Where to buy photography equipment in Beijing?
Updated on July 20, 2008
When I was in the US, I used to buy all photography equipment online via a few trusted vendors such as www.amazon.com, www.ritzcamera.com etc. When I started to live in China in 2004, I had to find a local vendor who can sell the real camera equipment at a reasonable price.
I soon discovered that the Photography Equipment City (the website in Chinese) in Wukesong intersection on the west 4th ring road of Beijing is the place to go for all my photography needs. They sell all the popular camera and lenses at almost the same price as amazon or ritz), mostly with manufacture warranty.
rega said,
June 29, 2008 @ 1:46 pm
hi mark,
i just found your blog by google. was trying to locate places in beijing to get used photographic equipment. i am from jakarta indonesia, and was in a sales conference in shanghai. i take an office leave and go alone for few days to expand my horizon.
in shangai i visited xin guang building, at the corner of luban lu and xietu lu, a 6 stories full of photography equipment and related things. i spent one and a half days of my spare time there. found some good cheap things to bring home.
a friend in shanghai exactly mentioned wuzedong. i plan to visit it tuesday. tomorrow i plan to go to the greatwall, i hope not to beome a fool-man though ;-P.
i need to buy lightmeter and bunch of 120 film to bring home. from time to time, it is hard to get 120 film in jakarta. my next visit is hongkong. what is your suggestion, to get the things in beijing or HK? cheaper is the target, for sure :))
ooh, about greatwall if i want to go just by myself via public transportation will be save and easy? actually i want to get good sun shine. it i cloudy for two days in beijing, no good outdoor shots for no good light. i am thinking of geting there, and may be stay until sunset. but upto now, nobody i asked know for sure what time the bus last each day from great wall. i think i will take the nearest one, badaling maybe.
would be great if you could write something for me.
thx & rgrds
rega
drtu said,
July 1, 2008 @ 9:31 am
hello Rega:
I have not shopped in HK. I think that the price in BJ is comparable to the price in HK for photography equipments. But if you are heading to HK, you should get the stuff there. If you are coming back to BJ anything soon, I suggest that you pay a visit to the Photography Eqiupment City in the WukeSong area (west 4th ring road). There are about 20 used equipment dealers there who sell just about anything related to photography.
As for the Great Wall, it is difficult to get to using public buses. You should hire a car with a driver. The Badaling section has many tourist buses but I think the section closes at about 6pm. Too early for the sun set shoots. I would recommend the MuTianYu section. It is repaired with chair lifts. Many big shoots including Bill Clinton went there. It is less traveled and if you are lucky, you can stay on until the sun set. You do need a priviate transporation though. Also you may want to try the JianKou section. 🙂
Caio Garcia said,
July 19, 2008 @ 1:39 am
Hi Mark,
I am a Brazilian photojournalist and I am going to Beijing to cover the olympic games. I had a problem with my equipment and there is not enough time to solve it here in Brazil ( I am leaving tomorrow). Is there any store where I can find, and buy, a Canon EOS 1DS Mark III in Beijing? Do you know its price or some store that has a website in english that I can look for it?
Thanks very much!
drtu said,
July 22, 2008 @ 3:59 am
Hello Caio Garcia:
According to the price listed on Rayi’s online store: http://www.rayi.com.cn/static/product_6934.htm
the a Canon EOS 1DS Mark III sells for 50,500RMB which is 7405 USD (1USD = 6.82RMB)
Suprisingly, this camera sells at: 7845USD in the US. http://www.adorama.com/ICA1DSM3.html
Rayi has a physical shop in the Photography Equipment City, just at the entrance. I recommend that you call them at: 400-810-3859 (toll free from a Chinese cell phone) and ask if they have it in stock before you go.
Good luck!
Elsa said,
July 22, 2008 @ 5:42 pm
Hi, Dr Tu… thanks for the info. We will be in Beijing for the Olympics for 20 days, and will definitely find time to visit the place you have mentioned. Not planning on buying lens at this time, but who knows… sigma 30 1.4 is on my wish list! Can’t wait to shop for accessories. I will be printing this page for my reference. Thanks, Doc. 🙂
Tim Catchall said,
August 14, 2008 @ 8:49 am
Hi, I am in Beijing at the moment. I am looking for some Kodak Portra 160NC (35mm). Dr Tu,do you know if this will be available at the photo equipment city? Or do any other posters here have any good tips?
