The INQ goes IT shopping in Beijing and Shanghai

OVER THE YEARS, and dozens of visits, I got to know a couple of major Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai better than my home town. However, I never bothered to stroll around these two megalopolises' electronics shopping centres much.

After all, Singapore or Japan have higher-end stuff in their shops, while, if wanting local Chinese components fresh out of the factory, nothing beats Shenzhen's gigantic (both in size and in smells) SEG Plaza.

Keep in mind that there is a high degree of competition between Beijing (16 million plus souls) and Shanghai, with some 22 million inhabitants, in everything from influence and prestige to the wealth and, of course, city skyline. On the international scale, Shanghai wins hands down - after all, the cosmopolitan metropolis isn't called "New New York" without a reason, not just because its towers overtake those in the "old" New York. Look at the myriad flavours of foreign faces on the streets, its day and night life, and you'll know why.

This time, I visited both places at the end of China's Golden Week holiday and, having a few hours to spare, did a check. Knowing that most major Chinese cities usually have more than one electronics shopping centre, I went for those recommended by the local friends in both Beijing and Shanghai, where they actually shop for the geek stuff. Beijing was the first.

And the place name is.... Buy Now! Oh boy, are the salesman that desperate to stuff you with their stuff? No, wait, let's hear the Chinese name for it - just pronounce it "bai - nau - hui", now that doesn't mean "buy now in a hurry" but, "hundred - brains - connected". When I heard that, I thought it must be an excerpt from a BBC or MSNBC journalist masterpiece about Intel Terascale processor (remember the "Three Brains" story on the AMD tri-core?). But no, it really means that.

BuyNow in Beijing is located near the Western-flavoured Chaoyang part of dow ntown, but it does look a little run down nevertheless. In front of the dusty entrance facing a never-ending large square reconstruction (it's Olympics coming after all), you'll be greeted by hordes of young men chanting their package offers of "MP3, DVD, young lady", a local approach to selling affordable yet complete multisensory enjoyment including sound, sight and, I guess, touch? And yes, when pronounced, it rhymes! After you (politely!) push them aside, you can actually enter the lair.

As you can see from the photos, the Beijing BuyNow isn't that bad inside - yeah, the stalls are a bit cramped and the toilets could smell better, but you got all the stuff needed to buy or make a decent mainstream PC. Accent on " mainstream" please, because you won't find high end parts in this mall. Midrange P35 based mainboards, and 22-inch widescreens is as far as you go here - no super duper stuff.

There are also plenty of media player, cellphone and GPS offerings - take a look at this proud salesman strutting his stuff with 2.26 m tall Yao Ming's basketball support behind...

Pricing-wise, the offers are similar to what you find in the US or Singapore - that includes the local brands like Haier and Great Wall, which aren't that much cheaper than say IBM or HP ones. All are made in China anyway. You can also see plenty of mid-range notebooks, mobile phones, GPS gadgets and media players, local and foreign alike. Price-wise, notice that a typical entry-level Intel Core2 Duo 2.4 GHz PC desktop with a 19-inch LCD et al will cost around US$ 600 - US$ 800; the prices are generally on a par with those in the States.

How about Shanghai? It also has a Buy Now, but only as a part of a much larger electronics centre congregation including Pacific Digital Plaza, on Xujiahui - one of the city's biggest squares surrounded by massive shopping malls and towers sitting on top of a large subway station. You can see the giant 6-storey ball - the shops are behind it, augmented by usual fashion and food outlets.

The interior looks a bit cleaner and more spacious, but it is the product spread difference that astounded me. There is more difference between Beijing vs Shanghai then Shanghai vs Akihabara! Here, you'll find all the newest stuff, including Viewsonic 28-inch or Samsung 27-inch WUXGA 1920x1200 monitors, again at prices not far from the US ones, and 24-inch WUXGA monitors are seen on many shopfronts too - with actual prices and stocks behind. I was particularly attracted by the offer for the Samsung 24-inch 245B model shown here - only about US$ 450, or EUR 330, for a 24-inch WUXGA unit? Darn good deal, I have to say, even for usually very competitive US terms.

You'll see many more high-end notebooks and subnotebooks as well as, in the case of Samsung again, an ultramobile being shown and sold - in China, whatever is shown can be bought, even if a brand new showcase model. The high end Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and so on mobile phones are everywhere too. And yes, you can find GeForce 8800-series cards (no Ultras though) and high end P35 or Nforce mainboards running Intel's quad core CPUs in a couple of shops here, with water cooling available as well.

Also, no peddlers of funny "multisensory experiences" here - the only thing you get are leaflets for some promotions. But the crowds are still there, especially on weekends, and beware. Shanghai is generally safer than most parts of London, or, say, Paris or New York suburbs, but still, extra care of yourself won't be a waste.

So, in general, if you're in China and visiting both places, Shanghai has more to offer in terms of electronics shopping - however, if you can make it to Shenzhen, and withstand their electronics market's grit, noise and overall mess, that is the place to hunt for pretty much everything. µ