A craving for the foods we grew up with happens to all of us, regardless of how long we’ve lived away from our home countries. Lucky for us, import supermarkets, or at least shelves with imported food products, are sprouting up in all major cities across China. Here in Wuxi, foreigners wishing to buy imported goods have a number of options at their disposal.

1) Linco’s (礼阁士)

Linco’s is an imported food supermarket from Japan, and has two locations in Wuxi. One is in Suning Plaza, and the other is at Hai’an City Shopping Center – neither of them are very large but it is clean and generally well stocked.

Both locations are within easy reach from Line 1’s Sanyang Guangchang Station, approximately 5-10 minutes’ walk away. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays there are 5, 10, and 20 RMB specials on goods, including food, drinks, fruit and utensils. Everyday after 20:00 the bread prices also get reduced.

Prices here, especially for meats, are a bit cheaper than at Ole. The daily fresh supply of sashimi are one of their best-known products, and many will also pre-order the discounted New Zealand milk. During lunchtime, a lot of white collar workers in the area will come in to buy Bento boxes for lunch, which range in price from 20 to 40 RMB.

The store prides itself on Japanese style service, and all the staff is extremely polite – they will even help you bag your groceries at the till. Every Monday through Friday, if you have bought 50 RMB, or if you make any purchase on the weekends, you will get a free membership card for special awards.

Suning Plaza Store
Add: B1 Suning Plaza, 111 Renmin Zhonglu, Chong’an District, Wuxi
地址：无锡市崇安区人民中路111号苏宁广场B1楼
Tel: 0510 6666 0600 or 0510 6666 0666
Opening Hours: 9:30-22:00
Getting There: take Line 1 to Sanyang Guangchang Station (三阳广场站).

Hai’an City Shopping Center Store
Add: B1 Hai’an City, 168 Lixin Dadao, Binhu District, Wuxi
地址：无锡市滨湖区立信大道168号海岸城购物中心B1层
Tel: 0510 6690 6618
Opening Hours: 10:00-22:00
Getting There: take Line 1 to Sanyang Guangchang Station (三阳广场站).

2) Ole (精品超市)

The Ole in Wuxi is located inside high-end Henglong Square shopping center, and the store is very large, with fashionable products of high quality and matching prices. 80% of the high-end imported products are bought by foreigners, and approximately 20% by locals or white-collar workers living nearby. The supermarket is located on Line 1, and Sanyang Square is the closest subway station, which is about 5-10 minutes’ walk away.

Some of the most popular lunch-time items on customers’ shopping lists include the cheese sandwich a 17.8 RMB, and durian cake for 28.9 RMB. Other products sold here include a wide variety of imported German beers, which are extremely popular with foreign clientele. Many customers also come for the fresh fish and shellfish, especially the salmon, which sells out long before the day is over, or for the wide range of European and American spices and herbs.

Generally, Ole is quite busy on the weekends, and queues form at the tills so you will have to be patient. If you spend 588 RMB or over you will get an Ole membership card, which entitles you to savings and points, which you can exchange for gifts. On top of that, on the 23rd of every month you can enjoy 12 percent discount with your membership card.

Add: B1 Henglong Square, 139 Renmin Zhonglu, Chong’an District, Wuxi
地址：无锡市崇安区人民中路139号恒隆广场B1楼
Tel: 0510 8185 6106
Opening Hours: 09:00-22:00
Getting There: take Line 1 to Sanyang Guangchang Station (三阳广场站).
Website: www.crvole.com.cn

3) Auchan (欧尚)

France’s biggest supermarket chain, Auchan, came to Wuxi in 2002, with two locations: Lihu and Changjiang Street. During peak hours in the evenings and weekends there are a lot of people and long queues at the tills.

Prices at this supermarket are comparatively low. For example, a huge bag of imported MOKA coffee will cost you 75 RMB, and other brands have buy-1-get-1 free offers. Danisa cookies from Denmark and St Dalfour jam from France are also hot products, and prices are 5-10 RMB less than at Ole.

There are two membership cards at this supermarket: the Auchan card on which you can deposit money (between 5 and 1000 RMB), and another card which requires registration using your passport or Chinese ID card. The latter offers discounts on various products every Tuesday and Friday.

The supermarket also has a website that you can use to do your shopping online: cy.auchandrive.cn

Lihu Store
Add: 99 Lihu Dadao, Binhu District, Wuxi
地址：无锡市滨湖区荔湖99号
Tel: 0510 6611 7392
Opening Hours: 8:00-22:00
Getting There: take bus 68 or 128 to Datong Lu stop (大通路站).

Changjiang Lu Store
Add: 288 Changjiang Beilu, Xin District, Wuxi
地址：无锡市新区长江北路288号
Tel: 0510 8212 4806
Opening Hours: 8:30-21:30
Getting There: take bus 51, 92, 726, 765 or 767 and get off at Jinhailu stop (金海里站).

4) Tesco (乐购)

Tesco is the United Kingdom’s biggest supermarket chain, and came to Wuxi in 2010. The quality of products is high because it supplies fresh products.

There are a lot of special products, including butter with brands like Happy Cow and President, with prices generally lower than 20 RMB for these products. The German cereal brand Hahne is also extremely popular with foreigners.

Tesco gives customers a membership card, which you can register for, without paying anything, with a Chinese ID card or with your passport at the service desk. The membership card allows you to collect points, one point per RMB you spend in the store, and at 450 points you can get a 3 RMB discount.

Add: 2 Suxi Lu, Binhu District, Wuxi
地址：无锡市滨湖区苏锡路2号
Tel: 0510 8542 0078 or 0510 8050 2125
Opening Hours: 08:30-21:30
Getting There: take bus 68 or 131 to Wuhu Dadao stop (五湖大道站).
Website: www.cn.tesco.com

5) Metro (麦德龙)

Germany’s biggest, and Europe’s second biggest supermarket, has been in Wuxi for a long time; since 1997. As such, it has a long history of providing foreigners and locals in Wuxi with imported goods of high quality.

The shop has a lot of products, basically everything you can think of. For example, 20 RMB for a big tin of Progresso onion soup, De Cecco pasta sauce, or Northern American honey mustard sauce. There is even a wide selection of ingredients for baking any sort of cake you would ever want to bake; something that can sometimes be difficult to find in Wuxi.

To pay, you’ll need a membership card, which you can get with a Chinese ID card or with a passport at the service counter – it is really quite simple. Or you can fill out the form at the till.

Add: 1 Cheting Zhenmaidelong Lu, Xishan District, Wuxi
地址: 无锡市锡山区东亭镇麦德龙路1号
Tel: 0510 8870 8888
Opening Hours: 06:00-22:00
Getting There: take bus 28, 102, 715 to Baizhuang stop (柏庄站).
Website: www.metromall.com.cn

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Keywords: import supermarkets in Wuxi imported goods Wuxi