Forum

Is traveling to China a must?
 

Is finding a good manufacturer ,who would make your product exactly as you want it to be made, possible without traveling to China?



Anyone here with such experiences?

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

....no.

Look up companies, tell them what you're wanting, get a prototype....

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

Not required as previously stated by Gladiator find suppliers using alibaba etc chat to them request and pay for sample negotiate price and go from their.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

It's not impossible to find a good supplier online but I've heard it's easier if you travel to China, know the language, and communicate directly with potential suppliers. Not really an option for most though.

Chinese members here have said lots of Ali sellers aren't manufacturing anything, just sourcing from 1688 and reselling worldwide. Going there in person would be a good way to tell trading companies from actual factories.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

maybe not necessary, but it could be fun...

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

I will be going later this year or early next not because I have to but because it is the polite thing to do in my exact circumstance.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

Have you started taking the steps necessary to go there as an American? I'm curious what kind of paperwork needs to be taken care of in advance. I think Americans are only allowed into China through certain ports but that's about all I know.

I really want to go but I have a fear of some kind of "Locked Up Abroad" scenario playing out where I would get locked up in a Chinese prison.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

People rarely come to China personally unless it is for an very big order. Usually they just request sample at first and then go from there.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

You need your visa. It takes a few months. Americans travel all over the entire country. We have friends who live there months of the year. We have friends who have gone for vacations(no idea why) They said they loved it but will NEVER go again LOL

It is super loud. Never quiet. People everywhere. Rude people. Gross people. People literally **** and piss in the streets. Restrooms are an open ditch behind a wall in much of the country. Basically too many people.

You cant eat vegetables, you cant have water or ice cubes etc...You must be very careful if not stomach pains and diarrhea are your fate.

My friends who only travel there for business absolutely hate going. They say it is horrible unless you are into nude massages and cheap/free hookers.

My big turnoff now is that we cant eat the street foods or have fish head soup because of the water quality.

No offense to our Chinese members or my Chinese friends. It is just very different from the USA and a culture shock to most of us.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

:heh::heh::heh: It is 20th century now and the document thing should be very easy. I have seen many Americans hanging around in China now. It is extremely foreginer-friendly in big cities like Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing, etc.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

It's actually the 21st century now, lol.

Shenzhen would be my primary interest. I'll have to start looking into it.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

I'll go this year too, probably to Guangzhou... haven't been there yet. If you go to Shenzhen make sure you also visit Hong Kong and Macau. Pretty cool cities, really liked it there.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

1688?????????????

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

I just opened an email with a request for my presence in china LOL It sounds like we will be wined and dinned and dazzled. My biggest concern is not liking the people I do business with and consider partners and friends. :)

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

It's the China->China version of Ali. It's where Chinese trading companies shop around for suppliers. Everything is in Chinese and it can't be easily translated since it's almost all images of text.

1688.com

:noidea:

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

I'll eventually make it to the Canton Fair. Been wanting to go for years...

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

1688.com and alibaba.com are both ran by Jack Ma.
1688.com is in Chinese, and alibaba.com is in English

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

So do you think one could find real manufacturers on Alibaba?

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

How much do you think it would cost to travel to Guangzhou or Shenzehn for a couple weeks?

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

Found and conquered a few

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

I think I'll limit my travel to the Chinese restaurant up the street... been around the world a bit and kind of like it best here in the States...

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

It's not necessary... I wouldn't go.

If possible, it's better to have a Chinese partner. They can do all the leg work to find suppliers. They speak the language. Etc.

You don't need to be there.. :)

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

Well as a Chinese from China, I wouldn’t agree to all of what you said above. You have to come here and see with your own eyes. Like any country in the world, there are good places and bad places; big cities and backward countryside； There are honest people and dishonest people. There are five stars and also the slums. Generally, in big cities, it is clean, prosperous, and very convenient for foreigners. Many people speak English in the city. But in the countryside or industrial area, many places are underdeveloped. But most factories who have international business would hire English speaking staff for exporting. And most people here are very friendly to foreigners.
Someone may have had bad experiences in China. You may have chances dealing with some scams, cheaters, and dishonest people here that’s why you must keep your eyes open and use you judgments. In some streets and some markets where foreigners (mostly tourists) tend to go, there are some people there wait to “chat up” foreigners in influent English to get deals. They are mostly not honest, and “not normal” or to say shameless, in Chinese’s eyes. Normal Chinese would not do that and wouldn’t deal with them. They are there specially to wait for foreigners. You just need to ignore any one who approaches you for “great deal” in the streets or markets. And be alert what money you should pay what you should not.

Not sure if soneone has seen people **** or piss in the street. Maybe some indecent parents allow their children to do that and they got critisized in news immediately. I belive some taxi drivers piss against walls or bushfences. it was reported manytimes road cycling racers did this too -:).
Speaking of dirty places/cheap nude massages and prostitutes, those are normally hidden in corners of the cities (like north Korea our city managements like to hide the indecent things) and places normal people wouldn’t go. Illegal massage or prostitution business mostly only for people who approach for those. We know those exists a lot in China, but most people, or normal people don’t look for them or just ignore them. There have been Chinese factory owners / businessmen who like to take customers to have entertainments in brothels (many years ago), but that’s only for some kind of person. For example some factories got business mostly from customers who like those kind of entertainments, so they become friends and business partners based on their hobbies. It all depends on the person. From 1990s to 2010, there were flourishing illegal prostitution business in the five stars in many industrial towns. Then they were crackdown in 2010. So the five star massage centers, hotels and restaurants in industrial area have been declined together with the crackdowns and the declines of China manufacturing. Street hookers for low-income workers are also gone as well.
It is true too many people here. In holiday you cannot walk through some streets or sceneries. Open water is polluted, vegetable are from commercial greenhouse and use too much poison. Ice may be unclean. Eat and drink in proper decent shops could be safer, though not 100% assured. It is just like KFC and Mcdonald or Berger shops, you can never be sure if some staff would take a bath in the soup pot. Here is China many expensive restaurents were reported to have done the same, wash mops in pot or use rotten fish to make expensive dishes etc. you could never know what happened in the kitchen. But you can just choose a place you feel safer since there are so many to choose from. Restaurants are everywhere, from five stars to streetside shops for different choices, there are very expensive ones and very cheap ones. In some scenery area for tourists you may get deceived, but most places Chinese people like to go are safe enough.
Traffic is very convenient if you know how. For example get taxi in the entries of hotels, restaurants or stations.
Always buy and get things from formal and proper shops/companies/business. You will have less trouble.
Toilets here are all in bad situation unless it is in the big cities and in well established stores/buildings.

