Pen Shops In China?

[white_lotus]

Hi,

 

I have a friend going to China in a month. She'll be there for about a month I think. Mostly in Yunnan I think. Pretty sure she'll be visiting Shanghai as well, perhaps as a base for exploring the countryside.

 

I'm wondering if there are pen shops in Shanghai that I could recommend for her to visit and pick up a Chinese pen for me. I know I can get some of them here, as well as just order online, but I think it would be neat if I had one that was bought in China. Maybe they'll have a special one with a Red Star on it, commemorating some great event in the history of the Party. Well if I was a Chinese pen maker, you know I'd play to that market

 

Any suggestions welcome. Thanks!

 

[Seele]

It's probably worth a trip to the Hero HQ and visit the factory shop.

[da vinci]

It's probably worth a trip to the Hero HQ and visit the factory shop.

That sounds interesting. I am off to China myself later this year so am interested in the answers to the OP's question.

 

Would you be likely to find items in the factory shop which are not for sale elsewhere?

[Seele]

That sounds interesting. I am off to China myself later this year so am interested in the answers to the OP's question.

 

Would you be likely to find items in the factory shop which are not for sale elsewhere?

 

I have no idea, the point is that you can give the pens a try before purchase, to eliminate disappointment down the line.

 

The Guanleming (AKA William K. Rockman) office is on the same road too, I understand, probably worth checking them out as well.

[da vinci]

I have no idea, the point is that you can give the pens a try before purchase, to eliminate disappointment down the line.

 

The Guanleming (AKA William K. Rockman) office is on the same road too, I understand, probably worth checking them out as well.

Ok. Do you happen to know if Duke have a factory shop in Beijing or Shanghai also?

 

Would you recommend any other stores?

 

Thanks for your help.

[Seele]

Ok. Do you happen to know if Duke have a factory shop in Beijing or Shanghai also?

 

Would you recommend any other stores?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

I do not know of any personally, it's just that in addition to others' forthcoming suggestions I thought a visit to the factory shop might be a good idea.

[da vinci]

I do not know of any personally, it's just that in addition to others' forthcoming suggestions I thought a visit to the factory shop might be a good idea.

Thanks Seele, appreciate you taking the time to reply

[white_lotus]

My friend had sent me a link to a local shops' website, which while in Chinese, had the names+models of pens in English and prices in yuan. Compared with the US sites that carry Chinese brand pens (at least the ones I checked such as Amazon, Goulet, isellpens), this shop in China was more expensive. For a Hero 616 is was 69 yuan, which was about $11. Prices here (on sale) were $7 and as low as $3!

 

So I gave her a list of the "good" Chinese pens per FPN, and the range of prices that I was seeing online here. And warned her about fake Hero pens.

 

She said the kinds of places she was fining via searching the Chinese internet were typically what we would call stationary stores, which sell paper, pens, etc. Don't know if there are specialty pen shops in the major cities perhaps selling Chinese as well as foreign brands.

[Seele]

white_lotus,

 

Perhaps the locals have inside knowledge for getting pens at sensible prices...

 

In the meantime, Taobao is something worth investigating. I have made a couple of purchases through a Taobao purchasing agent, and each one had more than a score of pens, with one or two exceptions, old stock examples of pens by now-defunct makers which I find particularly appealing, the least expensive ones were ¥2, on average ¥4-5 each. Of course the most time-consuming part is the hunt on Taobao but some would say it's the most enjoyable part.

 

By the way you said something about commemorative pens: the Chinese make quite a lot of other commemorative products, few - if any - officially endorsed, but very few pen makers are into it. During the 2003 resurgence of Golden Star they did make some commemorative issues in very limited numbers but they are not really affordable. The Navy Commemorative, however, is plentiful on eBay and well priced too.

[Woodnut]

Hi,

 

I have a friend going to China in a month. She'll be there for about a month I think. Mostly in Yunnan I think. Pretty sure she'll be visiting Shanghai as well, perhaps as a base for exploring the countryside.

 

I'm wondering if there are pen shops in Shanghai that I could recommend for her to visit and pick up a Chinese pen for me. I know I can get some of them here, as well as just order online, but I think it would be neat if I had one that was bought in China. Maybe they'll have a special one with a Red Star on it, commemorating some great event in the history of the Party. Well if I was a Chinese pen maker, you know I'd play to that market

 

Any suggestions welcome. Thanks!

 

 

You might ask her to seek out Shanghai Qiangu Stationery Co., LTD.

 

I don't have their address, but my brother visited there this autumn during his annual trip to Shanghai and picked up a handful of Jinhaos for me.

 

A bonus was that he was able to bring them back in their original, rather large and well-constructed boxes -- something one rarely receives when purchasing over the Internet.

 

Good luck!

[white_lotus]

Thanks for the info. I'll pass it along to my friend. We'll see what she can find...

[white_lotus]

Got notice from my friend today that she was able to go to the pen factory. She got me two 616's with iridium tipped nibs. They only had the 100 with a 14K nib, so wasn't able to get that one. Woo-hoo!

 

Edited April 4, 2014 by white_lotus

[Seele]

These are the most popular 616 models with gold-coloured caps, which are considered to be superior to the steel-capped ones; purchasing from the factory shop means no chance of getting counterfeits too; I wonder if your friends took pictures at the factory shop and perhaps its front entrance, it would be great for us to see.

 

The 100 is indeed built with 14K gold nibs only, and it's extensively faked; a lot of buyers in China are having problems getting genuine ones, so it would be a good idea to get at least one: shooting from the hip now, a plastics-barrel 100 should probably be a fair bit less than US$20 retail, and likely to be less from the factory shop; the all-steel Flighter version ought to be a little bit costlier. If I were there I'd buy up big.

 

Other Hero pens with gold nibs include 1000, 110, 160, 170, 200A, 300, 715, 719... and plenty more. While I do not think it is inherently better than steel, it's nice to get gold after all, especially when you consider the prices of equivalent pens with similar gold nibs. Just a thought.