Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou - where to buy and/or sell
new and secondhand photo equipment and film

In China, photo gear and film prices vary greatly - up to 50%! - depending on where you buy. Below I am giving addresses in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou where you can buy everything as cheap as it gets in this country. To be honest, it took me some time to find those places and now you can benefit from my findings, too. I am also listing prices of some cameras and films so that you can compare for yourself or know what to look/bargain for when/if you go there.

The worst idea is to buy anything related to photography in big department stores in downtown. In Beijing, avoid places like Wangfujing or Lufthansa Center; in Shanghai, avoid any shops selling photo gear in Nanjing Road, along Huaihai Road, or in Xujiahui area. As to film, do not buy it in the above places as well as in any Kodak or Fuji laboratories. Also very importantly, never buy film in any places of tourist attractions - not only shall it be expensive there, but there also is a probability that you will buy fake film or accessories (this is especially so if you go to remote locations, e.g. The Great Wall in Beijing). To cut a long story short, just go to the addresses below to buy any photo gear or film. If you think it a pain in the neck, go there once in a while and buy film in bulk, which is what I normally do.

In Beijing, go to:

Beijing Photo Gear Mall, No. 40 Wukesong Road, Haidian District, Beijing

北京市海淀区五棵松路40号北京市摄影器材城

Go to Wukesong subway station and then walk up north along the fourth ring road for about ten minutes. The place will be on the right side of the road.

Update: Angelika Jakob has advised that there are at least two shops in the mall where one can rent professional lighting equipment. She also discovered that rental prices vary greatly from shop to shop and, therefore, it would be sensible to check prices in at least two stores.

In Shanghai, go to:

3rd Floor, Huanlong Department Store, No. 360 Meiyuan Road, Zhabei District, Shanghai

上海市闸北区梅园路360号环龙百货三楼

Take the subway to Shanghai Railway Station and the place will be on your right if you face the station.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: As of December 2006 Huanlong Photo Gear Mall is under renovation and will be closed until June 2007. Most of the retailers have moved to the following address, which is a newly opened photo gear mall:

Shanghai Xingguang Photo Gear Mall, No. 288 Luban Road, Luwan District, Shanghai

上海市泸湾区鲁班路288号上海星光摄影器材城

In Guangzhou, go to:

Photo Gear Mall, Dashatou Road 2, Guangzhou

广州市大沙头二马路摄影器材成

The place is quite central so just take a taxi.

These places are specialty wholesale photo markets and, as far as I know, a lot of professional studios buy their equipment, accessories and film there. Check out the prices I give as an example below and you shall see that the difference is quite substantial. The good thing is that those prices are applicable to anyone and even if you buy only a couple of films. It is just that very few people seem to know about the markets.

Current prices of some cameras and films in Shanghai are as follows (as of late May 2007; please also note that even though I only mention Nikon and Canon below these places carry all major brands including Pentax, Leica, Hasselbald, etc.):

Camera/film	Price	Previous price
Nikon D50 (body only), discontinued	RMB4250, early 2007	RMB4900, December 2005
Nikon D40 (kit)	RMB4200	-
Nikon D40x (kit)	RMB5600	-
Nikon D70s (body only), discontinued	RMB4800, early 2007	RMB7100, May 2005
Nikon D80 (body only)	RMB6850	-
Nikon D200 (body only)	RMB10200	RMB14800, December 2005
Nikon D2X	RMB31500	RMB36000, July 2005
Canon 350D (body only), discontinued	RMB4650	RMB6200, December 2005
Canon 400D (kit)	RMB5700	-
Canon 30D (body only)	RMB7650	RMB8800, August 2006
Canon 5D	RMB18550	RMB25500, December 2005
Fujifilm S5 Pro	RMB14000	-
Sony Alfa DSLR-A100 (body only)	RMB5300	RMB6400, August 2006
Fuji Velvia 100F 120	RMB27	RMB26.50, August 2006
Fuji Provia 100F 120	RMB22	RMB22, August 2006
Kodak TMax 100 120	RMB25	RMB23, August 2006

(Current applicable exchange rate: USD/RMB=7.80)

The prices above are for your reference only and, of course, shall vary at different times depending on market conditions as well as your ability to bargain.

In the above places you can also buy/sell second hand equipment. For pro-level equipment in good condition you can get up to 80% of the current price (if you bought a piece of photo gear in a big department store in China, though, do not expect to get 80% on the rip-off price!).

If you buy photo gear or film in China regularly and the addresses above are new to you, buy me a beer some time as I have just saved you a lot of money J!

Update: if you speak and read Chinese, I recommend checking out this and this Web site.