April 13, 2015 at 13:10HuaQiangBei Electronic Market in Shenzhen
Traveling in China, one cannot stop entering electronic markets. It will be simply unforgivable. And, surely, if you went here, before the road you received a thousand orders already for different equipment, watches, smartphones, etc.
In the center of the SHZH, a half-hour walk from the KK100 tower, there is the most famous electronics store in southern China - Huachinbey. In fact, these are several quarters with various kinds of equipment and details.
Want to experience China? Like to bargain? Do you like noisy and crowded places with endless crowd? Then to you here.
In this place you understand why China is ahead of the rest. Here you can buy absolutely everything that you go. I admit that somewhere in the basements even uranium rods are sold.
Printed circuit boards, transistors, resistors, power supplies, LEDs, rectifiers, capacitors, microprocessors, memory cards, radiators, cameras - all this whole floors. Ready-made solutions entire blocks.
These are stacks of boards, not cardboard.
Moreover, no one considers it shameful to bring goods to mind right on the spot: they buy something, buy something, pack it and even finish it.
A girl solders something on a printed circuit board .
But even a child cannot prevent such work. You expect to cry babies, children's capricious voices in the bazaar, in a large shopping center, but not in the electronic market.
And then a kindergarten, sometimes turning into a day nursery.
I can’t imagine how the kids stand here so much time. Even if it's not all day.
In the four weeks that I spent in China, I realized that there are a lot of children and their parents carry with them always and everywhere. On the streets, in shops, in places of rest there are always a bunch of children. What can I say, on the Great Wall of China in the hands of my parents I saw dozens of them - small, small, smaller.
This is partly due to the fact that in China, parents really take care of their children much more strongly than in Russia, for example. Under the tutelage, here you need to keep in mind, perhaps, engaged.
But the more likely reason is that there are simply a lot of them, and this is striking. And the law on the prohibition of having more than one child is now significantly weakened - this is logical, otherwise the nation will begin to grow very old.
But I was distracted.
Two huge buildings are dedicated to video surveillance systems, where you will find what you want for every taste. I can’t imagine how they survive, selling the same thing on the same square.
The windows of all stores look about the same.
By the way, I also found what I was looking for - a peephole in the form of a video camera with the ability to shoot in the dark, with a motion detector and GSM module for sending MMS or making calls when someone came.
On the streets are a bunch of branded stores: Apple, Huawei, Lenovo, MI. But the prices for branded equipment in China are now so comparable with Russian that you need to think twice before buying here. And you need to be very careful - they all fake amazingly. It's easy to get caught, which is what the guys and I did.
All our gang suddenly decided to buy paurbanks - in Russian, wearable batteries with a USB output. And everyone fell for MI. I was there for the company - to me, sort of, they were unnecessarily.
But when our Austro-Kenyan comrade very cleverly knocked down the price of a seller who did not want to move at all, I also took one by myself in the guise.
Just look at these cunning narrow eyes .
And we took in the MI brand store. All logos, clothing sellers, shop windows, packaging, luxury interior, if I may call it that - consistent with the brand. Literally after 10 minutes, we decided to go to another brand store of the same brand, where we were very well informed that they circled us around the finger and sold a fake. The difference between the two salons was minimal.
The saleswoman told us one very clever thing: "Everyone sells copies on Huachinbey ... except us . "
An absolutely amazing fact - the same official store also sells copies 10 yuan cheaper from the counter, which is located right in front of the entrance. On the contrary, at 4 meters, obvious copies are sold for nothing - 50 yuan cheaper - almost 3 times.
Therefore, if you take something in this market, then either not branded things, or obviously copies.
I bought an external Bose speaker there for myself. Made very cool, except for the LEDs, it plays so that I definitely won’t hear the difference. Knocked down the price twice.
It will go to me for the time of repair, for background music, when I will read books to my daughter, and for gatherings in the fresh air.
I bought another 32 GB memory card for 33 yuan. Such things do not take one at a time, so it was hard to throw off) But I reduced it by about 30%. Then the truth realized that it was necessary to take at least three pieces in order to feel the benefits. I also took 8 GB for 9 yuan just in case.
Bargaining is a must. Even if you don’t love. You can almost always drop it by 20-30%, if we talk about piece goods. And usually up to half the price you can bargain. The seller himself wants to sell. If it does not suit the price that you call, move on. If she was adequate, he will catch up and stop you. If not, look for another seller - it all depends on his greed. The same product can vary very decently.
