- Chen Lu (Shanxi):
Seventeen small factories turn out different styles of pottery, and their showrooms have starting prices so low you'll volunteer to pay more. You can also buy original works in the houses of individual artisans.
- Hu Xian (Shanxi):
There's no better place than the source to buy these farmer's paintings with their brilliant colors and scenes of village fairs and peasants harvesting corps or herding geese.
- Zhong Bei Jiuhuo Shichang (Xi'an):
There are fakes aplenty, as everywhere else, but this bustling antiques market, fed by continuous new discoveries in the surrounding plain, is geared to locals, so asking prices are not as absurd as elsewhere.
- Jatson School (Lhasa):
High-quality Tibetan handicrafts, including traditional Tibetan clothing, paper, incense, mandala thangkas, yak-hide boots, ceramic dolls, door hangings, bags, and cowboy hats, are all made on-site, and sold at very fair prices. Your money goes to support poor, orphaned, and children with disabilities.
- Name-Brand Clothing & Accessories:
Adequate to near-perfect imitations of items by North Face, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Polo, and just about any other expensive label you can think of can be had for a song at several markets in China, especially at Beijing's Silk Street and Hongqiao markets, Shanghai's Xiangyang Lu Market, and Shenzhen's Luohu commercial City.
- Khawachen Carpet and Wool Handicraft Co.Ltd (Lhasa):
This US-Tibetan factory's carpets have rich but tasteful shades woven into delightful traditional patterns. Carpets can also be made to order. You'll pay much less here than in New York or even Beijing.
- Qipao:
Tailors in Beijing and Shanghai will cut a custom-fit Qipao, the tight-fitting traditional dress better known by its Cantonese name Cheongsam, sometimes for hundreds of dollars less than in Hong Kong and the West. A quality tailored dress, lined with silk and finished with handmade buttons, typically costs between $100 and $200. Slightly less fancy versions go for as little as $50. Custom-embroidered fabrics are also available very cheaply.
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