@rejectedgoods

all I will say to that is 'dumb tourists'.

I don't haggle. For day to day goods, if I don't like the price I'll move onto the neighbouring seller and so on till I either get a price I'm satisfied with or walk away. I realise I'm probably paying more than necessary, but in the scheme of things it's not a lot of money to me and it helps the locals stay in business. For large items I get my Kunmingese wife to do the buying.

I only use the western supermarkets for items I can't get at the local shops. Things like butter, cheese, peanut butter, etc. I've actually found prices in the smaller shops to be the same or cheaper than the wal-marts.

Is it off topic to say that I recently read an article that says the wal-marts, carrefours, etc. are actually struggling in China and are having to pull back on expansion plans and try to adapt there stores more to the Chinese consumer.

@atomic, i also only buy limited things at WalMart or Metro that i cannot find at other places. My wife has even found if i do not shop with her at local markets the price is sometimes better. Funny thing is however i have occasionally bought fruit on the way home and got a better price from vendor who i pass daily and always smile and say hello to.

Another thing I would like to mention is that I'm very wary of buying things in the 'small stores' because there is so much counterfeit stuff. Everything from toilet paper, sodas, beer, bai ju, eggs, meats, etc. These small stores are the ones likely to carry these things for the most part. So although I am all for supporting the 'little' guy, in China you must be very careful.

@liumingke1234, Your last point was so right on, i was so excited to find large jars of miracle whip at small store in our complex, i should have known better, got it home and everything about it was counterfeit, texture, smell, and taste was horrible. Will not make same mistake again.

@tallamerican. It's really scary! I was never paranoid about buying stuff until I came here and found out that nothing is sacred to counterfeit. You really have to think when you pick up that soda and you are thirsty. Is it the real deal or is it fake? They are so good at fakes it scary. If you find yourself getting sick, better check out what you've been buying.

Shop extermination is getting more and more common these days and with rent and wages going up, it will spread like wildfire if people continue to use Taobao so much. I had to put my foot down some weeks ago when my wife wanted to order diapers online, to save 6 yuan a pack compared to our local babyshop. I'm all for using Taobao for foreign stuff hard to get around here or if the price is significantly lower, but finding, negotiating, ordering, giving sensitive information to tons of vendors AND sit around waiting for a week+ to save 10-15 yuan is insane.

Rural america is prime example of what happens when discounters open stores in there communities. I was raised in a small community but we were very proud of our 5 block mainstreet which was lined on both sides with retail store of all types. Then Walmarts moved into small cities, and Shopco, Pamida into towns to small for Walmart. I was home for reunion this summer and mainstreet is empty with most of the stores now empty and closed. When i was a kid on thursday evenings stores were open until 9PM the sidewalks were packed with people. It was a exciting place to be, now mainstreet is a ghost town and what stores are left are not open late anymore. Sadly from what i have seen my hometown is fairly typical of rural usa. Would hate to see same thing happen in china. It is so nice if you need or have a graving for something later in evening always a place open to purchase.

Amen to that!

Thanks all for your input. I should probably find a Yunnan wife to make things easier.