Here is my speaker - I just asked about the price, then to compare. But to leave was not destined. The starting price was 150 yuan.
“Tell me your price, cry,” the Chinese woman says in years, laughing fervently.
I typed 60 on a calculator - so she understood that I was not going to buy.
“Meu, meu.” Her eyes widened noticeably.
- More - and with a calm soul I am going to leave.
- 80 - she dials on a calculator.
The painful process of internal struggle - 70 - I write to her.
- Hands on, crap!
And here's another example: one of our gang bought a quadrocopter (they call them drones, by the way). He bargained for 150 yuan, and in all other places it costs about 350. So think about what kind of margin they wind up. They can laugh, they can turn away and say no, they won’t sell at this price, they can even touch your head, pretend they burned your hand and ask if the owner of this head is overheated. And then they will catch up and offer their price.
And yes, after you bought something, you should not ask in other places already if you do not know how to laugh at yourself.
As you have already noticed, probably a universal trading tool is a calculator. It’s rare that a seller doesn’t have it and tries to describe the price on his fingers. I even admit that this is the only purpose of the calculator on the market.
The painful process of knocking down prices.
The guys bought more self-sticks (or, as they call them, monopods), bulbs for external batteries (I also took a couple of 5 yuan myself), some clothes, lighters.
My last purchase was a watch - Omega Seamaster - a friend’s order. There are not many watch shops, or rather, it seems, one. And he, like much on Huachinbey, closes at 6 pm.
On kilometers of shop windows are only little-known Chinese brands - Curren, S-Shock, Simax - I know them only because this market was woolly when I chose a watch for myself. This is a watch that is very similar to some brand watches, but different in name and quality, and therefore in price.
For interest, these are Curren and S-Shock:
But as soon as you cross some invisible line, catalogs with images of Tissot, Orient, Omega, caskets with an expensive watch begin to open before you on all sides, like a wonderful self-assembled tablecloth. Know only have time to turn away from blinding flashes, right or left.
It’s good when you know what to look for - you just show the photo and ask if they have it. Usually there. Some worker crawls under the counter or runs into the cave of Ali Baba and brings out an unattractive bag from which he spills a mountain of spears.
By the way, my Omega copy turned out to be really high-quality: they are fully automatic (I even checked it), they are heavy and they go. The price really bites - 380 yuan, and the customer made the condition no more than 200. I found for 270 that I could reset to 200, but it was such an open fake that I would not forgive myself for such a purchase.
As a result, it was possible to bring down to 255 here - and that is not bad. Will be a gift to a friend means - he is a great person.
The clock needs to be checked - for chips and scratches, for the fact that they generally go and for how many days in a month. This is ridiculous, but the few copies we tested had 40 days.
It is not worth hoping that the dials will work in the middle. At least they will not show what is in the original.
Some buttons may be fake; some functions may not work. There is only one answer to the question why or why this is needed - "it was so in the original, we just repeated it."
Alongside the expensive-looking brand boutiques, there are also such crashes of packaging materials.
A little further, the whole huge basement is full of covers, cases, bumpers, plugs under the 3.5 connector, protective films, flash drives, SD-cards. And in the same way - you can bargain. True, in such places the bill goes not by units, but usually by hundreds. So my Chinese friend - a novice businessman - bought three dozen bumpers there for 6 yuan and is going to sell them in his shop in a provincial town for 40-50.
What I like throughout China (although I haven’t been so much where) is the love of nature. Even in a market where it would seem that there is no place for such sentimental things, pretty flowers grow in the middle of the roadway.
The whole philosophy of the eastern world - to live in unity with nature - is what Buddhism speaks of, Chinese medicine speaks of this, and the amount of greenery on the balconies of high-rise buildings also speaks of this.
But is there a bit of hypocrisy here, if you recall Beijing's smog, Shenzhen factories or Guangzhou boutiques?
Shops in buildings close at 6 pm, and on the street people crowd until late at night.
We left at nine o’clock, and taxi drivers were just starting their hunt for lovers for a ride with the breeze.
This is all of China at the moment. An amazing country that has adapted in everything to the modern rhythm of life, and amazing people who at the same time have preserved their traditions.
KK100 is currently the highest skyscraper in Shenzhen (442 meters). Located 30 minutes from the market, if you go fast .
In the center of the SHZH, a half-hour walk from the KK100 tower, there is the most famous electronics store in southern China - Huachinbey. In fact, these are several quarters with various kinds of equipment and details.
