China is a shopper’s heaven. One of the most popular souvenir options – for locals and foreigners alike – is an outdoor market. This is because the merchandise is diverse and prices are low – especially if you know how to play the bargaining game. As you push your way through crowded aisles of purses, shoes, antiques and traditional Chinese and modern clothes, you will be greeted by the chorus of highly motivated vendors vying for your attention. In many place, you can buy chinese product at wholesale price.

There are two main approaches to bargaining: starting low and then meeting in the middle or setting one price and sticking to it. Both methods work, as long as you know how much you are willing to pay. The “walk away” is usually a persuasive tool if the vendor is not willing to go any lower, as is indicating that another vendor offered you a better price. Negotiations sometimes happen on a calculator, and the buyer and vendor take turns typing in prices until a number is agreed upon. In general, you should be able to bargain down between a tenth and half of the original asking price.

Try to bargin with a good-humored smile, as vendors, in a constant effort to “save face,” may laugh, scoff or even raise their voice during negotiations. Joke with vendors; make faces; laugh and pretend not to like the items you’re interested in. Bear in mind that few vendors are malicious in trying to “rip buyers off” and, in most situations, you will be paying far less than you would in nearly any other country for similar goods.

Here are some suggestions beyond the many available knock-off products, an obvious fancy of most visitors:

Tea and tea sets
China is one of the world’s leading producers of tea with more than 1,000 different varieties, and tea is an important part of Chinese culture. Prices for a packet typically range from 50 RMB to 150 RMB, but can be much more expensive depending on the quality of the leaves. Many tea shops will let you sample various teas to help you in your decision. China teas divide into two categories: black, or fermented, teas such as Oolong or Iron Buddha (tieguanyin), and green teas such as Longjing (dragon’s well). Find out if there are any local teas in the area you are visiting.

Tea in China was traditionally served as part of an elaborate ceremony and shops will usually sell tea sets and teapots. Teapots, especially those from Yixing in Jiangsu province, make particularly beautiful gifts and are usually carefully wrapped in special boxes to avoid breakage. One well-known chain of tea stores is the Tenfu Tea chain, present in most cities in China, which sells a wide range of green, jasmine and Oolong teas in attractive containers, and different style tea sets and accessories.

Silk
You can buy everything from silk tops and pajamas to bedding and rugs made of silk. Most outdoor markets sell a variety of medium-quality silk goods. Pay attention to color consistency and the tightness of the weave. Tailoring of silk garments is often a readily available service. One of the best cities in China to buy silk is Hangzhou and silk embroidery is a famous art-form in Suzhou.

Tailored clothing
Tailor-made clothing is one of China’s affordable luxuries. As the world’s leading producer of textiles, prices are generally far lower in China than anywhere else.

A typical tailor in Beijing or Shanghai (for a list of some of the best tailors in China see the previous page) may charge between RMB 200 to RMB 600. The quality is usually comparable to a garment costing the same figure in US dollars bought elsewhere. Prices can start as low as RMB 70 for a shirt, including fabric. Bring your favorite suit or garment and leave it with the tailor to copy. Fabrics can picked out in a fabric market and taken to a tailor to be crafted, or alternatively just go to the tailor and choose there. Shirts and trousers can usually be ready in two days. More complicated articles such as suits and dresses can take up a week or so but can be ready earlier if you pay extra. If you intend to have clothes made for people at home, be sure to have their measurements ready.

Antiques
Many outdoor markets offer “antiques”, most of which are replicas. While they make good novelty gifts for people back home, be aware that customs authorities may charge them as if they are real antiques. If you buy real antiques in proper antique stores, keep all the receipts and documentation. Antiques are not permitted to leave China without the proper “Certificates for the Export of Cultural Relics” from the Chinese authorities, and objects dated pre-1796 are not allowed to leave the country at all.

