moving to kunming next month from the US, wondering if I should lug these things along or can I buy them there?
ball jars various sizes
oster blender
green star juicer
will also be looking to pick up:
electric guitar
used scooter
used van
and anyone have sources for:
local raw honey
unpasteurized milk
local pastured eggs
thanks
@dj
All of the appliances you mentioned are available either online (new and or used) or from exiting expats.
ONLINE WEBSITE
taobao.com (china's equivalent of amazon). As the site's in English only - you'll need to use machine translation software to dig around blindly until you figure out the correct Chinese phrase for what you seek. You'll need a Chinese bank account AND it has to be enabled for web access.
You'll also need to signup with alipay.com (chinese version). For the ID card - use your passport, but add LEADING (in front of) zeroes to pad the passport number so it totals the 18 digits common for Chinese ID cards (which you can't get).
And finally - you'll need a local mobile phone - all require your passport for registration. If they people helping you can't seem to get it done - remember the leading zeroes trick...
TRANSLATION SOFTWARE
fanyi.baidu.com
FRESH GOODS
For the foodstuff(s) - any of the major farmer's markets (aka wet markets) around where you live will carry everything you need except the milk. You'll need to go to the milk store for that.
I'm lactose intolerant - but I have NO SERIOUS PROBLEMS with the New Zealand imported and packaged whole cream milk (1 liter per container), which we buy by the case (actually, 2 cases per month) - although there was that botulism scare a few years back...
You can also checkout jd.com and or tmall.com for the more genuine appliances.
We also have a couple of metro wholesale warehouses (german company). As a foreigner, just show your passport and they'll give you a membership card. For the Metro addresses, check the listings page on this website.
If your chinese is pretty good - you can also shop metro online (metro.com.cn?), but their prices actually not so competitive - so metro is best for picking up non-perishables (e.g. cereals, snacks, supplies, etc), frozen goods in bulk (like ice cream!), beverages, and imported goods...until you figure out how to make homemade Lea & Perrins sauce actually taste like Lea & Perrin's Worstershire sauce (as opposed to pipe cleaner and roach poison).
Best wishes with your upcoming visit. Kunming's a fun city and the entire province is a tourist bonanza, not to mention side trips down to the golden triangle (Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia - and you can even jet over to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the many new and emerging <insert prefix>-istan middle eastern nations, etc if you're more intrepid). Just make sure you pay attention to and stay current with the US Consulate/Embassy Travel Alerts.
wow, thanks so much that's tons of great info!
just curious as a follow up on getting food items...
in the thai markets there is a guy that
shreds the meat of whole old coconuts and throws them in a machine with a metal screw to make coconut cream for thai curries. Do you know if you can buy coconut cream like this in Kunming or Haikou?
Eggs are faked in china, check internet and see how to tell difference from a fake egg and real one. This is no joke btw. When it comes to honey, you can be 100% sure it has been "mixed up" to some degree, unless you are going to have beehives yourself. About milk, people prefer to buy Australian powder from Hong Kong, due to various reasons.
So to sum it up, you might want to bring a suitcase of eggs, a liter of honey and milk powder from your neighborhood.
As a sidetopic, you didnt ask about water. A few out there slurp boiled city water - one even with gusto and enthusiasm - but most buy in big bottles and some even purify it themselves.
You have info on the 'faked' eggs peter, 'cos if it really is no joke I must be getting really lucky with my eggs lol
@djtutolo: I would not worry about Peter's comments above - none of the issues mentioned have caused me the slightest problem during the 13+ years I've lived here.
OK thx
Yes Peter is right. Look out for Kinder Eggs that are sold in most supermarkets here and are not actualy real eggs. I had a terrible omlet the day I made that mistake.
Let's face it, in China just about everything can be faked, eggs, cellphones, noodles, rice, diplomas, passports, laptops, medicine, clothes, etc. The key is to go to places where you have a good sense of the place. Taobao sells a lot of fake good too but they also sell genuine stuff . Don't be paranoid, just be careful. Many of the small 'grocery stores' sell fake sodas (Coca-cola, Pepsi, Sprite, bottle water). Especially in the rural areas (the countryside). Also be aware of everything. You're Chinese friends can help you a lot in this respect. Good Luck!
