shopping

During our trip back to NY we spent quite a bit of money on shopping. Even though we have been here in China for almost two years, there are still things that we cannot get over here that are available in America.

My wife is a tall woman by Chinese standards (5'8") and with that type of build come large feet. She wears a size 8 and she has a lot of problems finding shoes of that size in China. Usually if there are shoes of that size in a store (that is rare) they are very often only available for one or two styles. Women seem to be inherently addicted to buying shoes and my wife is no exception so this was a very troubling problem for her. She compensated for that by buying herself 4 pairs of shoes during this visit back to the states.

There is another good reason for buying shoes in the US. Even though about 70% of the shoes being sold in the US are made in China the shoes being sold in China is not subject to the quality standard of their trans-pacific counterparts. Shoes that I have purchased in China have felt very thin with very minimal support for my feet. I had to throw out one pair of sneakers because the lack of support caused a pulling sensation on the bottom of my feet when I was wearing them. I am not too picky with how I am dressed but I feel that the comfort of shoes are very important to the well being of a person as the entire weight of a person's body is being supported by them.

Believe it or not, electronics are more expensive in China than they are in the US. This statement is true if you are purchasing electronics that is made outside of China. China has a fairly high tariff on imported items so it is actually better to buy electronics in the US than it is in China unless you want to buy the mediocre stuff that China makes. Of course if you are satisfied with China made electronics then you are all set over here.

Outside of shoes, clothes and a new Nikon DSLR we also purchase some things like salad dressing and cereal. Yes, salad dressing. In China, if you were to go to a restaurant and order a salad the default and only dressing you will get is thousand island. Therefore, I had to get a few bottles of Italian dressing for the days that I need to get a break from the greasy local fare. And of course cereal, have to have my Honey Bunches of Oats that I cannot find over here.

I think to summarize the shopping situation in Shanghai is that if you want to get high quality imported goods you very often might not find them in China and if you do you will be paying a higher price due to the heavy tariffs. But if you are looking for Chinese made goods then you will be in paradise.