Art
Scrolls of calligraphy, Chinese landscapes or still life can make good souvenirs, and are usually easy to pack and light to carry. Copies of nature studies and still life paintings of Qi Baishi, the famous 20th century artist, are delightful and will not date. Scrolls and posters can be bought in major Xinhua bookstores everywhere. Chinese calendars can be a beautiful gift too, and can be found in the main post offices or bookshops.

Or go for Chinese modern art, try some modern art museums and check leisure magazines for the latest happenings in the art scene. Our favorite is Shanghai artist Wu Yiming.

Mao memorabilia
Chairman Mao as an icon of pop culture? Available at most antique and outdoor markets, whether authentic or recent replicas, Mao badges, Little Red Books, or cigarette lighters that play “The East is Red”‚ make fun gifts, as do most Mao memorabilia.

Bookstores
Chinese bookstores stock little of interest to the foreign visitor, aside from perhaps inexpensive reprints of the classics. They might carry ‘coffee table’ books displaying China’s landscape, people, and heritage – which can make excellent as gifts. Foreign language bookstores in the major cities are getting better and better ara a good bet for stocking up on English-language reading material.

If you do wholesale electronics business in shenzhen, ot other kinds of business activity. you should often book hotels, here is some information which may be help:

otels in China vary in quality from the extremely plush and high-end, such as the Grand Hyatt in Shanghai or the China World in Beijing, to the damp and neglected. But the overall standard of hotels has risen fast in the past decade, and it is often surprising just how good hotels can be in even out-of-the-way places. Go in with low expectations and you may be pleasantly surprised.

The international hotel chains are now a force in the China market but almost always only with management contracts. The hotels themselves are typically owned by Chinese companies, often government-owned state enterprises, while the management is done by the Sheraton group, Accor, or another international hotel group. The arrangement suits both sides: the foreign hotel chains get to have a China presence with low risk and the Chinese companies get professional management and the advantage of the global booking networks. Domestic hotel chains are beginning to grow on the same principle in provincial cities.

Shanghai and Beijing each contain dozens of 5- and 4-star hotels, and every significant population center across the country has at least one hotel which would be considered acceptable by an international traveler.

The China National Tourism Administration determines a hotel’s star rating, with a maximum of five stars available. In cities throughout the country there are invariably hotels that have received rather generous ratings. A small but growing number of foreign-operated hotels in China are declining to apply for ratings and letting their hotels speak for themselves, possibly due to this star inflation.

Most top-end hotels in China add a 15% service charge to all elements of the bill, including food and beverages – something to keep in mind when planning a trip. Unless marked otherwise, all the hotels listed in this guide add a 15% service charge. A deposit is also frequently required when checking in.

When selecting a hotel in China, the best advice is to get a recommendation from someone you trust. Second best is to go with a hotel brand name you have heard of. Third best is to visit the hotel before staying there. If none of these options are possible, you can get a good idea of the quality of service by calling the hotel and asking some simple questions. If the questions prove difficult for the staff, you may want to consider other options.

It is not advisable to drink the tap water at Chinese hotels, but it is safe to brush your teeth and wash with it. For drinking, use bottled or boiled water. Most of the older hotels offer thermos flasks filled with hot water, while newer ones have electric kettles. In the older establishments in the hinterlands, you may need to obtain the key to your room from the floor attendant.

Male travelers staying alone in Chinese hotels sometimes receive phone calls in the evening from a young woman saying something generally involving the word ‘massage’. These women are not masseuses, they are prostitutes. Invite them to your room at your own risk. If you decline and hang up and the woman calls back, contact the hotel operator and ask them to block the calls.

The most basic requirements for many travelers are hot water, broadband and coffee. Hot water is now no problem anywhere in China, broadband is being introduced very rapidly and is already available probably at most 5-star hotels across the country (way ahead of some other countries, including Australia). But coffee can be a problem. In fact, breakfast is often the point at which the past meets the present. Many top hotels in provincial China provide a breakfast buffet which is entirely Chinese, with the exception of fried eggs. Often no coffee, and sometimes no butter or jam for toast. Travelers who are particular about their breakfast may want to purchase small portions of necessary foods or condiments in first-tier cities before heading into the hinterland. The top hotels in the distant provinces may be the best places for western food in the evenings.

