Dec 9, 2014

China, Food, Shop, Travel 11 Comments

So, one of the next best thing living in Macao is that we’re just 30 minutes from the border of Zhuhai and about 20 mins to this wonderful furniture wood village in 中山, Zhongshan that sells everything at wholesale cost price made for export and distribution. It’s kind of like a household wonderland with more products to choose from than you can buy.

They also do international export, so you can pretty much furnish your whole apartment elsewhere and pay shipping charges – import taxes and all to be advised. You can custom make and order wooden furniture in all shapes, colours and sizes for a fraction of the price you see in the shops in Macau or Hong Kong, even with the transportation costs factored in.

There’s also granite and marble workshops where you can custom make or buy sculptures of buddhas and the mythical creatures that guard the old doorways.

And then there are nooks and corners selling antique doors and beautiful stainglass doors like these. All from Guangzhou and part of their colonial past.  If you’ve been to Shamian Island in Guangzhou, you will get the architectural references.

There are new wood pieces beaten up to look like old and a fraction of the price – you have to bargain a little. And then there are brand new pieces – here’s how the laser cutting on wood starts

And violà, spot of colour for our home, with bits and pieces of my favourite things from everywhere we’ve travelled to, well mostly me lugging things back!

As for food, go to Jin Yin Xuan at Prince Charming hotel for yumcha before you set out for shopping or it could be the perfect lunch pitstop before crossing the border back to Macao. It was hairy crab season, so crab roe and hairy crab deliciousness found its way into xiaolongbaos too. These were great, individual orders at 38RMB each. The season runs Oct- end Nov. All the dimsum as well as roast meats hit the spot, and it’s nice to end with this “egg fan” 蛋扇， which is deep fried porous dough dipped and served dipping with honey.

Yumcha Dimsum @ Prince Charming Hotel (you can see it once you cross the Macau border into China) Jin Yuan 32 Wiki Road, Gongbei Port, Zhuhai City | 4th floor of Charming Hotel, Zhuhai, China。 Dining for 2 pax if you over order like we do, it works out to 120-150RMB per person.

To get to the furniture village, it’s a 15 min taxi ride (50RMB), or you can head over to the bus terminus and get Bus 31 (2RMB), it’s a 45-60mins bus ride and the bus meanders through the industrial area, which is a great way to see Zhuhai and Zhongshan. 中山市三乡镇 （古鹤）华财古玩城

We have a few favourites, but probably the most foreigner friendly is Mandy’s home. They have a great range of products and you won’t miss it. Shipping all depends on how much and what you buy as it’s measured by cubic metres at 168RMB/cubic metre.