Want to experience China? Like to bargain? Do you like noisy and crowded places with endless crowd? Then to you here.
In this place you understand why China is ahead of the rest. Here you can buy absolutely everything that you go. I admit that somewhere in the basements even uranium rods are sold.
Printed circuit boards, transistors, resistors, power supplies, LEDs, rectifiers, capacitors, microprocessors, memory cards, radiators, cameras - all this whole floors. Ready-made solutions entire blocks.
These are stacks of boards, not cardboard.
Moreover, no one considers it shameful to bring goods to mind right on the spot: they buy something, buy something, pack it and even finish it.
A girl solders something on a printed circuit board .
But even a child cannot prevent such work. You expect to cry babies, children's capricious voices in the bazaar, in a large shopping center, but not in the electronic market.
And then a kindergarten, sometimes turning into a day nursery.
I can’t imagine how the kids stand here so much time. Even if it's not all day.
In the four weeks that I spent in China, I realized that there are a lot of children and their parents carry with them always and everywhere. On the streets, in shops, in places of rest there are always a bunch of children. What can I say, on the Great Wall of China in the hands of my parents I saw dozens of them - small, small, smaller.
This is partly due to the fact that in China, parents really take care of their children much more strongly than in Russia, for example. Under the tutelage, here you need to keep in mind, perhaps, engaged.
But the more likely reason is that there are simply a lot of them, and this is striking. And the law on the prohibition of having more than one child is now significantly weakened - this is logical, otherwise the nation will begin to grow very old.
But I was distracted.
Two huge buildings are dedicated to video surveillance systems, where you will find what you want for every taste. I can’t imagine how they survive, selling the same thing on the same square.
The windows of all stores look about the same.
By the way, I also found what I was looking for - a peephole in the form of a video camera with the ability to shoot in the dark, with a motion detector and GSM module for sending MMS or making calls when someone came.
On the streets are a bunch of branded stores: Apple, Huawei, Lenovo, MI. But the prices for branded equipment in China are now so comparable with Russian that you need to think twice before buying here. And you need to be very careful - they all fake amazingly. It's easy to get caught, which is what the guys and I did.
All our gang suddenly decided to buy paurbanks - in Russian, wearable batteries with a USB output. And everyone fell for MI. I was there for the company - to me, sort of, they were unnecessarily.
There would be a retreat to make it clear what kind of gang it is and what we are doing in Shenzhen.
The fact is that one well-known company gathered in one place the 20 best engineers from all over the world to save the planet.
Just kidding, not the best - just engineers and just for training. But the guys really were from all over the world: Russia, Austria, Spain, Mexico, Ecuador, Nigeria, Algeria, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka. I already wrote about this amazing event in my blog .
And the notorious company in Shenzhen (as well as in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an) has a whole city, which also received a separate story .
But when our Austro-Kenyan comrade very cleverly knocked down the price of a seller who did not want to move at all, I also took one by myself in the guise.
Just look at these cunning narrow eyes .
And we took in the MI brand store. All logos, clothing sellers, shop windows, packaging, luxury interior, if I may call it that - consistent with the brand. Literally after 10 minutes, we decided to go to another brand store of the same brand, where we were very well informed that they circled us around the finger and sold a fake. The difference between the two salons was minimal.
The saleswoman told us one very clever thing: "Everyone sells copies on Huachinbey ... except us . "
An absolutely amazing fact - the same official store also sells copies 10 yuan cheaper from the counter, which is located right in front of the entrance. On the contrary, at 4 meters, obvious copies are sold for nothing - 50 yuan cheaper - almost 3 times.
Therefore, if you take something in this market, then either not branded things, or obviously copies.
I bought an external Bose speaker there for myself. Made very cool, except for the LEDs, it plays so that I definitely won’t hear the difference. Knocked down the price twice.
It will go to me for the time of repair, for background music, when I will read books to my daughter, and for gatherings in the fresh air.
I bought another 32 GB memory card for 33 yuan. Such things do not take one at a time, so it was hard to throw off) But I reduced it by about 30%. Then the truth realized that it was necessary to take at least three pieces in order to feel the benefits. I also took 8 GB for 9 yuan just in case.
Bargaining is a must. Even if you don’t love. You can almost always drop it by 20-30%, if we talk about piece goods. And usually up to half the price you can bargain. The seller himself wants to sell. If it does not suit the price that you call, move on. If she was adequate, he will catch up and stop you. If not, look for another seller - it all depends on his greed. The same product can vary very decently.