Now I think you must be very famliared with the hotel situation now. Begin your chinese business tour right now !

want to do wholesale business in china?  Traveling by air is perhaps the most painless way of traveling in China. Tickets are usually easily obtainable all year, although there may be less choice during the three main national public holidays: May 1st to 7th, October 1st to 7th and Chinese New Year.

Flights can be bought over the telephone or the internet in most major cities and delivered to your office or hotel, and most hotels offer a travel agent service or can recommend one. Failing this, simply turn up at the airport to get a ticket upon arrival.

Airport procedure
Allow for sufficient time to clear customs and passport control; occasionally there may be a shortage of staff and long queues can form. This is particularly true at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport.

When arriving in China from abroad or when leaving, you must complete an arrival/departure card, and this will be collected when you show your passport.

Flights
The Civil Aviation Administration of China merged most domestic airlines in 2001 into three main companies: Air China, China Southern and China Eastern, but pricing is still largely subject to central control. Standard prices for every route are set but tickets are usually sold at a discount, with full fare reserved for the holiday seasons. Round trips are generally double the price of a one way ticket.

In-flight service
Domestic airline service in China, while vastly improved over five years ago, still leaves much to be desired for the average Western traveler. Meals are often unsatisfactory even for Chinese customers - bringing your own snack is advisable. Drink services are fine, and often include complimentary beer and wine. One drastic improvement (for the health-conscious, at least) is that all domestic flights are non-smoking.

Don’t forget
There are no direct flights between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan (although there may be in the near future), so you must travel via Macau or Hong Kong which can make the journey much more expensive. Several Chinese airports claim to be international, but this may mean that they offer flights to and from Macau or Hong Kong so check first.

Bear in mind: Sometimes trains provide a faster and more convenient method of travel. Good examples include the Beijing-Tianjin route (one hour), the Shanghai-Nanjing route (2.5 hours), and the Shanghai-Hangzhou route (two hours). The trains are mostly new and as clean, if not cleaner, than the trains found in your home country. Express trains are denoted with a letter ‘T’ before the train number.

Beijing Capital Airport and Shanghai Pudong Airport now stock a reasonable range of gifts and books if you have not had time to go shopping before you return home, or if you need to buy something for your hosts. However, the price of goods bought at airports tends to be more expensive than you might expect to pay elsewhere in China.

want to do wholesale business or other kind sof business in china?  Here’s some tips for your consideration.

Getting a driver is a good idea if you are planning to leave the city or visit many locations throughout the day, as taxis can be difficult to find during rush hour or in rainy weather. If you know when and where you would like to be picked up in advance, you can find a driving service when you arrive at the airport, or via the concierge at any large hotel. Most companies require a day-or-so notice.

Drivers have set half and full day (about four and eight hours respectively) rates and charge per hour after that. Full day rental can run anywhere up from RMB 500 (US$65) depending on what kind of car and driver (English speaking or non-English speaking) you require. VW Santanas, Buicks and Mercedes are common models and are generally comfortable and clean. A faint cigarette smell is not uncommon, as many drivers smoke, but they will usually ask for your permission before lighting up in the car. Be prepared to pay for tolls yourself, and possibly take your driver out for a meal depending on the arrangements of the company. Tips are not required, although some travellers leave a small gratuity.A list of driving services and an up-to-date list of rates in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, can be found at many websites. Taxis The alternative to your own driver is the taxi. In every city in China you should be able to find cheap taxis at just about any time of the day or night, although rush hour and weather conditions may make them rarer commodities. All legal taxis have a meter to show the distance and fare being clocked up. If not, find one that does and make sure that the taxi-driver turns on the meter.

Do not agree to a fixed price with a taxi driver unless you are sure of the going rate for the distance you will cover, for example, for going to the airport or an industrial development zone. The flag fall fare (usually for the first 3km) can start as low as RMB5 in smaller or more remote cities and go up to RMB12.5 in Shenzhen.