Many thanks
TC
drtu said,
August 14, 2008 @ 11:54 am
Hello TC:
I just called Rayi photo shop at their SoHo office 010- 85806643 (http://www.rayi.com.cn/static/index.htm) which is one of the lagest photo equipment shop in Beijing. They do not have the Kodak Portra 160NC (35mm) in stock. The customer serivce guy said that this was a rare type of camera and rather expensive. Thus, they usually do not have it in stock. However, it can be ordered and the expected arrival date should be 3-5 working days.
He also mentioned that the other shops may not have this in stocks either.
If you really have to have this during your stay in Beijing, I recommend that you make a trip to the Photo Equipment city and speak to a few shop owners. I am sure you will quickly find out the price as well as the availability.
Good luck.
MT
Tim Catchall said,
August 14, 2008 @ 1:57 pm
Dr Tu, thanks for the call on my behalf. I was in a camera shop between Xidan and Tian’anmen Square and, despite not speaking a word of English, they were v v helpful and also tried calling a couple of places. I went everywhere today trying to find some, including tryng to find Beijing Today Photo (does this still exist?) by the West Railway Station, but no luck. Anyway, switched to 400NC this evening (I still have maybe 8 rolls of that left) and bought some Kodak consumer 100 which I will probably have to live with. A little annoying, though, as it is a consumer film AND a generation behind Portra 160NC (and two generations behind 400NC – I am using the latest stuff which is readily available in London, well, at least in Calumet).
Thanks again.
TC
Tim Catchall said,
August 14, 2008 @ 2:06 pm
I would settle for Fuji Pro 160. It used to be my fave, when it was called NPS and NPC, but the update didn’t agree with my scanner and Kodak have caught up in the last couple of years (and with Portra 400NC-3 even surpassed Fuji). May not be a problem, though, as I was planning to rent some time on an Imacon when back in London, so could be a good alternative. In any case, I’ll be at photo city tomorrow morning…
Thanks again
TC
Tim Catchall said,
August 15, 2008 @ 1:59 pm
Went to Photo City and no luck. In medium format they had Kodak Ektacolor 160 which had the same ‘now with even finer grain’ labelling as my Portra, but it was not available in 35mm. No Fuji Pro 160 either. So bought some Reala 100 and will have to make do.
TC
drtu said,
August 15, 2008 @ 3:30 pm
TC: At least it is a very fine day today in Beijing, Blue sky and mild temperature.:)
Tim Catchall said,
August 16, 2008 @ 1:42 pm
Photographically I preferred the pollution!
Guido said,
September 12, 2008 @ 12:55 pm
Hi,
thanks for posting that wukesong place. I jsut got to Beijing (as a student for the next ten months) and I’m in desperate Need of a tripod – I’ll check out the place tomorow.
Greets from Tsinghua University
Guido
» Photographers Heaven A Year abroad said,
September 13, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
[…] ran. Eigentlich j alangweilig – Google weiß halt doch immer alles am Besten und so landete ich im Blog von Dr. Tu. Sein Hinweis entpuppte sich als durchaus machbar und nach ca. 45 Minuten U-Bahn (inkl. 2 Umsteigen […]
Daniel said,
September 23, 2008 @ 12:46 pm
Hi Mark,
I will arrive in Beijing at September 28.
I would very much like to buy the New model , Nikon D90.
Do you know if it is available in Beijing and if so how much it will cost as a kit(body+18-105 lens).
Where is the store located? is it in the center of Beijing?
It is urgent. I must know before I fly.
Daniel
drtu said,
September 24, 2008 @ 3:23 am
Hello Daniel:
The NikonD90 kit(body +18-105lense) is available for 8680RMB which is about 1270 USD. The NIkon D90 body is 7080RMB which is $1037 USD. See the link below:
http://www.rayi.com.cn/static/product_8976.htm
Rayi which is one of the larger stores in the Photography city has the NikonD90 body and kit in stock as of today.
The store is located at the west side fo the city, west 4th ring road. The distance between the center of the city (forbidden city) to the store is about 15km or 30RMB by taxi or 2RMB by subway.
Best Regards
Mark
Scott said,
September 25, 2008 @ 8:36 am
Hello Dr Tu.
I am currently looking at buying either a Nikon D80 or maybe even a D90, depending on my finances. I have been living in China for over a year and am flying out on the 29th of September. Do you happen to know if I can claim the tax back when going through customs? Or would I be better off purchasing the Camera in the airport, or when I get to my next destination?
