My friend told me about a fake Ikea, not far from DianChi lake. It took a 40kuai taxi ride from the north, but it was a fully almost exact replica of Ikea. Most items were actually from Ikea and similar prices. Furniture, dishware, lights, pictures, storage containers... And inside was set up just like an Ikea. 3 floors of stuff. We bought tons of stuff, and it's well worth a visit. Apparently there are 2 in town. in chinese it's ShiYi Jia Ju (11furniture). The one near dianchi lake is supposedly bigger, but I've not been to the other. I don't know the address, but I can post the phone number. And most taxi drivers seemed to know ShiYi JiaJu.

i've heard of that place. i think it's on Guangfu Lu

It is indeed on Guangfu Lu (广福路) in the south-west of the city. And it certainly does bear more than just a passing resemblance to IKEA!!

I took the bus there from the North, K1 or 23 to the train station and then change to number 24 at the stop right in front of the station on Beijing Lu. You ride for around 20 minutes until you get to Tai Jia He stop (太家河) and you will see Shiyi Jiaju (十一家具）about 100 metres ahead of you on the right hand side. Make sure you get off at this stop otherwise it's another 10 minutes to the next stop where you have to get on the bus back the other way, as I did due to the fact I was on the phone and not looking out of the window!

If you take a taxi, you can also say it's on 广福路 next to the 省公安厅.

I think it would be a worthwile place to go if you were really buying a lot of stuff for your apartment as they offer a free delivery and installation service for the larger goods. However, most of the smaller household items you can get in any of the big supermarkets.

The other one is behind Walmart at 小西门 as you are walking out towards 西昌路. It's much smaller than the one on 广福路 but still an alternative to the supermarkets if you want household stuff.

Hope that helps!

All -

Today I went to 11 Jia Ju and wanted to share some information...

First, you can find the store on the Internet at www.11jiaju.com.

Second, as stated above is it a lot like an Ikea and has much of the same products.

Third, pricing is similar to Ikea, if a bit lower. I purchased a four door wardrobe for rmb 2k, a set of four drawers for rmb 850, a 89cm shelf set for rmb 750.... they also have a good selection of small housewares.

Fourth, unlike Ikea, they cannot provide furniture the same day - you must wait 10 days for delivery, but they will assemble the furniture for free.

Finally, I took a cab and learned that it is next to impossible to get a cab back - so be warned.

I still need a sectional sofa set (they had one I liked for rmb 3.5k) and a dining room set (the one I liked there was rmb 2k w/ six chairs). I would appreciate suggestions of other places I can look.

Jonathan

There is a small Shi Yi Jiaju behind Wal-mart at Xiaoximen

There may be a small Shi Yi Jia Ju behind Walmart at Xiao Xi Men but I challenge you to find it. I walked around for about an hour going to every place which could possibly fit the description of 'behind Walmart' asking hundreds of people (most of whom thought I was insane as the one they knew was the one on Guang Fu Lu) with no success. Where is this mythical place?!

The one on Guang Fu Lu is great though. Describing it as a fake Ikea doesn't really do it justice, it's an infinitely nicer experience than going to an Ikea in the West. On the day I went I was the only customer instead of having to battle through crowds of angry Londoners who have made the hideous journey to Croyden or Tottenham. I think the furniture is nicer than Ikea's and better quality. It's also considerably cheaper than Ikea in the UK. I bought some nice wooden chairs for about 200 kuai each which would have cost four times as much in London. Plus delivery is free. The two times I went I only had to wait about 5 minutes for a taxi.

You can get curtains there made to measure and if you buy anything which is upholstered then you can choose your material from quite a large selection and they will make it for you. This will change the price. When you look at the price tags on sofas etc you will see two prices, I think the second one is for the cover. So if the material looks a bit fancy the total price might well be cheaper with another cover.

The fuwuyuans were very helpful and filled in the forms for me and they didn't hassle me at all. Make sure you have your address written out in characters and that you have enough Chinese to arrange a date and time for delivery.

anybody know if this is still there? the website no longer comes up

@Maude
The mythical Fake Ikea "behind Walmart" [...this sounds like a Tolkien quest...!] is to the west of Walmart, opposite Robert's School of Languages. Small entrance leading to a larger display area.

do you know if there is still one down by Dianchi Lake?

It was there a few weeks ago, yes.