without blatant logos that can stand on its design and materials. You can also pick up "brandname" shoes, sun glasses, and clothing that make you wonder whether they are leaks from the real factories.
For electronics, luggages, and more casual fashion items, head for Taobao Mall (580 Nanjing West Rd near ChengDu NorthRd). The clean and modern mall is a much more pleasant place to shop than Xiang Yang market. Ironically, all the shops have a sign out front that says that everything they sell are authentic... Here, you tend to find 2nd tier/niche brands whose legal powers are not as strong as the top brands.
Another bunch of shops migrated to the underground shopping mall at PuDong's Science and Tech Musuem (Subway Line 2). I find the items, both clothing and souvenirs, very attractive here and if you go on the weekdays when there's less traffic, you might be able to bargain harder (although some people also told me that if you go on the weekdays, you'd be the target for ALL shop owners). There's also a row of restaurants next to the shopping mall for you to grab a bite after you're done.
You can also check out QiPu Rd Wholesale Clothing Market, which is near Subway line 8's QuFu Rd station. You can find trendy styles here and for cheaper, but the quality tends to be lower than the two places above. Inspect items carefully before you buy.
A word on bargaining -- the old rule of thumb is to counter offer at 70% off and make the deal around 50% off, but the vendors can outsmart you by opening at even higher prices. To gain upperhand is to be walk away from things when the price isn't what you want. Remember, these items are sold at more than one shop!!
2008年3月17日 星期一
Quality Movie DVD shopping in Pudong
The other day, my friend who can speak Shanghainese took me to the shop where he usually picks up his stash of DVDs. I have always heard about DVD's being cheaper in Pudong but was always too lazy to go over the water and stuck with my Dagu Rd shop.
We went to a non-descript building near the Yaohan 八佰伴 at 1271 Pudong Nan Lu called "Rong Fu Deparment Store" 融富百货商场. The entire building is full of little shop/stalls peddling all kinds of wares. We went straight to the 3rd floor, stall B15, where Lady Pan's shop is. It's dinky shop, much like an old record shop, with rows and rows and DVD's not organized in any particular order. Everyone there was intently flipping through the DVD jackets, looking for those hidden treasures to bring home.
My friend claims that he goes through 20 movies per week, so always picks out a ton of stuff and is a favorite customer there. He's also a walking IMDB and served as a movie title translator for Lady Pan. I found Qatsi Trilogy, Baraka/Chronos, and an Ang Lee collection, which even contains "Xiao Yu" 少女小渔, a movie he co-produced but not directed. Most of the discs were DVD 9 format, the higher quality one, and it worked to be around $7-8RMB/movie.
We went to a non-descript building near the Yaohan 八佰伴 at 1271 Pudong Nan Lu called "Rong Fu Deparment Store" 融富百货商场. The entire building is full of little shop/stalls peddling all kinds of wares. We went straight to the 3rd floor, stall B15, where Lady Pan's shop is. It's dinky shop, much like an old record shop, with rows and rows and DVD's not organized in any particular order. Everyone there was intently flipping through the DVD jackets, looking for those hidden treasures to bring home.
My friend claims that he goes through 20 movies per week, so always picks out a ton of stuff and is a favorite customer there. He's also a walking IMDB and served as a movie title translator for Lady Pan. I found Qatsi Trilogy, Baraka/Chronos, and an Ang Lee collection, which even contains "Xiao Yu" 少女小渔, a movie he co-produced but not directed. Most of the discs were DVD 9 format, the higher quality one, and it worked to be around $7-8RMB/movie.
2008年3月10日 星期一
Hainan Sanya: China's Hawaii Waikiki - part 2 food
Searching for places to eat is a bit of a challenge. The tourist places are definitely not cheap, and may even be on par with Shanghai prices. For the first couple of days, we went to the ol' McDonald's for breakfast/lunch. There is only one M in town, which is located at the Pedestrian Stree (行人徒步街). Later, we found some more authentic local vermecelli noodle shops near the First Agriculture Market (第一农贸市场). The "Baoluofen" 抱罗粉 (vermecelli with pig's guts and small crunchy bread bits) was really yummy. At the market, we also bought some locally grown tropical fruits such as jackfruit, rambutan, and mango. Fresh coconuts are also pretty ubiquitous, although we heard that a lot of them are actually imported from Vietnam.
The seafood is a must-try here. We went to a popular joint called Mingrun明润, which has one location on Binghai Blvd. To order the seafood, you go check out the various live seafood selection and they'll weigh them on the spot. They charge$6-10RMB/500g (一斤) to cook the dishes, any style. The bill should come out to be $50-$100RMB per person, if you didn't order too much exotic stuff. I really liked the deep-see jumbo shrimps, but the crab is not as good as the hairy crab varietal we get in Shanghai. There's this rare type of fish called "Su-mei"苏眉 that's supposed to be delicious but it wasn't in season when we were there. You can also have seafood dinner on fisherman's boat off the Hongsha Pier 红砂码头渔排 (to the east of Dadonghai) for $50RMB all-you-can-eat type, but we didn't get to try that either.