Cheers
Scott
drtu said,
September 25, 2008 @ 3:38 pm
Hello Scott:
Well, your question is very good. The answer is: I do not know the answer. Sorry.
When I buy camera, the seller quotes me a price. There is no additional tax. I suppose that the tax is already calculated in.
The sellers usually offer two prices. The price with real official fapiao (receipt) is a few percentage more expensive than the price with non official fapiao (receipt). A non official fapiao is a paper with hand written amount. I suppose that the difference between these two prices is the tax the seller has to pay to the government.
I brought all my cameras with the official fapiao although they are slightly (a few percentage) more expensive. I believe that the official fapiao is the only official prove of purchase, thus I get full warrantee on my cameras.
Technically, it is possible to get the tax back if you leave the country. However, I do not know the procedure. I have been in and out of a lot of airports in China. I have never seen a tax refund window in any of the airport. So I doubt the tax refund offices ever exit. However, if you ever find out how to get tax refund, please let me know. I can post it here so others can benefit.
I do not buy anything from the airports as they are usually over priced.
Mark
Scott said,
September 25, 2008 @ 4:08 pm
Thanks for you answer.
I myself have also never noticed a tax refund station in any of the Chinese international airports.
If airports are out of the question I guess I gotta figure out where best to buy a camera then. Here in Beijing, or when I get to London. I won’t be coming back to China for a long time, I guess a Chinese warrantied camera would have to be sent back to China to be repaired.
Either way, thank you for your answers.
Cheers
Scott
Expose said,
October 6, 2008 @ 2:48 pm
Hi Dear all,
I just found your blog by google, very good place to get buying information for the peoples who
wants to buy their needs in Beijing, as like as me, so my great thanks to all of you and for Dr Tu
you have done a great work here.
For me it was very difficult to get in to a right place to buy my gears, But now I seams to be much easier for me.
Actually I’ll be in Guangzhou on 24.Nov.2008 and in Beijing on 30.Nov.2008
so a Nikon user I’m going to shift Canon and just for Canon EOS 5D Mark II, by the way.
I sold all of my gears for this shift and very hopeful to have the possibility to buy this camera at Beijing.
As I’ve found on the net 5D mark II will be lunch for sale in the end late of Nov, so my question is :
is there any way to know if this camera will be available on that time? ( actually I’ll be in Beijing until 05.Dec.2008 )
I really worry about the releasing date in Beijing, I was lucky on my Nikon D300 about 10 months
ago when I was in Shanghai, I bought it at first of releasing date, but not sure to have this chance again on Canon 5D Mark II.
Dear Dr Tu, would you please kindly check it for me at once? I sold my all EQ just for the dream of 5D Mark II and I really dont like to miss the chance of photography in Beijing.
Thanks for your valuable advices.
Pooyan
Pablo said,
October 6, 2008 @ 4:39 pm
Hi there:
I`ve been travelling trough Asia. I`ve just visited Hong Kong in wich the price of the 18-200mm VR lens is HK$5.250.- That time I did not buy that lens because I palned a trip to Tokyo. Now I`m in Tokyo and I find out that the price is JY$88.000.- wich is way much higher than in Hong Kong…why is that???…anyway…I’m going to Beijing in a couple of days…do you think I`m going to find a cheaper price than in Japan…(by the way…why a Japanese brand is pricier in Japan than in Hong Kong???)
I`ve searched in Yari.cn but nothing came up…can you help me?
Regards,
Pablo.
Pablo said,
October 6, 2008 @ 4:41 pm
…SORRY…the 18-200mm VR I`m talking in the previous post is a NIKON lens.
Thanks,
Pablo.
drtu said,
October 7, 2008 @ 12:31 am
Hello Pablo:
The 18-200mm VR lense is 4700RMB: http://www.rayi.com.cn/static/product_5348.htm
I use this lense and it is made in Thailand. There are rumors that the lenses sold in Japan are higher quality lenses than those sold in China. I doubt such a claim. I suspect that most of the Nikon gears are assembled in Thailand with most of the parts made in China.
HK has very little sales tax. It is also a trading port. Therefore, electronic items are rather cheap there. China is one of the cheapest places to buy electronic items as most of the electronic items are made in China or with made in China parts.
Mark
drtu said,
October 7, 2008 @ 4:10 am
Hello Pooyan:
I called Rayi on your behave. The sales people told me that they expect the Canon EOS 5D Mark II in stock at the end of Nov. Based on previous experience, the actual arrival date should be a few days later than the international release date.
