"Knock Knock ... Kuaidi!": The Characters You Need to Shop on Taobao

As part of the Beijinger’s Mandarin Month series that runs daily ahead of our June 25 Mandarin Mixer, we present some useful characters and phrases that make living as a laowai in Beijing all the more enjoyable. Today's post focuses on useful characters for all you fiendish online shoppers.

Oh, the joy of Taobao! That magical, digital playground where a mouse-click makes your wildest material dreams a reality. Of course, knowing at least a few Mandarin characters is crucial to maximizing your Chinese e-commerce experience. Below, a host of local Taobao addicts share advice about the characters that have helped them navigate Taobao successfully, before boasting about their zany shopping conquests.

Wilson Hailey, Founder and Baker at Rager Pie
Zaniest item purchased: Dinosaur necklaces.
Proof of Taobao's power: Taobao has sections that learn what you like, and then suggest other items. My most recent purchase was a dinosaur necklace that was suggested, presumably because I bought a bag of plastic toy dinosaurs. It may be my most prized possession now, but I'm confident Taobao will continue to learn my consumer habits and offer something even better soon!



Favorite characters for Taobao usage: 商用/印定做 (shāngyòng/yìn dìngzuò, commercial/custom printed)
Why it's useful: Industrial or commercial versions of appliances are less likely to be branded, and more likely to be sold by factories directly. That means savings, without losing out on quality. Same thing with stores that allow for printing or customization. They are more likely to be producing the items themselves, and you can get whatever you want printed on them!

Stu Wiggin, viral video star
Zaniest items purchased: Wrestling tees.
Proof of Taobao's power: I make a weekly show for Wrestlezone, America's biggest pro wrestling website. So I wear a different pro wrestling T-shirt for every show. Basically, I'm buying a new one every week.

Favorite characters for Taobao usage: 退款 (tuì kuǎn, return money), 退货 (tuì huò, return goods) and 亲 (qīn, dear)
Why they're useful: 退款 and 退货 are perfect for when you're dissatisfied and want to return money or goods. 亲 is vital when it comes to communicating with sellers. Everyone calls everyone else 亲.

Anna Rudashko, Russian expat who has lived in China for 11 years
Favorite item purchased: Venus razor blade refills.
Proof of Taobao's power: It is mind blowing how hard it is to find the most simple female Venus razor blade refills in Watson’s or its counterparts. After more than three visits to different stores in Sanlitun, Dongzhimen and U-town, everything I could find was either men’s razor blades or various female depilatory creams, which are a big no no with someone who has sensitive skin. So I went on Taoabo and found real Venus refillable razor blades on TMall. I got two packs for RMB 57, with discount, and got an additional two refills for free.

Favorite characters for Taobao usage: 天猫 (tiān māo, TMall), 我的订单 (wǒ de dìngdān, my orders)
Why they're useful: 天猫 is important to know if you want to buy real items and not their fake equivalents. And 我的订单 is useful because it's a history of all your purchases. So when your friends ask you where you got this or that, you don’t have to search for the items all over again, as you can go through all your previous orders. 

Tara Gillan, British expat who has lived in China for 10 years
Favorite item purchased: Ice pop maker.
Proof of Taobao's power: This item is great for making treats for the kids. And it's BPA free too! 

Favorite characters for Taobao usage: 正品 (zhèngpǐn, authentic)
Why it's useful: People are most afraid of fake stuff in taobao, so using this character helps you search for genuine items.

Elvis Anber, Canadian expat who has lived in China for four years
Favorite items purchased: I buy nearly everything online, from coffee filters to sofa cushions. 
Proof of Taobao's (and JD's) power: If you're not shopping online here in China, you're missing out! It really is one of the joys of living in Beijing. I was never much of a shopper before I moved to China; now I'm shamelessly addicted. I barely hit the shops anymore. My favorite online shopping platform is JD.com (京东). I think I've reached some kind of elite status with them because I shop on there so much. They have the fastest delivery time. Sometimes if you place an order before nine in the morning, it could arrive by 3pm. I try to avoid Taobao (淘宝) if I can, because of its high number of fake and low quality goods, although the company is working hard to fix this. That being said, I do like Taobao's Tmall (天猫), which has fewer adulterated goods and more brands.
Favorite characters: I know a few useful phrases to use when the kuadi delivery men call to drop off your package either at your home or office ...

• 师傅你好，我现在不在家。请把包裹放在我家门口地上。(Shīfù nǐ hǎo, wǒ xiànzài bù zàijiā. Qǐng bǎ bāoguǒ fàng zài wǒjiā ménkǒu dìshàng, Hi! Right now I'm not at home. Please leave the package on the floor outside my door.)  
• 你好， 请把包裹给前台。(Nǐ hǎo, qǐng bǎ bāoguǒ gěi qiántái, Please leave the package at the front desk)
• 师傅你好，稍等一下， 我现在就过去。 (Shīfù nǐ hǎo, shāo děng yīxià, wǒ xiànzài jiù guòqù, Hi! Hang on a minute, I'm coming out now.) 
• 不好意思， 现在不方便取包裹。 你可以晚点再过来吗？ (Bù hǎoyìsi, xiànzài bù fāngbiàn qǔ bāoguǒ. Nǐ kěyǐ wǎndiǎn zài guòlái ma?, I'm sorry! Now's not a good time to grab my package. Could you come back a bit later?)

Aidan Teare, British expat living in China for four years 
Favorite items purchased: I recently helped my friend buy a cage for her rabbit! There were an unexpectedly huge range of options, and it arrived very quickly and has been very useful.

I've also come across loads of other random things on Taobao! Such as:

Your very own jianbing machine!

Your own tiki mugs!

Weird wall things!

A breakfast muffin making machine!

Proof of Taobao's Power: There's so much on Taobao, you can lose hours shopping around. China makes everything, and with a bit of time you can find anything on Taobao.
Favorite characters for Taobao usage: 外贸原单 (wàimào yuándān, factory versions of major brands [rough translation])
Why it's useful: It leads to brands that are more recognisable. And the quality tends to be better, or at least more reliable, than a lot of Taobao items. Pair 外贸原单 with names like H&M or Zara, and it's usually good quality stuff.

Let's say you're after a pair of Sperrys:

Type in that brand in English, with 外贸原单 next to it, and you get some pretty good options.

And there you have it! Pre-register for our free June 25 Mandarin Month mixer by clicking here.

And keep checking our Mandarin Month page for new articles about the wonderful world of Chinese language learning.

This post is brought to you by  Pleco, Project Pengyou, Ninchanese, BenCham, BritCham, and MexCham

Photos: imgur.com, Taobao, courtesy of the interviewees