Quick Layover in Beijing – Where’s The Best Place near The Airport to Buy Some Tech

spiderdash on 18/12/2024 - 09:22
Last edited 18/12/2024 - 11:10 by 1 other user

Hi fellow OzBargainers (who had been in Bejing before),

I have an 8-hour transit in Beijing with a hotel stay outside the airport. I’m looking to buy some tech such as smartwatches while I’m there, ideally somewhere close to the airport. Are there any good stores (Xiaomi stuff particularly) nearby, and is there a significant price difference compared to buying on Amazon? Or would it still be better to grab a deal online?

I have spent a few hours on Google but it is hard to find (most of the online sales sites are in Chinese with different prices).

Thanks for your advice!"

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  jv on 18/12/2024 - 09:25

  +8

  Harvey Norman

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  BigBirdy on 18/12/2024 - 09:29

  +3

  Save yourself money, time & hassle, shop online at AliExpress

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  EFC94 on 18/12/2024 - 09:32

  Probably isn't worth your time or effort.

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  mini2 on 18/12/2024 - 10:16

  +1

  Save yourself the headache, buy it off Aliexpress/Amazon and go sightseeing instead.

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  spiderdash on 18/12/2024 - 11:18

  +2

  On my way back, I have a 16-hour transit, which is when I plan to do some sightseeing. An 8-hour transit doesn’t really give enough time, especially after a long-haul flight from Sydney.

  I also need to buy quite a few tech gifts, so on the outbound journey a quick stop at a good shopping mall near the airport would be ideal—assuming the prices are , say around 20- 30%, cheaper over there. If that’s the case, spending $1000 on tech could be worth it.

  AliExpress takes way too long these days, and I’ve had multiple issues lately (still chasing refunds!).

  Amazon is the hassle-free alternative, but I’m trying to figure out if there’s still a significant price difference when buying in China compared to Australia, or if the gap has narrowed now.

• 

  frondono on 18/12/2024 - 11:45

  +1

  When I was in Hong Kong it was cheaper to get it through deals on here. Most of the deal vendors at the time don't pop up anymore.

  • 

    frondono on 18/12/2024 - 11:46

    You can probably get a train somewhere to have a look.

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  spiderdash on 19/12/2024 - 06:29

  For the benefit of others this is what I have found thus far, for my scenario

  1. https://www.jd.com/ is a very popular online retail site and provides a good gauge of prices there. From there I see there is not much difference between Amazon prices and retail prices in China.

  2. Xiaomi Home: Googling for
     xiao mi zhi jia 小米之家
     will give you the places to buy Xiaomi stuff. Their experience centers too, where you can see all of their tech including their EV SU7. I will try to make a dash to one of their experience centers.

  I hope this info will help someone transiting through China.

  • 

    BigBirdy on 19/12/2024 - 11:31

    Jd is an online store, so I don’t see the relevance to your Beijing stopover.

    I’m curious how the Xiaomi store prices compare to online shopping, I suspect they’ll be a lot more expensive. It’s 15 odd years since I’ve been shopping in China, it was a disappointing experience then. Go back further, 20-30 years ago, and it was both cheap & interesting.

    • 

      spiderdash on 19/12/2024 - 12:37

      Online prices are normally cheaper than the physical stores (obvious associated costs). So if it is not really cheaper online there, on a popular online store, then there is very little chance it would be cheaper in the stores, def not 20%-30%. I will still go and see but that's what the research from internet says (that's why I was looking for some advice here from someone who had been there recently)