It is always a good idea to get the address of your destination written down in Chinese so that you can show the taxi driver. Knowing the nearest crossroads is essential so that the driver can indentify your destination. Failing this, use your mobile phone to call the people you are meeting and ask them to give directions directly to the driver – just pass him or her your phone. Always ask for the receipt, or fapiao when paying your fare: this can be helpful if you leave something in the taxi, or if you wish to make a complaint. Avoid using RMB 100 notes to pay, as the drivers do not always have change: keep a supply of small banknotes for paying for taxi trips.

Beijing taxis
Beijing taxis are divided into three categories: the top end, charging RMB 12 for the first three km and thereafter RMB 2 per km; and the mid- to low-range taxis, both RMB 10 for the first three km (RMB 11 after 11pm), charging RMB 1.60 or RMB 1.20 per further km.The luxury category cars are easy to spot, as they are usually black VW Santana or Mercedes found at the 5-star hotels, and they should be immaculate, inside and out. They feature a blue “Y2.00″ stick on the back side-window. At the other end of the spectrum, the smaller taxis are mainly red, and are divided into two types “Y1.60″ and “Y1.20″ taxis. Go with the RMB 1.60 Citroën taxis.Be warned that seat-belts may not work or will be dirty in the cheaper taxis. Becoming a taxi driver in Beijing seems to be the dream of many out-of-towners, and despite the competition, there are more and more taxis available. The drawback is that you may find yourself with a driver who does not know the city at all – if in doubt, change taxis.

Shanghai taxis
Shanghai taxis, on the other hand, are almost always clean, smart and almost guaranteed to get you there efficiently. As a bonus, the drivers are usually polite (there are of course exceptions to this rule). If you can, choose the taxis with the red star on their roof, as this means that they have won awards for good service. The color of taxis varies depending on different companies. The colors to go for – aquamarine (Dazhong), gold (Qiangsheng) and green (Bashi).Airport taxis A special mention is needed for these. Most airports have a taxi rank, and it should be a painless procedure if there is a queue. Be aware that some people will try to jump the queue.

Do not take taxi rides from touts who offer their services in or near the airport terminal – they will probably overcharge and you will wait just as long or longer. You will also have no recourse if there is a problem or misunderstanding. Some taxi drivers may seem unwilling to take you if you are not traveling far – often they have to wait a long time and may prefer to wait even longer for a better fare. Just smile and be good-humored.

Renting a car
It is now possible to rent a car without a driver in several cities. If you know your way around and are confident in Chinese traffic, this is obviously a convenient way of getting around, particularly if you are traveling to out-of -town industrial or development zones.

want to do wholesale business in china?  let’s taka lookat china climate

Few countries on earth possess the extreme climatic range as China. Heilongjiang province in the country’s northeast is exposed to temperatures as low as -40°C during the winter, while in southern Guangdong province it can get as hot as 40°C in the summer. Rainfall also varies a good deal: Guilin may receive up to 350mm of rain in a month, whereas the northwest’s Taklamakan Desert is one of the driest places on earth.

In general, northeast regions have short summers and long, cold winters, while northwest regions, which receive little rain, are cold in winter and hot in summer; in central China there are four distinct seasons; and China’s southwest corner has vertical seasonal zones, with temperatures varying by altitude.

North and northeast
Northern China experiences extreme temperatures. The winter season, from December to March, can be particularly cold: temperatures in Beijing can often get as low as -20°C, and areas further north can get as low as -40°C. In winter, Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, hosts a month-long ice festival with displays of sculptures, carvings and even buildings all made of ice in the city’s parks and frozen rivers. In contrast, the summer season, lasting from May to August, is generally hot, with temperatures in Beijing reaching 38°C. The capital is a dry city, but rain tends to fall during the spring and fall.
 
