Meet me
Brandy Yang Shopping host and itinerary consultant
I have lived and worked in Shenzhen for most of my adult life. I work here and shop here as a resident, and I speak both English and Mandarin — a detail that matters less in the abstract than it does when standing at a counter in Huaqiangbei and establishing whether the figure on the calculator refers to one unit or to ten.
I began publishing this material after repeatedly meeting visitors who had paid three or four times the local price, or who had arrived with a screenshot of a rule that had changed two years earlier. None of those visitors had acted carelessly; they simply had no means of verifying anything, because most material written in English about shopping in China is produced by someone who is not standing in the shop.
My method is therefore deliberately unglamorous. I telephone the shop and ask; I visit and ask again; I keep the receipt. I then return some months later to check the same price, because market prices move and a figure that was accurate in April is not automatically accurate in October. Every figure on this site carries the date on which it was obtained. Anything I have not verified myself remains blank and is labelled accordingly, because a visible gap is of more use than a figure invented to fill it.
I also accompany clients in person. Visitors frequently asked whether I could be present with them at the counter, and that proved to be the most useful part of the work. I meet clients at the market, translate, check the specification and the receipt, and confirm that the price agreed is the price paid.
What I do for you
Every figure is verified by me
I go to the counter, ask in Chinese, pay, and keep the receipt. When I cannot be there myself, I phone the shop and note who I spoke to. Nothing on these pages is copied from somebody else's roundup.
Where I have not yet visited a shop, the page states this explicitly rather than filling the gap with an estimate.
I accompany you in person
Markets here move quickly and operate largely in Mandarin. I meet you at the door, translate, check the specification and the receipt, and stay until the price you agreed is the price on the slip.
I plan the route
Tell me what you came for and how many days you have. I arrange the districts in a logical order, allow time for the refund counter at the border, and advise on which days are better spent elsewhere.
Four rules I work by
- 1
I only publish what I can stand behind
Every figure here traces back to one of three things: a receipt of mine, a phone call I made, or a document published by the authority that wrote the rule. If it traces back to none of those, it does not go on the page.
- 2
I say when I do not know
Unverified means unverified, and I label it that way rather than softening it. An honest gap costs you nothing. A wrong number can cost you a flight.
- 3
Nobody pays to be here
No shop, market, clinic or brand pays me to be mentioned. If that ever changes, I will say it on the page that changed, at the top, in plain words, and I will label it as advertising rather than as a recommendation.
- 4
I tell you when not to buy
Some things are simply not cheaper in China: global-brand phones and laptops, and anything whose warranty you will need to use at home. I would rather talk you out of a purchase than watch you fly home with something you overpaid for. Where a category is a bad idea, the category page says so.
How prices are shown, and why there is a rate in the corner
Every price on this site is quoted in US dollars, with the RMB figure a shop would actually quote sitting beside it in small type. Shops in Shenzhen price in yuan; the dollar is a conversion, not a second price — the yuan is what the counter will ask you for.
The badge, top-left of every page
It shows the USD/CNY reference rate and the day it was set. The rate is a mid-market rate refreshed once a day, and every dollar figure on the page is recalculated from it each time the page loads. Nothing here is converted by hand.
A movement of 1% is still material
One percent changes a $1,000 shopping list by approximately $10. That is small in isolation, but over a year it is the difference between a guide that is broadly accurate and one that has quietly gone stale, which is why the date always appears alongside the rate.
Budget a little above these figures
Cards and exchange counters apply a spread, typically 0.5–2% off the mid-market rate, plus sometimes a flat fee. Treat the dollar figures here as the honest middle, and the yuan figure as the one to check against the receipt.
It falls back to the last saved rate
The dot on the badge turns amber and the page uses the last saved rate instead of inventing one. No price on this site is ever silently wrong by more than a day.
On the official fixing: the PBOC mid-rate on 26 October 2026 was 1 USD = 6.7162 CNY. This site converts at the mid-market reference rate shown in the badge, which sits closer to what a visitor's card actually clears at.
