It is a truth universally acknowledged that China is the place to get cheap “stuff.” Custom made shirts? Buy them here. Designer, ahem, handbags? You’ll be amazed. But the truth is, there are actually quite a few items that you’d be better off buying in your home country (and I’m not just talking about milk or baby toys). Either the quality is so much higher in your home country that it offsets the “savings” you would get here, or the price is flat out cheaper. Whatever the reason, I’ve discovered – both from speaking with my friends who hail from various different countries around the globe and from my own personal experience – that the items you should bring to China are sometimes the ones you least expect.

Makeup
This one’s for us, ladies. While the base prices for brand name make-up are about the same as you’d find in other countries, the oh-so-popular luxury tax here in China cuts deep. About 10% to 20% deep, to be exact. That’s enough of a percentage to make bringing your make-up from home more than worth it. Of course, there’s always that off- brand make-up you see being sold on the street in generic glass pots and jars. But then you’ve got to weigh the savings you’ll get versus the possibility of putting dubious chemicals on your face. A tough choice indeed…

Other cosmetic products can also be difficult to find at a good price. If you use a lot of hair spray or mousse you may want to bring your own. The brands you favor may be hard to find here, and more expensive when you do. Female shaving foam is another hard to find commodity. While the male product is widely available, shaving products designed for women are rather rare.

Contact solution
It’s certainly no secret that China has a problem with quality control (see above reference to milk and baby toys), and it’s pretty much the same with contact solution. Just a few short years ago there were widespread recalls of various contact solution brands due to the appearance of ralstonia, a bacteria that slowly ate away the oxygen in the solution bottles. This bacteria caused fusarium keratitis, an eye infection with the potential to cause blindness, in hundreds of users. And where did they trace the contamination from? You guessed it – Chinese manufacturing plants. Granted, most of the cases occurred from brand name contact solution that was being made here and sold overseas. But the quality control organizations in those countries picked up on it fairly quickly and moved to remedy it – something I’m not sure Chinese authorities would do.

Batteries
This is one of those cases where, although you may sometimes be able to find them a little cheaper here than in your home country, the lack of quality issue makes the few kuai you save a moot point. The big name brands like Duracell and Energizer can be bought for a decent price no matter where you live, especially when you catch them on sale. The batteries here in China are roughly the same price but last about half the amount of time – if even that long (yeah, I’m talking about you, White Elephant batteries!). So you’re essentially having to buy twice as many batteries here to charge something the same amount of time – not an economic move. Another route is to bring disposable batteries – just make sure the charger runs on China’s current.

Jeans
Ok, hear me out on this one. A lot of people argue that China is the place to shop for cheap clothes. And it’s true that you can get a lot of things for bargain basement prices. But how long do those clothes actually last? I’ve heard about (and experienced) multiple instances of clothes ripping or otherwise coming apart at the seams the first time they’re worn. While larger stores will have changing rooms, the little hole in the wall shops or markets, where the real bargains are to be found, won’t. Jeans, especially, are hard for Western expats to find – if you have any resemblance of a waist, hips, or weigh over 100 pounds, you’re pretty much out of luck. You can always turn to the more upscale malls, of course, but then you’re paying more than you would at home for a pair of jeans that may or may not fit you as well. Better to play it safe and bring along some of your favorite pairs.

Sunscreen
As we enter the summer months, the reason for including this on the list will become painfully obvious. You can find (some) plain old sunscreen here, but you’ll have to pay an arm and a leg in a specialty Western shop for a (tiny) off-brand bottle. “What do you mean?” you might be thinking. “I see sunscreen bottles in every C-Store in the city!” True, but take a closer look and you’ll notice that this “sunscreen” is nothing more than skin bleach with a very low SPF. It’s popular for the Chinese to slather themselves with chemicals to whiten their skin, but it’s certainly not protecting you from any UVA or UVB rays. Stock up on the real stuff at home and avoid turning too red (or white) this summer.
 

Related Links
China Travel Necessities: Seven Forget-Me-Nots for China
Moving to China: How to Settle In and Start Work
What to Expect and How to Prepare for Your Move to China

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