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia has an extreme continental climate, with a short, warm summer, and a long, cold winter. The region is snow-covered for 100-150 days of the year and subject to blizzards in winter and strong winds. These winds, which build up speed over miles of flat land, often culminate in powerful sandstorms, which reach as far as Beijing. Winters may still bring 5-6 hours of sunshine a day, compared with up to 9 hours in summer. The huge difference in temperature between day and night can be the most difficult aspect to adapt to in summer, so it is best to wear layers of clothing that can be peeled off or added to as the chilly evening approaches.
 
Central
Hubei and Jiangsu have high temperatures from April to October. Long, hot and humid summers give two cities here, Wuhan and Nanjing, the reputation as two of “China’s furnaces”. During the other seasons, the weather is often wet and mild, with temperatures occasionally dipping to 0°C in winter. In the past, there was no heating in public buildings south of the Yangtze, but nowadays most offices, hotels and major buildings have had some form of heating installed as well as air conditioning. The coastal provinces of Shandong and Zhejiang, along with Shanghai, enjoy a humid summer, with temperatures in Shanghai often reaching 35°C, and mild spring and fall. Winters can be cold and damp and you will need an umbrella. Anhui and Henan have warm summers and cold winters.

South
Monsoons may affect the south from July to September. During this time, it is advisable to carry an umbrella as taxis are hard to find once the downpour begins. In the summer, temperatures can rise to 38°C. Winters are brief, lasting only from January to March, and although temperatures rarely fall below 10°C, they tend to be damp.

Northwest
In the northwest, temperatures can range from over 40°C in the summer to -10°C in the winter. Turpan, a city in Xinjiang 150m below sea level, is called the ‘hottest place in China’ with recorded temperatures of around 47°C. As locals may point out, however, it is a heat with little humidity. In these areas it is important to bring sunblock and keep bottled water handy. In winter, the northwest gets as cold as the rest of northern China. It is an arid region, with precipitation averaging less than 10cm a year.

Qinghai-Tibet plateau
The capital of Tibet, Lhasa, sits at an elevation of 3,658m and is the highest city in the world. It is nicknamed ‘Sunlight City’ because of the sun’s intensity there. Sunblock is essential. The thin air in Tibet can neither block off nor retain heat, so temperatures often reach upper and lower limits within the same day. Qinghai, the vast, less-developed province to Tibet’s north, shares much of the same climate as Tibet: generally cool in the summer and freezing in the winter.
 
Southwest
In Chongqing, one of the other “furnaces” of China, temperatures soar to 40°C in the summer. Winter is cold and damp. Yunnan province has perhaps the most varied climate in China, with temperatures ranging from the tropical, in the south of the province in Xishuangbanna, to a more alpine climate in the north nearer Tibet, with Kunming between the two, the city of eternal spring and much milder weather. Guizhou is the wettest province in the country but temperatures, as in Sichuan, are not extreme. Sichuan skies can stay overcast for weeks on end in the winter and it tends to be damp rather than cold, and frost is rare.

Preparing for the weather
Preparing for the weather in China depends a great deal on where and when you plan to go. April, May, September and October are the peak tourist months in China, as the weather is mostly comfortable in most places. The warmest hideaways during a Chinese winter are in the south and southwest regions: Sichuan, Yunnan and the island province, Hainan.

Forms of Business Entities

1. Joint Venture
Joint venture is allowed to carry out manufacturing and sales operation in China. It is permitted to sell products through its own sales network.

1.1 Equity Joint Venture
Company, with limited liability, set up by a Chinese company and a foreign participant is an equity joint venture. The parties share profits and losses in proportion to their respective contributions to joint venture’s registered capital. Starting from 2001, equity joint venture are governed by the Law of the PRC on Joint Ventures Using Chinese and Foreign Investment.

1.2 Co-operative Joint Venture
The Law of the PRC on Chinese-Foreign Contractual Co-operative Enterprises governs co-operative joint ventures. A co-operative joint venture is similar to an equity joint venture in many respects, and many of the same regulations apply. However, principal features that distinguish a co-operative joint venture from an equity joint venture include the following:

• A co-operative joint venture does not have to be a legal entity.
• The concept of registered capital is less clear than in the case of an equity joint venture.
• Participants of a co-operative joint venture are allowed to share profit on agreed basis, not necessarily in proportion to capital contribution.
• During the term of the venture, the foreign participant in a cooperative joint venture may recover its investment, provided that the joint venture contract specifies that all fixed assets will become the property of the Chinese participant at the end of the joint venture.

