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[hermes]

See upcoming posts about visiting one doll manufacturer, also additional product-specific reviews.

Straight off, I definitely do *not recommend* China to the non-Chinese speaker. I do not and frankly I find China to be a major pain in the neck. There are just too many difficulties, delays and frustrations trying to be a leisure visitor let alone trying do business there. Outside of major tourist destinations (and even there, aside from domestic tourists the vast majority of foreign tourists are overseas Chinese) nothing is convenient or comfortable. Not only that, China is not particularly welcoming to westerners at the best of times. You have been warned by this experienced world traveller. Stick to Bangkok, Manila, Singapore etc. I am tempted to never go again except with someone who speaks Mandarin and the local dialect. And China is nothing like ithe exotic place it was when I visited 20 years ago. And it can be expensive.

But, I like a challenge. And I foolishly persist in trying to 'get a deal', that after airfares, accommodation, trains, buses, etc ends up costing three times more than just buying from Toy Demon. Going to the source is an indulgence at best and clinical insanity at worst. If you have totally unrealstic fantasies of improving sex toy designs, seeing what is being produced in China and have an adventure of hourly challenges in communications and dealing with the bureaucracies of China Post, Bank of China and China Rail, go ahead. I however found it exhausting. Just navigating without google maps (banned) and trying to fulfill my restricted diet consumed my days.

In a commercial metropolis, after three visits to a mall over two China visits, at that clearly abandoned building that was touted in magazine articles as being the sex toy mecca of the region, I was finally given the correct new location. Staff kindly wrote the address in Chinese characters for me. Essential!

It was worth the walk around the corner. I went on a shopping spree. No, I am not going to tell you the location or name of the wholesale center of dolls, dildos and devices.

What struck me the most was that the selection of product brands is not extensive and typically is not boxed and branded. With few exceptions (e.g. fetish gear) many merchants sell the same products as their neighbours' products. Instead of successfully copying high end Japanese and Korean products they appear to be creating or copying low middle. I asked one torso and doll vendor if he had something more expensive. He replied, "Chinese want cheap, not good." I find this hard to believe as China is home to the largest number of billionaires, collecting rare wines and teas. Clearly they order Real Doll etc direct from the manufacturer. Perhaps being alpha males they get real women even in the female shortage of China.

I purchased nine products, spending RMB1000 (USD154)

I collected business cards (all important information in Chinese - get used to it) from five of the more professional sellers. Unlike in USA, not one vendor refused my retail purchase. The two other obvious foreigners (an Indian and Russian) did not look like they were ordering crateloads of vibrators, wankers and tawdry lingerie.

I was on the lookout for several Toy Demon products...

1. SPDX (sprouting tits and firmness of a skeleton) - Fail
2. Meiki Extreme Pleasure Hip - I saw something similar for RMB350

What I found was a junior version of TD's Amanda Hip, a toal fraud of Fleshligt's 'Sex in a Can' and a full line of A-One-Tokyo products. That's it. Curiously, nobody was selling China's answer to Fleshlight: Spider.

To be continued...

[zamentor]

Thanks for the blog. Really interesting experience, particularly the vendor comment about customers preferring low price over quality. I look forward to Chapter 2. I speak from hearsay and from what I read in the blogosphere, but I believe the Japanese are leading innovators of premium sex toys and sex robots with Artificial Intelligence. I can see the future from my desk right here!