They expect that the Canon EOS 5D Mark II body costs 16000RMB and the kit with 24-105mm lense costs 22000RMB.
To ensure that you get the item at the date of arrival, please call Rayi at: 010-88144785 (Chinese speaking only) to pre-order at the beginning of Nov.
Good luck.
Mark
Expose said,
October 7, 2008 @ 1:01 pm
Dear Dr Tu,
I was surprised by your very GOOD news, the coast and available date are both perfect.
I don’t know how to express my thanks to your very kind help. you did your best for me.
Now I’m sure that I’ll never miss an interesting photography in Beijing with the new friend 5D Mark II.
Once again Thanks for your kind notify.
My regards.
Pooyan
Benny said,
November 11, 2008 @ 2:39 pm
hi drtu, ???
Right now I’m a studying Chinese in Beijing (??????), and I’m thinking about buying a brand new flash. I’m wondering where can I do barter? (wukesong maybe?) I’m thinking about selling my tamron (28-75mm f/2.8) for the flash (430EX II). But the problem is, I left the box & warranty card in my country, Indonesia. Yes, it was purchased in Indonesia with Indonesian warranty too.
So if I can do barter here, at what price will my tamron be sold? with front & rear cap only
If I can get someone send me the box will I get better price?
I wish you can help me figure-out something before I trade it, because I’m lack of information here in Beijing.
and also.. I’ve been here for 2 months but my Chinese haven’t improved well 🙁
kindly help me please 🙂
thanks, ????
drtu said,
November 12, 2008 @ 4:06 am
Hello Benny:
Hangout in Wudaokou’s lush bar with all the English speaking students will not improve your Chinese. Just kidding.
If I were you, I’d do the following:
1: Sell the Tamron (28-75mm f/2.8). Get a Chinese speaking friend to go with you to the Photography equipment city and check the price with a few used equipment dealers. In no time, you will find the dealers’ offer price. If you decide to take the offer, they will give you cash. The box and warrentte card do help a bit with the price. But for used equipment, the condition is more important. Most of the used equipments sold are without any box nore warrentte card. In other words, don’t bother with shipping the box over to Beijing.
2: With the cash on hand, buy the (new or used) 430EX II flash from one of the dealers there from the same or another dealer.
The key for the transaction is: get a trustworthy chinese speaking friend to go with you.
Good luck!
Mark
Benny said,
November 12, 2008 @ 7:31 am
Haha you got me, it’s houhai btw *kidding* :p
thanks for the reply, I’ll take the tips..
xiexie nin!
after the mid-test I’ll go there and report back here
-Ben
Benny said,
December 1, 2008 @ 3:55 pm
Hi again drtu..
so I sold my tamron for a reasonable price I think
to a dealer at wukesong
(about 50% from a brand-new one, still higher compared to the price in my hometown :p)
He is a nice person around 30’s, able to speak a little english
and he even suggest me which store to buy the flash from
and yes, I bought the flash at one of two shops he recommended
it’s YiLian if I’m not mistaken, quite reasonable price
no need hard-bargaining
thanks to you drtu
estimated second-hand item price is accurate
you put every important information people might need here 😀
so once again.. thank you
your site is very helpful
-Ben
John said,
December 2, 2008 @ 8:47 am
Hi,
I need a Nikon Camera D40 and D100. Tell me your final asking price for it?
Thanks and reply,
John.
John said,
December 2, 2008 @ 8:49 am
Hi,
I need a Nikon Camera D40 and D100 tell me your final asking price for it?
Thanks and reply,
john.
Josephine Kalema said,
October 19, 2010 @ 7:25 pm
we have gone through your website and have picked interest in SLR digital camera . We need to buy pieces of those products and pay by USD check deposit.
If you accept our term of payment, we look forward doing business with your company.
Barry said,
December 25, 2010 @ 11:15 am
We found the Photography Equipment City, walking north as described from the Wukesong Subway station. But walking on December 25 in the cold, I really think the distance is more like 2.2 km from the Subway station. And as we arrived at 5:15 p.m., they were closed. We wondered why, but then realized that they perhaps closed early because it was Christmas Day?
We’ll have to try again another day…
muhammad saleem said,
February 25, 2012 @ 11:49 am
i want a DSLR canon eos 5d mark2 kit with 24-105mm lens, rig matte box LCD monitor,