Hi, I'm looking for a good hardware store, preferably in the BeiChen area. Anyone know of a place that sells things like wood screws, screw drivers, handsaws etc...

I have been to B&Q, they don't really have a good selection. Any thoughts?

Regards
C

B&Q really is your best bet for what you have mentioned.

There are some good small hardware stores, but not easy to find.

This isn't in the Beichen area - but the YunFang Building in the SW of Kunming has a large concentration of home decoration stores. YunFang is on HuanCheng NanLu (HuanCheng South Road).

That being said - there are other clusters of such stores scattered throughout the city - I think RenMing DongLu has several, HuangCheng NanLu, etc.

I usually buy all my tools and supplies online from taobao or tmall, as it's easier to check competitive prices, consumer reviews, etc. You can also look at amazon.com (china's amazon) and jd.com etc.

Some of the local stores sell at the lowest possible price, you get the lowest quality, and both can be very low. It is worth the journey to the decorating markets, and finding trade suppliers, or the extra money at B&Q, or buy online.

Most hardware stores in Kunming are, unsurprisingly, 'local stores'. I can't speak for Beichen, but I see them everywhere, hard to imagine that you won't run into one if you just walk around a bit. But what is B&Q? - oh, I see; but you mention wood screws, hacksaws etc. - shouldn't be hard to find such items.

i think for the slow of wit you should have put neighborhood hardware store. you also need to use the word hardware incase someone goes in to try and buy food

Thanks for the advice. Been to B&q and they really only have a small selection of hardware. I purchased what I could but things like screws, there was a very limited selection.

(B&Q is a hardware store from the uk. The store really doesn't have a big collection of tools, hardware etc..)

I've walked around the area, I have found one hardware store, selling tools only. I think the brand is sata, seems good quality, but they don't stock screws. The assistant wasn't very helpful, and couldn't tell me where I could get the wood screws.

Taobao is my last option, it's not really the cost, the quality is the most important factor. Nothing worse than getting a worn down cross-head or worse still a broken screw stuck in the wood.

I'll keep looking. Thanks peeps. Appreciate you all taking the time to provide the info.

Having lived in China for a few years now, I have learned a lot about screws. There is a tendency to get hung up about using the right screw, I used to be guilty of that. Unless you are doing cabinet making, there is no need.
In my workshop I have a reasonable range of screws, but only seem to use a few types.

I was passed on some good learning by Dan, an apprenticed chippy. There is one screw that will do everything, the drywall screw. If it is not going to show (you can always countersink and cover), it does not matter. Super hard and super sharp, there is no need to drill pilot holes, and they are even sharp enough to drive directly into steel boxes without drilling first (I have driven into 2mm box girders before).

There are regular brassed woodscrews that I buy, by the kilo (20-30rmb), these are soft, but you

must drill pilot holes. I get these at a trade supplier.

I also use pocket screws, 90% of the time 1 1/4", for pocket jointing in 3/4" (15-18mm) ply.

The only other specialty screws I use are hinge screws, but they come with the hinges. B&Q are good for hinges, the budget brassed

hinges (50 and 75mm) are 5rmb for 2 pr.

I use 5mm wall plugs, and as the screws will usually be hidden, I use any suitable length/dia screw I have.

I also do a lot of nail and glue joining. The nails just hold things fast while the glue dries. PVA is cheap and the joints are stronger than the wood if properly used.

My must have tools are:
Small claw hammer.
Cordless screw driver (cheap ones are smaller and get into tighter spaces.
Good quality driver bits (Bosch come in sets of 10 at B&Q)
Combination square.
Pencil
Tape measure 5m
Pliers (regular and long nose)
Add a deadblow hammer (orange plastic thing) cheap, as I do cabinet making.
These are the tools I use almost daily.

If you want to meet up in the south, I will show you where I buy my hardware in DaShangHui, near Qianxing Lu and Guangfu Lu.
Where you can buy good, reasonably priced power tools, and where I buy my quality plywoods. PM me if interested.

Tiger, thanks for the offer. Really only need to find the screws, need a few at 100mm and 80mm, as well as some other sizes. Popped into some of the bathroom shops this afternoon, longest screw I could find was 60mm. I'll probably hit taobao this afternoon with an order.

I have the other tools also. Drill, bits, etc... my question was really about local shops, if anyone knew of a good hardware shop in the beichen area.

Like I mentioned, B&q in kunming doesn't really compare with the local B&q back in my home town in the U.K. I think I was the best customer at my branch for about 1 year when I rebuilt my house.

I'll probably be looking to get some ply in the near future, if I can't get anything local to me, I may have to make the 16km trek to DaShangHui as per your recommendation.

Once again, I do appreciate your advice.

100mm is not an everyday screw. I have seen brassed screws of about 80mm. That is getting a bit long for brassed and adding weakness, especially for twist, torsion.
Suggest taobao as being cheaper, and save you hours of shoe leather looking for something that you may not find.
Why do they need to be so long? There may be an alternative method of construction. Or alternative fixing (e.g. hammer anchors).