The seafood is a must-try here. We went to a popular joint called Mingrun明润, which has one location on Binghai Blvd. To order the seafood, you go check out the various live seafood selection and they'll weigh them on the spot. They charge$6-10RMB/500g (一斤) to cook the dishes, any style. The bill should come out to be $50-$100RMB per person, if you didn't order too much exotic stuff. I really liked the deep-see jumbo shrimps, but the crab is not as good as the hairy crab varietal we get in Shanghai. There's this rare type of fish called "Su-mei"苏眉 that's supposed to be delicious but it wasn't in season when we were there. You can also have seafood dinner on fisherman's boat off the Hongsha Pier 红砂码头渔排 (to the east of Dadonghai) for $50RMB all-you-can-eat type, but we didn't get to try that either.
There's one nice western pub/cafe in Dadonghai called Rainbow. We went for brunch a couple times when we stayed in Dadonghai.
As Sanya develops into a world-class beach vacation spot, there should be a lot more opportunities for new restaurants of all kinds to move in. This is a town (city) that doesn't even have Starbucks yet! The local foods will be much more accessible and safer to eat if newer concept restaurants are opened.
See my part 1 write-up about Sanya's accommodations.
Hainan Sanya: China's own Hawaii Waikiki - part 1 accommodation
I recently spent a week down in Hainan Island's Sanya to check out some real estate and also to get away from the cold in Shanghai. After a 3 hour direct flight, I arrived at Sanya airport. The cheapest way to get into town is to take the city bus on the arrival level on the 2nd floor. For $4-5RMB, you can get to Sanya Blvd, which runs along the Sanya Bay beach. For $30RMB, you can also take the airport bus or taxi to get to the Sanya Bay area.
Sanya is roughly divided into 3 sections: Sanya Bay 三亚湾, Dadonghai 大东海, and Yalong Bay 亚龙湾. Sanya Bay is the most popular beach with local Chinese vacationers; the beach itself is a narrow band that runs several miles long, but the sand and water qualities are so so due to heavy traffic. There's a newer section of the Sanya Bay near the airport called Haipo 海坡, where a lot of new apartment and villa complexes are being built along the beach front. Dadonghai (Big East Ocean) is a smaller crescent shaped beach, mostly taken over by the Russian vacationers; the sand and water is nicer than those of Sanya Bay, esp. if you go toward the Xiaodonghai (Small East Ocean). Yalong Bay is packed with upscale international 5 star hotels like Hilton, Sheraton, Marriot, Ritz Carlton, as well as some Chinese branded 5 star hotels. Sanya and Yalong Bay became better known after the Miss World Pagent finals were held there, but the golfers have been going there for the nice weather and courses.
For accommodation, I had researched several "family hotels" that are located in the beach front apartment complexes; these are pretty much clusters of apartments managed by professional property management companies on behalf of owners who don't live in Sanya. Being a budding short-term apartment rental manager myself, I'm obviously eager to check these counterparts out ;-) Me and my friend decided to stay at multiple places in the different areas around Sanya to get a feel for the real estate quality.
The first place we stayed at was a "super deluxe ocean view room" at 海豹家庭旅馆 (the Seal Hotel) in the Future Life complex (碧海蓝天). The room was nicely decorated w/ 2 single beds and a bathroom. The balcony has a great ocean view from the 19th floor. It turned out that the room belonged to another hotel in the same building called Yomovo 游牧虎, which has a nice English site. The room was $200RMB/night, a great value considering the ocean view we got. They waived the $10RMB/night charge for internet connection (no wifi) after we protested that their competitors' were free of charge. Most complex residents are local Chinese, and I suspect many of them are also staying at one of the many family hotels in the complex. There's a big swimming pool (well, most complexes in Sanya have it), tennis courts (remember to bring your own racket), and a very well-stocked supermarket. Several bus lines also stop in front of the complex and take you to pretty much all the scenic spots along the beach, as far out as Yalong Bay.
Next, we moved to the Haipo area's BT Inn, which is located in a well-developed complex called Sunny Oceanfront (阳光海岸). This family hotel was a disappointment, as the room they gave us was not at all what's shown on their website. The furnitures are sparten and worn, and there was no interior deco to speak of (the bathrooms had exposed piping). At this hostel quality level, they charged us $260/night! What a rip-off. The beach out front is not too much nicer than Sanya Bay's -- even narrower and lack maintanance. We did stop by the Kempinski Hotel another 10 min by bus toward the west end, and the hotel seemed very nice with a big, private beach out front. The Holiday Inn that's a few doors down from Sunny Oceanfront was so-so, and doesn't have any stand-out facilities.