2. Wholly Foreign-owned Enterprise
Under the 1986 Law of the PRC on Foreign-Capital Enterprise, foreign companies are allowed established wholly foreign-owned enterprises (WFOEs).  The above Law has been revised in 2000.

WFOE is treated as Chinese limited liability entity wholly owned by a foreign investor and is not a branch of a foreign company. However, in accordance with state policies and the Foreign Investment Catalogue, WFOEs are excluded in certain industries.

3. Representative Offices
Representative offices are normally set up to carry out liaison work of its parent office overseas. Special tax rules are applied to representative offices.

Registration Requirements
Foreign investors must obtain various government approvals to undertake investment projects in China. These include the approval of Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), and that of the ministries responsible for supervising the industry to which the project belongs.

1. Joint Ventures
The foreign investor and its Chinese partner must apply to MOFCOM, or one of its local branches (the “approval authorities”), for approval to set up a joint venture. The law requires MOFCOM to decide within three months whether to grant approval. If the joint venture is approved, it must be registered within one month with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) to obtain a licence to start business. An equity joint venture is regarded as having been officially established after this licence is issued.

2. Wholly Foreign-owned Enterprises
The approval and registration requirements to establish a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) are similar as those for joint ventures, except that there is no joint venture contract.

3. Foreign Representative Offices
Representative offices are normally set up to carry out liaison work for the parent office overseas. The decision by MOFCOM or one of its local branches (the “approval authorities”) should be issued within 30 days from the submission of the required documents. If the application is approved, the foreign company will obtain an approval certificate from MOFCOM or its affiliates.

Required National Participation
When China launched its economic reform programmes in 1978, foreign investors were required to form joint ventures with local Chinese enterprises. This requirement has been relaxed over the years; today, foreign companies are permitted to have a majority interest in joint ventures or to establish WFOEs in certain sectors.

Generally, no specific percentage of local participation in Sino-foreign joint ventures is required. Exceptions exist for certain industries in accordance with specific government policies.

Foreign Exchange Control
The renminbi is supervised by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). The exchange rate is based on the market demand and supply through the inter-bank foreign exchange market. The PBOC announces the exchange rate each day and may intervene in the market in order to stabilize the rate. Despite global pressure to let its currency rise in value, China maintained a close peg in 2004 at Rmb8.28:US$1, which is where it has been since 1994.

At present, the renminbi is still not a freely convertible currency. However, China has made a significant move toward free convertibility by lifting controls over current account items. In December 2001, it committed not to place any restrictions on current account items unless the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is in agreement. China is the first country to include IMF regulations into the WTO Protocols.

Taxation
Taxation occurs at the national, provincial and municipal levels. Resident companies and individuals are taxed on worldwide profits/income (with a credit for foreign tax). Most Chinese-source income of non-residents is taxed. VAT applies to most transactions in goods and the business tax to most services.

Intellectual Property Rights
To protect intellectual property rights, China has been working to develop a legal framework for the past two decades. In compliance with WTO requirements, China is expected to come up with a more comprehensive legal framework and an improved law enforcement system.

Trademark - trademark registration is subject to Trademark Law and the Implementing Regulations of the Trademark Law. Foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) may apply for trademark registration in China either directly or through trademark agents.

Patent -patent registration is subject to both Patent Law and the Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law. The State Intellectual Property Office is responsible for patent work nationwide. FIEs applying for patents may either submit their applications directly or appoint designated patent agents.

Staff Recruitment
Under the Labour Law, all enterprise must sign labour contracts with each individual labour. The contract forms the basis of labour relation between the enterprise and the employee. All mandatory terms and conditions to be included in a labour contract are stated in the Labour Law and other relevant regulations.