The China Haul shopping list, category by category

The interesting question is not "what is cheap in China" — very little is, any more. It is "what can I not get at home, at any price, that also survives a flight".

That narrows the field considerably. Below is the whole field, with the parts that go wrong marked honestly.

Designer fashion and footwear

Chinese designer labels are the core of this trend and the reason people arrive with an empty case. Bags, sneakers and streetwear from Huaihai Middle Road are the most-requested category.

Two practical warnings. Sizing runs smaller than European and US equivalents — try on, do not assume. And these are fixed-price shops: there is no discount to negotiate, and no reason to feel you are missing one.

Fragrance and beauty

Tea-led and herb-led fragrance is the quiet success of the trend: dry, green, and genuinely unlike a Western department-store scent. Sets sell well because they are giftable.

Mass-market Chinese skincare is also cheap and good. Check ingredient lists if you have sensitivities, because labelling conventions differ from home.

Tech and creator hardware

Folding phones, AI glasses, compact drones, gimbals and wireless microphones — the things foreign reviewers keep calling "future". Local supply chains make them cheaper here and available earlier.

This is also the category with the most ways to lose money. Check that the model supports your home network bands, that the warranty is international, and that the airline will carry the battery. A drone you cannot fly at home is an expensive ornament.

Tea, food and wellness

Tea remains the single best purchase in Shanghai, for the same reason it always was: the quality difference is real and the price at home is several times higher. Buy from a fixed-price shop and taste before you buy.

Herbal syrups, moxa patches and foot-soak packets have become an unlikely export. They are cheap and they travel — but some countries restrict herbal imports, so check before you fill a suitcase with them.

Made to measure

The South Bund fabric market cuts one pattern to one person. A qipao or a suit, in cloth you picked, with a fitting, in a few days. Nothing else on this list is actually unique to you.

Insist on the fitting. Pay a deposit, not the full amount, until you have tried it on.

What people regret

Electronics bought without checking band support or warranty coverage. Blind boxes bought as an investment. Anything sold with a certificate of authenticity.

And the quiet regret: buying things because a video said to, rather than because you wanted them. The empty suitcase is a tactic, not an obligation.

Verdict

Buy design, tea, and things made for your measurements. Be sceptical of electronics warranties and anything with a certificate.