<\/strong>Where is the best place in Beijing to buy photo equipment?<\/strong> I get this question A LOT, so I thought that it was about time that I wrote a post which could act as an easy reference point for those living in, or passing through China’s capital who want to buy photo equipment.<\/p>\n
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First, let’s talk location. By far the most popular place to buy photographic equipment in Beijing, is a place called the Wukesong Camera Market<\/strong>, also referred to as Beijing Photographic Equipment City (\u5317\u4eac\u6444\u5f71\u5668\u6750\u57ce – B\u011bi j\u012bng sh\u00e8 y\u01d0ng q\u00ec c\u00e1i ch\u00e9ng). Situated in the west of the city it can be found a short distance north of the Wukesong (\u4e94\u68f5\u677e – w\u01d4 k\u0113 s\u014dng) subway station on (Red) Line 1. (If you’re not sure where this is, please head to the excellent site Explore Beijing<\/a>, find Wukesong in the west, click on the station and it will bring up a detailed local Google map which is \u2018zoomable\u2019). Heading north from the subway station, you will eventually arrive at DingHui Qiao (\u5b9a\u60e0\u6865 – d\u00ecng \u00a0hu\u00ec qi\u00e1o), or DingHui Bridge. The camera market is on the South East corner. It is quite easy to spot as there will normally be a picture of Jackie Chan holding the latest model of Canon camera, looking down at you from a big billboard.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n Once you enter the market, be prepared for photo-equipment overload. As the name of the market suggests, this place isn’t just one store, it’s a multitude of stores, all selling cameras of every different shape and size with the add-ons to go with them. There are stores selling all the latest Canons, Nikons etc., stores selling film cameras, medium format cameras, stories for tripods, stores for lights…you get the picture (excuse the pun).<\/p>\n When you enter, it is important to take your time and have a look around<\/strong> and not get overwhelmed by the selections on display. If there is a particular make and model of camera you are looking for, check out the price in a number of stores and compare prices. I guarantee, they will be different! Also important to note, is that you can haggle<\/strong>. Now, you may think that there may be a chance that the quality isn’t very high if you can haggle over the price but this is not the case. It’s normal practise to haggle and prices are flexible. Not extremely so, but flexible enough to save a little cash. It really helps if you can go to the market with a native Chinese speaker<\/strong>, preferably one with good negotiation skills, as this can make a real difference.<\/p>\n