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the only place in China where MIGHT be 95% English speaking is HK, I've been there yesterday getting new 6 months mainland visa =}-

HK does speak English, but 15 miles away in Shenzhen across the board you will have to spend hours to find one, and Shenzhen is also world city and all that, and hard to believe, but there is really no English speaking and they laugh at me when I speak English, and even Chinese because I'm a foreigner or as they say LaoWai :heh:.

Tip to all: I've heard customs for import to China less than usual this year. so it is time to make big money in China.

Nah... at least 99% of the old people in HK will not be able to speak English so 95% is out.
Probably at least 95% of the youth and working adult population in HK can speak English.
The reason for HK being able to speak English is due to its British colony roots... pretty much the same as Singapore.
As well as economic advantage to implement English in the education system.

Well, although many Chinese cannot speak English, many of them in the wholesale centres can speak enough English to do their business with foreigners. It is to their advantage to be able to do so. I've seen many Caucasians, Arabs, etc. in the wholesale centres in Guangzhou speaking English with the salespeople. I'm pretty sure they have just learnt about enough English to be able to communicate about selling their products and not much beyond that, but well, that's enough for you as a buyer. I'm sure its the same in Shenzhen. But those in less developed countries would mostly not be able to speak English, even in wholesale centres.

Btw, for your tip, do you mean EXport to China?

Yeh whaddaya mean? You mean sending stuff from outside China into the Mainland?

I see people selling things like kindles at rock bottom prices here - most of them say they come direct from the US. It always confused me a bit tbh.

I was under the impression that taxes were meant to be exorbitant on imports.

Hmm hmm hmm, wonder what I should try to import?

The only thing I ever imported was a box of English tea! But there is no way I am selling my tea. Not to any one!

Which part of China are you at?
Where do you see them selling the Kindles?
Are you sure they are authentic?
How much are they going for?
It is easy to check if they are authentic.
See if you can access Amazon from the Kindle and download the ebooks from Amazon onto them and view them on it.
Just like the ⊗⊗⊗⊗ iPhones cannot access Appstore.
If they are dirt cheap, 99.9% chance that they are ⊗⊗⊗⊗.
You can find dirt cheap "iPhones" rampant in China too... :laugh:

What to export depends on which part of China you are at and what's your budget.
Hmmm... now I'm thinking if I should pop over to China and import stuff to sell there... Haha.
I can get a one year VISA easy.
Want to JV? :boink:

A German friend of mine once told me to think of how to take a dollar from every Chinese person.
Makes sense as that would make you a billionaire already... just by taking a dollar.
I still think about this from time to time. :mod:

Kindle...where? Taobao of course!! Lots of sellers with perfect feedback and all the different models of Kindle available. Haven't found the time to buy one... never mind find the time for reading!

I'm in Beijing right now, what to Beijingers want then? Apart from a very rich old husband or to be a pimp boy playa??

JV hmm... could work need a plan first though!

So do you speak Putonghua and Guangdonghua? Do you find it easy communicating over here?

I would be happy with even 1 mao from each person, never mind a dollar!!

Go buy one Kindle and check if its authentic.
If it is, go source for it, and you can sell it on eBay out of China... hehe.

Yes, I can speak Putonghua and Guangdonghua.
Guangdonghua is only used in Guangdong, isn't it?
I can speak, read and write Chinese...
Writing is more limited due to lack of use but it's manageable when using software... hehe.

Haha... 1 billion maos makes how many kuais??
We have to aim for one dollar from every Chinese so even if we fall short, maybe we can get $0.50 from half of them... still makes one a millionaire easily... :thumb:

Good tip here.

Yeh Guangdonghua is just down in the south, where most the manufacturing is. I am only just getting a vague grasp on putonghua now. I can't imagine cramming another variant in my head and not getting utterly confused. Most my dealings with people from down south are online so luckily I can hide behind google translate most of the time.

10mao = 1kuai 10kuai=£1 so erm 1000000000mao makes £10 million! Wow, my maths is crappy - but I like them figures!

Ok, let's JV. 50/50 ok :thumb:

I don't think not knowing Guangdonghua is an issue dealing with Guangdong suppliers at all.
In my experience, I spoke Putonghua to them when dealing with them as my Guangdonghua is not very advanced.
I used English when I communicated with them through email and I never had a problem yet... they could reply in English and I understood them.
I don't know why you have to use Google translate... try English next time.

Sometimes I struggle to understand them if they speak to me in English though I could make do if I could only speak English.
But in verbal communication, I prefer to use Putonghua with them and there is 100% more clarity and easier communication.

I try to avoid using English at all costs. General experiences have lead me to the conclusion that speaking in English puts the price up...or certainly won't let it drop as far as possible.

Certainly in Beijing buying stuff when speaking English puts the price sky high. Once you start negotiating in Putonghua attitudes change and the price comes down faster.

Laowai you hen duo qian!

I would like to test the theory in the real world more though. When I get a chance to go to Guangdong I may try and do a little experiment and see who, between me and some Chinese friends, can get the best deals on the same items from the same seller...

Haha... it's certainly true that speaking foreign languages gets you higher prices. This is true everywhere where prices are flexible.

In my case, I negotiate with them over phone in putonghua, then in email I use English just cos I'm lazy but they know I'm not laowai anyway.
Even if you speak putonghua, they can tell if you are laowai or not.
But I guess it does help.

You don't have to test the theory because I can share with you one of my experience that says it all.
In a big country like China, they try to rip you off even if you are from the same country but from another province.
Chinese people regard Chinese from other provinces as "outsiders."
On the premise that such a person do not know the place and prices well, they can be ripped off easily.
In direct translation to Chinese language, they call people from other provinces "outside land people (wai di ren)" and those from other countries are called "outside country people (wai guo ren)."
So there is a distinction between provinces as well.
People from one province know straight away if they hear someone from another province speak - this is because each province has their own dialect.

When I was in Guilin for a holiday, I had a local guide take us around.
He was a very nice and honest guy. One day my camera got damaged by the rain and I asked him to take me to a repair place.
He brought me to this shop which he knew the people were professional in fixing Canon cameras.
Before we went in, he told me not to say anything and he would do all the talking.
He told me that if they heard me speak (and I spoke putonghua to him), they would know that I am not local and they would push up the prices.
I got my camera fixed for 6 times less than the price it would cost me in my country (i had the same problem before so I know exact prices).
And it would probably cost even more in other Western countries!
I could not believe the price I paid.
My camera is still working to this day.

I met an English guy here selling on Taobao and he looks to be doing well. His wife is chinese and i assume he uses her account.

Also a supplier i buy bicycles from sells on there, i cannot believe the numbers he moves, often 100 units per day.

I cannot see how or why people would use ebay here.

I am also in Guangzhou, its a good place to be for a wide variety of goods. Been here about 6 months.