Now that your home comforts have run out and none of your friends are making trips home until Chinese New Year, what are you going to do about your unusual product requests? Turn to your screen and connect with companies that will ship what you want to wherever you are in the world.
Booko
utlet.com
Although Amazon.cn is emerging in the foreign literature market, books written in script other than hanzi can be hard to find, or might as well have been written on pages made of gold given the markup cost. Bookoutlet.com will satisfy any nostalgic parent or teacher wishing to rid the world of screen-reading, especially at the average price of just USD 2 to 5. 
Firebox.com
If you’re already thinking about all the holidays coming up in December with no idea what gifts to choose for all your friends and relatives, you need Firebox. This UK website has gathered the perfect ideas for presents, categorized them, and thus made the process of holiday shopping both extremely easy and fun. At Firebox, you’ll find things you never thought about before, but once you’ve seen them, you won’t be able to imagine life without them. How about a pooch selfie-toy, unicorn-tears-gin liqueur, or a tent that looks like an old van? Anyway, it’s something to check out when you’ve run out of gift ideas.
Britishshopabroad.com
Nutrition, healthy, yummy – if those are words you use to describe your perfect lunch, you might like British Shop Abroad. This is an option for those who doubt the quality of the products in Chinese supermarkets and can’t find proper spices or teas in April Gourmet. The British Shop Abroad website is user-friendly and has everything from pet food to infant milk. Exploring their website is like being in a big, supermarket back home. You can click along the foodie shelves, throw in everything you miss into your shopping cart, then ship it straight to your Beijing home. The pricelist for delivery is not shown on the website as they promise to calculate it individually after you put in the goods and delivery address.
Shoesofprey.com, Bigshoes.com
It is hard to find a perfect website for buying footwear for both men and women blessed with firm foundations. Ladies will enjoy exploring the opportunities of ShoesOfPrey.com, where you can design your own perfect pair. Choose a color, material, heel height, and design; then make it as big or small as you want. Moreover, they promise free shipping to Beijing post codes. As for men’s shoes, Bigshoes.com offers a great choice of brands and models up to size 21.
Kidsroom.de
Shopping for smaller ones, we often bump into the same dubious quality issues we all face in Beijing’s harsh reality. Kidsroom.de is a German company that has a bunch of good reviews from all over the world. On the website, you can order kid essentials: car seats, furniture, feeding tools, and toys. Representing well-known brands, kidsroom.com follows a strict customer-friendly policy with discounts, a trustful return window, and low delivery rates. You will like the free advice option: available in four languages, both by phone and online, the shopping consultants help us save time from reading numerous baby stroller reviews on forums. Customers can get a gift with the first order or after having overcome a certain sum. The delivery costs are calculated automatically as you fill in your basket.
Skinstore.com
Asian cosmetics are widely sold all over the world, gaining the reputation of trustworthy and natural, however world fame is still in the hands of Korean and Japanese cosmetic companies. Out of all the online cosmetics shops, we’ve chosen the US Skinstore.com as they mostly offer premium quality brands that are used by professional dermatologists, with a large selection of men and kids’ care products, which most online websites lack. The site also offers many discounts, free treats for some orders, and claims itself to be one of the first in the online market with an 18-year history.
Motherhood.com
There really is no reason expecting moms should suffer from the pains of China’s maternity fashion industry in addition to the pains of pregnancy. Even though H&M remains the staple, the pitiful selection can leave us craving more. On Motherhood.com, you can find everything an expecting momma might need. There are nice dresses, casual and evening clothes, swimwear, and even sweaters to chicly battle Beijing’s blitzkrieg winter cold. Once you finish shopping and click checkout, Motherhood Maternity will transfer you to International Checkout, where your purchase will be totaled up in a local currency. (In our case is renminbi)
Zavvi.com
The new analog of TaoBao and Amazon, Zavvi.com, is a must-know of this season. Zavvi can be called a geek competitor for other online retail monsters: here you can find movies, music, games (for PS4, Xbox, Wii U), collectible toys, comics, useful devices, and many youth clothing. Teenagers would be happy to get something from Zavvi as a birthday present.
Fullbeauty.com
People that have to buy plus-size clothes face many challenges everywhere as not all stores have necessary sizes, and if they do, they usually run out quickly. Plus, not all the garments look perfect on different body types. FullBeauty.com is one of the best-known online stores offering clothes for sizes 12 to 44. Scrolling through the numerous women’s and men’s clothing, shoes, and accessories, you can definitely find something you’d like. Just make sure to check the brands in advance, as not all are available for international shipping.
This article originally appeared on page 17 of the October 2016 Issue of beijingkids magazine. Click here for your free online copy. To find out how you can obtain a hard copy, contact distribution@truerun.com.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF MOTHERHOOD.COM, FULLBEAUTY.COM, AND BRITISHSHOPABROAD.COM
