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http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a28/grapefruiit_/IMGP8270_zps5e2c0d08.jpg The Yiren 829 is yet another unbelievably affordable Chinese-made fountain pen that can be purchased on eBay. It set me back $7.20 AUD including postage! My first impressions of this pen? It’s well-built, aesthetically pleasing, a great everyday writing tool – if used mostly at home. The barrel and cap are made of a chromatic-finish charcoal grey metal, with an engraving of gold plum blossoms across the barrel. It’s smaller and more slender than I expected. It feels solid in the hand, yet not overwhelmingly heavy. In fact, it’s fairly light for a fountain pen, much lighter than some Parker ballpoints I own. Truth be told, I purchased this pen purely as a gamble, because I love plum blossoms. To the Chinese and Koreans, plum blossoms (KR: 매화, CH: 梅花) are a symbol of strength, endurance and beauty in the midst of hardship: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a28/grapefruiit_/03plum_BaoChun-red_2002_zps633e5cb8.jpg It comes with a very clean, minimalistic medium hooded nib, which I rather like. See below for a closer look - http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a28/grapefruiit_/IMGP8267_zpscc1db78f.jpg I think of it as an ‘everyday pen’ because together with the ink I used* to test it out, it is compatible with such a wide range of papers. It writes wonderfully on A4 cartridge paper without any feathering or bleeding onto the back of the page. I was pleasantly surprised, but dubious about how well it would perform on thinner paper. So I gave it a spin on a regular Spirax composition book. Though Spirax normally produces quality notebooks, this particular style – from its latest fashion stationery range – had very flimsy paper. Amazingly, while some faint traces were visible through the back of the page, the Yiren 829 performed very well on even this cheap-grade exercise-book style paper. (* from Hero, another Chinese brand – I don’t need expensive ink when I get through a stack of paper each day for my thesis!) http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a28/grapefruiit_/IMGP8278_zpsf1655464.jpg I would recommend this pen for students, or anyone else who wants an inexpensive writing tool of decent quality. It doesn't quite match the ease/comfort/smoothness of the Lamy Safari, but it's nice for those days when you want to treat yourself to a little luxury while writing.