Here is my speaker - I just asked about the price, then to compare. But to leave was not destined. The starting price was 150 yuan.
“Tell me your price, cry,” the Chinese woman says in years, laughing fervently.
I typed 60 on a calculator - so she understood that I was not going to buy.
“Meu, meu.” Her eyes widened noticeably.
- More - and with a calm soul I am going to leave.
- 80 - she dials on a calculator.
The painful process of internal struggle - 70 - I write to her.
- Hands on, crap!
And here's another example: one of our gang bought a quadrocopter (they call them drones, by the way). He bargained for 150 yuan, and in all other places it costs about 350. So think about what kind of margin they wind up. They can laugh, they can turn away and say no, they won’t sell at this price, they can even touch your head, pretend they burned your hand and ask if the owner of this head is overheated. And then they will catch up and offer their price.
And yes, after you bought something, you should not ask in other places already if you do not know how to laugh at yourself.
As you have already noticed, probably a universal trading tool is a calculator. It’s rare that a seller doesn’t have it and tries to describe the price on his fingers. I even admit that this is the only purpose of the calculator on the market.
The painful process of knocking down prices.
The guys bought more self-sticks (or, as they call them, monopods), bulbs for external batteries (I also took a couple of 5 yuan myself), some clothes, lighters.
My last purchase was a watch - Omega Seamaster - a friend’s order. There are not many watch shops, or rather, it seems, one. And he, like much on Huachinbey, closes at 6 pm.
On kilometers of shop windows are only little-known Chinese brands - Curren, S-Shock, Simax - I know them only because this market was woolly when I chose a watch for myself. This is a watch that is very similar to some brand watches, but different in name and quality, and therefore in price.
For interest, these are Curren and S-Shock:
But as soon as you cross some invisible line, catalogs with images of Tissot, Orient, Omega, caskets with an expensive watch begin to open before you on all sides, like a wonderful self-assembled tablecloth. Know only have time to turn away from blinding flashes, right or left.
It’s good when you know what to look for - you just show the photo and ask if they have it. Usually there. Some worker crawls under the counter or runs into the cave of Ali Baba and brings out an unattractive bag from which he spills a mountain of spears.
By the way, my Omega copy turned out to be really high-quality: they are fully automatic (I even checked it), they are heavy and they go. The price really bites - 380 yuan, and the customer made the condition no more than 200. I found for 270 that I could reset to 200, but it was such an open fake that I would not forgive myself for such a purchase.
As a result, it was possible to bring down to 255 here - and that is not bad. Will be a gift to a friend means - he is a great person.
The clock needs to be checked - for chips and scratches, for the fact that they generally go and for how many days in a month. This is ridiculous, but the few copies we tested had 40 days.
It is not worth hoping that the dials will work in the middle. At least they will not show what is in the original.
Some buttons may be fake; some functions may not work. There is only one answer to the question why or why this is needed - "it was so in the original, we just repeated it."
Alongside the expensive-looking brand boutiques, there are also such crashes of packaging materials.
A little further, the whole huge basement is full of covers, cases, bumpers, plugs under the 3.5 connector, protective films, flash drives, SD-cards. And in the same way - you can bargain. True, in such places the bill goes not by units, but usually by hundreds. So my Chinese friend - a novice businessman - bought three dozen bumpers there for 6 yuan and is going to sell them in his shop in a provincial town for 40-50.
What I like throughout China (although I haven’t been so much where) is the love of nature. Even in a market where it would seem that there is no place for such sentimental things, pretty flowers grow in the middle of the roadway.
The whole philosophy of the eastern world - to live in unity with nature - is what Buddhism speaks of, Chinese medicine speaks of this, and the amount of greenery on the balconies of high-rise buildings also speaks of this.
But is there a bit of hypocrisy here, if you recall Beijing's smog, Shenzhen factories or Guangzhou boutiques?
Shops in buildings close at 6 pm, and on the street people crowd until late at night.
We left at nine o’clock, and taxi drivers were just starting their hunt for lovers for a ride with the breeze.
This is all of China at the moment. An amazing country that has adapted in everything to the modern rhythm of life, and amazing people who at the same time have preserved their traditions.
KK100 is currently the highest skyscraper in Shenzhen (442 meters). Located 30 minutes from the market, if you go fast .