Data snapshot, October 2026
| Number | What it is | As of |
|---|---|---|
| 1 USD = 6.68 CNY | Mid-market reference rate used to convert every price on this site (PBOC fixing the same day: 6.7162) | 26 Oct 2026 |
| $30¥200 | Tax refund minimum, one store, same day (down from $75¥500) | Since Apr 2025 |
| $2,995¥20,000 | Cash refund ceiling, raised from $1,498¥10,000 | Since Apr 2025 |
| 11% / 8% | Departure VAT refund rate by product tax rate | Current |
| 28 days | Unified departure deadline for instant in-store refunds | 1 Sep 2026 |
| US$800 | US personal duty-free exemption per person | Current |
| 3% flat | US duty on the band between US$800 and US$1,800 | Current |
| 57 countries | Eligible for 240-hour visa-free transit | 20 Aug 2026 |
| 50 countries | Eligible for unilateral visa-free entry up to 30 days | 11 Mar 2026 |
| 1.45 km² | Huaqiangbei, holding about 115,000 businesses and 35 electronics markets | Aug 2026 |
| 125 million | Pairs of glasses produced in Henggang per year, over half the world's mid-to-high-end frames | Industry figure |
Compiled 26 October 2026 from the State Taxation Administration, the National Immigration Administration, China Foreign Exchange Trade System and US Customs regulations. Confirm anything that affects money with the issuing authority before you rely on it.
What this is not
- I am not a travel agency. I do not book flights or hotels, I do not sell package tours, and I do not arrange visas. What I do is the shopping part, and the visa and refund pages exist so you can check the paperwork yourself.
- Nothing medical here is medical advice. The dental and checkup pages tell you what to ask a clinic for, not what you should have done. Get a written, itemised quote, ask what it excludes, and take it to a doctor at home before you commit. What is right for one mouth is not automatically right for another.
- I cannot carry your parcel through customs for you. A posted box does not get the traveller allowance at all, and what it owes at your border depends on your country's rules and sometimes on the officer. I explain the thresholds so you can decide what to hand-carry and what to leave behind.
- Nothing here is a quote. Prices move, stock moves faster, and the counter is allowed to say no. Treat every figure as the opening number in a conversation.
The line I hold: this is a travel reference, not tax or medical advice. Rules change, and published prices are a starting point for a conversation at the counter, not a quote. Always ask for a written, itemised quote and confirm what it excludes.
Ask me anything
Questions people ask
Can you come with me while I shop?
Yes. Accompaniment is now a central part of the service. I meet clients at the market or the shop, translate, check the specification and the receipt, and remain until the price agreed is the price recorded on the slip. Tell me what you came for and how many days you have, and I will tell you how I would spend them. The details are on the services page.
Do you get commission from any shop?
No. No shop, market, clinic or brand pays me to be mentioned here, and I take no cut of what you spend at the counter. That is the whole reason the prices are worth reading. If a shop ever pays for anything, the page that changed will say so at the top, and it will be labelled as advertising rather than as a recommendation from me.
How much does a day with you cost?
There is no price list, because no two days are the same. A morning in one glasses market is not the same job as three days of fittings, repairs and a refund run at the border. Tell me what you came for and how much time you have, and you get a quote in writing before you commit to anything. The first conversation is free. It is a message, not a booking.
Why are some shop phone numbers and clinic names left blank?
Because an unverified phone number is worse than no phone number. Contact details go up only after I have physically stood at the counter or in the clinic. Until then the slot stays empty and says so. For medical providers especially, I do not publish a name, address or phone number I have not checked in person.
How current are the prices on this site?
Every page carries the date it was last checked, and every price shows the yuan figure that was quoted next to a dollar conversion at the day's reference rate. The badge at the top of each page refreshes daily. Prices at electronics counters and wholesale markets move faster than that, so treat every figure as a starting point for negotiation rather than a quote.
Is this tax or medical advice?
No. It is a travel reference that cites the underlying rules so you can check them yourself. Customs allowances change, and how a specific item is taxed depends on facts only you know. For anything medical, ask the provider for an itemised written quote and have a doctor at home review it before you commit.