Many foreigners come to China and feel frustrated or annoyed, but other people feel happy and want to come again. From what I heard, most businessmen come to China expected too much for “cheap price, good quality and smooth deal” and get disapointed, but could be surprised “many places in China look better than NewYork”. China is developing fast in economic level. The problem in outsourcing in China has been “the business cooperation is not as smooth as expected” and there are many reasons for that. But the “made in China” quality is quite reasonable now for mature technology in many industries. Of cause the production prices are also higher now.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

You do not have to come to China if you are not buying in big quantity,or not in a difficult project/products development. But it is good to have a look how things work here in the factories. You just need to be well prepared before coming here--establish contacts with several suppliers, get prices and quality, plan the travel itanerary etc.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

you need to know something who will show you evertying otherwise there is no point to travel

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

go to alibaba to order a few items and slow increase the quantity from different suppliers,you will know which one is good for you. After you can come to china to meet them to discuss more,this way may works more useful

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

Nowadays china is a hub of products, everyone should visit china and see their industries and manner how they work. You will learn from it.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

I am in China now, maybe i can hlep you.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

It's not necessary to visit China if you are importing products from there. Internet makes it easier for Big Sellers with plattforms like Alibaba, AliExpress etc.
But once you reached a high Level of Selling, you might want to reduce your costs to get more out of your earnings. Then a business Trip to China would make more sense. You could visit different manufactures, discuss better deals, have a better feeling of what you do and many more.
Just make sure to check you have all the entry requirements.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

Nope, I've been a couple of times and couldn't find any magical cheap suppliers and I was with a Chinese guy.

Everyone talks about going direct to the manufacturer but wholesalers are a lot cheaper in my niche unless you're going to spend $500k+ on 1 product.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

It might be niche-related of course and also HOW Much you are planing to spend.
Of course for $500k+ spending, you will better go to visit your suppliers/manufacturers.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

Yeah but I doubt anyone in the UK buys $500k of one product in my niche. Easier for manufacturers to sell to distributors/wholesalers, they don't need a foreign language sales team then.

Tends to work like this in my niche, Manufacturer price:

$10k order= $22 per unit
$50k order= $21 per unit
$100k order= $20 per unit
$250k order= $19 per unit
$500k order= $18 per unit

Chinese wholesalers then buy the $500k and sell at less than 5% mark up for big orders. Even a $1k order they'd sell at 10% mark up so I'd still be paying less than $20 per unit.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

nice trip NightLightS :)

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

rsot had a terrible trip to Mainland China.

The hamsters had to be surrendered at the Border.


It was so so very sad.

:tears:

Many HK businesses have factories in China,there are also jobbers who hang around the factories and with their cell phones,they know who is disposing remnants,overruns,slightly imperfect goods.
The prices would be in Chinese dollars and much cheaper than what the factory would quote a Gwei Lo (which stands for foreign devil ) which means YOU

China is not the only country which makes things,other countries do too,in case you need to be reminded.
Argentina has beautiful leather goods,

it depends on how much business you do,Chinese companies are no longer so accomodating.
There was a time a factory will accept an order of 3 of this and 7 of that,now they have minimum quantity,for low price items,the minimum could be 100-1000.

Which trade show did you attend?

Americans are like spoiled puppie,they want clean water,clean air,free toilet paper,soap,everyone speaks English,they want their hamburgers medium rare,crisp french fries,they even go to Paris and ask for Wisconsin cheese!
If you are a tourist or business man on expense account,there is no excuse to end up in a hole on the wall restaurant,with a hole at the back for pissing,recycled chopsticks and dishes washed by hands,and servers who dont speak English.
Unless you are on a low budget,then you just have to put up with all the gross stuff.

I was watching those Youtube videos where Americans venture into local eateries in some back alley or street food stall,where the person preparing your food is also the person who takes your money and give you back change,do you know currencies is the filthiest thing on earth?
Those bamboo chopsticks which are porous ,if they are not thoroughly dried,is a good source of hepatitis,bring your own chopsticks or spoons,

how can hooker be free?

by now ,most HK businesses have their goods made in China,either they own the factory or they use a factory to make goods for them,
Dealing with HK merchants have advantages and disadvantages,yes,they speak the Chinese dialect and they also fluent in English,know how to fill out customs forms,wiretransfer and the best way to ship,but they are expensive as HK is a very expensive place to live.
You get better results though,they have a higher standard.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

I laugh everytime I read this. I love how this guy is always on rsot's ass

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

If you have not needed to poke at me in years, why start now?

I have worked on reining it in and I did acknowledge crap postings.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

Ok, I deleted the post. If you delete your reply, It will never be seen.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

Sounds good for the clarification. Done as well.

Re: Is traveling to China a must?
 

I would say China's supply china is beyond amazing. However, you do have to take into account the travel cost..