The Friendship stores you will encounter in China’s larger cities are an anachronistic echo from an earlier epoch when imported luxury goods were hoarded under one roof for the privileged few. Some Friendship Stores can still be useful for English literature and magazines, and there are usually some staff who speak a little English. However, you are probably better off visiting markets or smaller shops.

Hotel gift shops should be avoided, unless you want to pick up newspaper, magazines or books. Don’t ever buy paintings of antiques from such shops – visit local markets, otherwise you’ll be hit with a vastly inflated price.

Five-star hotel arcades are often the place to go for top brand name shopping, but expect to pay a hefty whack. Also some five star hotels have attached residential apartment blocks (like the China World Trade Center in Beijing) with their own multilevel shopping malls.

The explosion of shopping malls and department stores, feeding the consumers revolution in China, has been a also in the face to Communist-era service standards. Market forces have jolted sleeping sales staff awake, but you may still meet a defiant clique of the old guard: slumped comatose on the counter or yacking to each other, oblivious to customers shrieking at them.

But the place to go to really roll up your sleeves and get to grips with local rock-bottom prices is the local markets. Blankets spread on the pavement and pushcarts in the alleys-this is where you find the lowest prices. In street markets, all sales are final; forget about warranties and, no, they don’t accept AmEx. Nevertheless, the markets are interesting, but be prepared to bargain hard.

While journeying the land, don’t get too weighed down with sourvenirs and trinkets- there’s nothing worse than buying a replica Buddha statue in Dunhuang, only to spot exactly the same one in a Beijing market on the day before you fly home.

It’s sensible to save your shopping for imported electronic consumer items for Hong Kong and Macau- import duties are still too high in the rest of China.

Some shopping tips: make sure you keep receipts and try and hang on to the bag og the shop where you bought each item in case you need to return the item. When retruning something, try to return to the original store where you bought it; be as firm as possible, as perseverance often pays off. If returning clothes, the sales tags should still be on them and there should be no signs that you have worn the item. Exchanging items is easier than getting a refund. find out what the time limit is for returning goods brought at the store. Some stores such as the clothing outlet Esprit, have a no-quibble refund policy; others won’t refund or exchange goods.

Antiques
There are very few antiques of real worth left in China, apart from those which remain seled in tombs, temples, in private hands or museums-basically beyond reach. Most of the antiques that you find in markets and shops around the land are replicas or eratz. The quality of replication technology can be quite dazzling, but that monochrome Qing Guangxu Imperial Yellow Bowl in your hands is far more likely to be a Jinag Zemin dynasty imitation. It’s also worth bearing in mind that even action houses get caught out quite regularly, and experts assume that a considerable percentage of material that passes under the gavel is of dubious authenticity.

Stamps & Coins
China issues quite an array of beautiful stamps that are generally sold at post offices in the hotels. Outside many of the post offices you’ll find amateur philatelists with books full of stamps for sale; it can be extraordinarily hard bargaining with these enthusiasts! Stamps issued during the Cultural Revolution make interesting souvenirs, but these rare items are no longer cheap. Check out www.cpi.com.cn/cpi-e, a Web site on Chinese philately. Old coins are often sold at major tourist sites, but many are forgeries.

Paintings & Scrolls
Watercolor, oils, woodblock prints, calligraphy-there is a lot of art for sale in China, tourist centers like Gulin, Suzhou, Beijing and Shanghai are good places to look our for paintings. Convincing imitation oils of the Ningbo-born artis Chen Yifei can be found everywhere, along with copies of other contemporary artists. Don’t by these from hotel shops, however, as you will be massively ripped off.

Oddities
If plaster statues are to your liking, the opportunities to stock up in China are abundant. Fat buddhas appear everywhere, along with statues of Guanyin. There’s no need to look for musical Chairman Mao cigarettes lighters; they will come to you. One interesting oddity sold in 2001 from blankets-on-the ground around Tiananmen Square were phone-tapping devices.