After one unhappy night at BT Inn, we fled to Dadonghai. We tried out the Bluesky Youth Hostel for $120RMB/night, recommended by Lonely Planet. The famed Peter guy wasn't in and the building was a bit old. We decided that we needed more view and comfort than what a hostel can offer, so we moved again after one night. We had our eyes set on Nanfeng, a first-line oceanview family hotel right in the center of Dadonghai, but they were solidly booked until end of March!! Wow, that's some good biz they're doing there. We settled for another family hotel, Yi Jia 怡佳, in the same apt building but on a lower floor. The view from the room was great and so was the price: $200RMB/night. Yi Jia is not as well-run as Nanfeng upstairs, that's why they still had open rooms when Nanfeng was full.
Overall, it's a great deal to stay at the family hotels when you come to Sanya, esp. if you want to stay for extended period of time. The monthly rent on these apts are pretty low: you can get a decent ocean front place for less than $3000RMB/month, which won't last you 3 nights at those 5-star places. I do have to admit though, that the hotels and beaches at Yalong Bay were super nice and definitely the choice for those with the dough.
See my part 2 write-up about Sanya's food.
Sanya is roughly divided into 3 sections: Sanya Bay 三亚湾, Dadonghai 大东海, and Yalong Bay 亚龙湾. Sanya Bay is the most popular beach with local Chinese vacationers; the beach itself is a narrow band that runs several miles long, but the sand and water qualities are so so due to heavy traffic. There's a newer section of the Sanya Bay near the airport called Haipo 海坡, where a lot of new apartment and villa complexes are being built along the beach front. Dadonghai (Big East Ocean) is a smaller crescent shaped beach, mostly taken over by the Russian vacationers; the sand and water is nicer than those of Sanya Bay, esp. if you go toward the Xiaodonghai (Small East Ocean). Yalong Bay is packed with upscale international 5 star hotels like Hilton, Sheraton, Marriot, Ritz Carlton, as well as some Chinese branded 5 star hotels. Sanya and Yalong Bay became better known after the Miss World Pagent finals were held there, but the golfers have been going there for the nice weather and courses.
For accommodation, I had researched several "family hotels" that are located in the beach front apartment complexes; these are pretty much clusters of apartments managed by professional property management companies on behalf of owners who don't live in Sanya. Being a budding short-term apartment rental manager myself, I'm obviously eager to check these counterparts out ;-) Me and my friend decided to stay at multiple places in the different areas around Sanya to get a feel for the real estate quality.
The first place we stayed at was a "super deluxe ocean view room" at 海豹家庭旅馆 (the Seal Hotel) in the Future Life complex (碧海蓝天). The room was nicely decorated w/ 2 single beds and a bathroom. The balcony has a great ocean view from the 19th floor. It turned out that the room belonged to another hotel in the same building called Yomovo 游牧虎, which has a nice English site. The room was $200RMB/night, a great value considering the ocean view we got. They waived the $10RMB/night charge for internet connection (no wifi) after we protested that their competitors' were free of charge. Most complex residents are local Chinese, and I suspect many of them are also staying at one of the many family hotels in the complex. There's a big swimming pool (well, most complexes in Sanya have it), tennis courts (remember to bring your own racket), and a very well-stocked supermarket. Several bus lines also stop in front of the complex and take you to pretty much all the scenic spots along the beach, as far out as Yalong Bay.
Next, we moved to the Haipo area's BT Inn, which is located in a well-developed complex called Sunny Oceanfront (阳光海岸). This family hotel was a disappointment, as the room they gave us was not at all what's shown on their website. The furnitures are sparten and worn, and there was no interior deco to speak of (the bathrooms had exposed piping). At this hostel quality level, they charged us $260/night! What a rip-off. The beach out front is not too much nicer than Sanya Bay's -- even narrower and lack maintanance. We did stop by the Kempinski Hotel another 10 min by bus toward the west end, and the hotel seemed very nice with a big, private beach out front. The Holiday Inn that's a few doors down from Sunny Oceanfront was so-so, and doesn't have any stand-out facilities.
After one unhappy night at BT Inn, we fled to Dadonghai. We tried out the Bluesky Youth Hostel for $120RMB/night, recommended by Lonely Planet. The famed Peter guy wasn't in and the building was a bit old. We decided that we needed more view and comfort than what a hostel can offer, so we moved again after one night. We had our eyes set on Nanfeng, a first-line oceanview family hotel right in the center of Dadonghai, but they were solidly booked until end of March!! Wow, that's some good biz they're doing there. We settled for another family hotel, Yi Jia 怡佳, in the same apt building but on a lower floor. The view from the room was great and so was the price: $200RMB/night. Yi Jia is not as well-run as Nanfeng upstairs, that's why they still had open rooms when Nanfeng was full.
Overall, it's a great deal to stay at the family hotels when you come to Sanya, esp. if you want to stay for extended period of time. The monthly rent on these apts are pretty low: you can get a decent ocean front place for less than $3000RMB/month, which won't last you 3 nights at those 5-star places. I do have to admit though, that the hotels and beaches at Yalong Bay were super nice and definitely the choice for those with the dough.
See my part 2 write-up about Sanya's food.
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