Taobao — Best Friend of Expat in China

I’m in love with Taobao. It’s amazing. I hardly know how I survived almost eight years in China without it.

I guess if you live in Shanghai or Beijing and know where to buy lots of interesting things, you may not need a Taobao account. But for people like me who live in a “small” city (mine is about four million) without a lot of shopping options, Taobao is a lifeline. You can buy almost anything on Taobao. I have looked for a few things that I can’t find (a rock tumbler, an acrylic cookbook holder, for example), but it’s rare.

Granted, it is a LOT of hassle to initially set up. It requires a local bank account that you tie to your Taobao account. And besides Taobao, you also have to register for Alipay (something like Paypal). There are multiple passwords and complicated plug-ins you have to add to your browser. And you have to use Explorer to make your purchases online because of those plug-ins. Like I said, it’s a lot of trouble and in a second language! But it’s worth it for me.

Here are a few examples of things I’ve bought over the few months I’ve been using Taobao:

ground mustard

Double Decker Dish Drainer from Taobao

All of these are things I cannot find in my area. (One or two may actually be here, but I’d have to spend days searching. And just because a shop somewhere has glue sticks today doesn’t mean that shop will still carry them two months later.) Generally, the prices are very good on Taobao. And when I consider buying outside of China and shipping or carrying them in, the bargain just gets better and better.

To use Taobao, you will probably need a local friend to help you with the bank account and getting it attached to your Taobao account. And even if your Chinese skills are not great, you can still use Taobao with the online tools available. I do lots of cut and paste with translators and dictionaries.

These are what I often use:

Google Translate (Not the best translations, but you can get the main idea.)
Nciku – online dictionary (Much better for translating, especially if you already have some Chinese language ability.)
Taobao Field Guide (A lot of the information and screenshots here are slightly outdated, but it’s a good starting point.)

Once my friend got me set up, I was able to use Taobao with very little help except these essential online tools. But of course, if I encounter a problem, I just ask a local friend to help me.

If you want to use Taobao but really don’t want to go through all the hassle of setting up your own account, I recommend Global Connection Services. GCS is a company run by an American couple living in China. They don’t have a website up yet, but you can contact Trisha at gcs@onepost.net. Be sure to tell her that you read about her company on my blog. She’ll be sure to treat you right.

1. Homeschooling in ChinaThis post isn’t specifically about homeschooling in China, but I’ve decided to add it to my Expat Homeschool Mom in China series. If you’re an expat homeschooling in China, you probably need Taobao. AND, I have found some great audio books on Taobao. Just look at the options at this Taobao store. When I bought mine, the seller told me I could download them, but I requested an actual CD with MP3 files mailed to me for convenience.