Hello from China

[ZSQ]

If I wanted to fly out to China and play there for a month, how much would food and housing cost, provided I would cook for myself?

I saw a lot of these China TT camps. I want to understand how much of a premium are they charging.

It depends on which province and city you want to go to. After all, China has 34 provincial-level regions, 333 cities, and more than 2,800 counties. Different provinces have different geography, climate, and dietary habits, which also makes ingredient prices different.
In coastal cities such as Hangzhou in Zhejiang, Guangzhou in Guangdong, and Qingdao in Shandong, seafood is much cheaper. In inland cities such as Urumqi in Xinjiang and Xi’an in Shaanxi, beef and lamb are cheaper.
Roughly speaking, the ingredients for one person to cook a meal at home cost around 15 RMB. Fresh vegetables are about 2 RMB per 250g, and fresh meat is about 10 RMB per 250g.
As for housing, I only know hotel prices, which are roughly 200 to 500 RMB per day. If you look for homestays on Airbnb or other sites, it might be more convenient for you to cook for yourself. It’s actually about the same price as hotels. Of course, in cities like Shanghai, everything is more expensive, whether it’s food or housing, hhh.

If you mean training classes run by retired national team players for adult amateur enthusiasts. The price is roughly 3,500 to 7,000 RMB, for 4 hours a day, 5 days total of classes + training.
At ordinary clubs, a retired provincial-level professional team player as a coach costs about 200 to 300 RMB per hour. A retired city-level professional team player as a coach costs about 150 to 200 RMB per hour.
Coaches who know English are hard to find, and I’ve never seen a club with professional translators. Maybe Beijing and Shanghai have them, but I haven’t seen any.

 

[Haito]

It depends on which province and city you want to go to. After all, China has 34 provincial-level regions, 333 cities, and more than 2,800 counties. Different provinces have different geography, climate, and dietary habits, which also makes ingredient prices different.
In coastal cities such as Hangzhou in Zhejiang, Guangzhou in Guangdong, and Qingdao in Shandong, seafood is much cheaper. In inland cities such as Urumqi in Xinjiang and Xi’an in Shaanxi, beef and lamb are cheaper.
Roughly speaking, the ingredients for one person to cook a meal at home cost around 15 RMB. Fresh vegetables are about 2 RMB per 250g, and fresh meat is about 10 RMB per 250g.
As for housing, I only know hotel prices, which are roughly 200 to 500 RMB per day. If you look for homestays on Airbnb or other sites, it might be more convenient for you to cook for yourself. It’s actually about the same price as hotels. Of course, in cities like Shanghai, everything is more expensive, whether it’s food or housing, hhh.

If you mean training classes run by retired national team players for adult amateur enthusiasts. The price is roughly 3,500 to 7,000 RMB, for 4 hours a day, 5 days total of classes + training.
At ordinary clubs, a retired provincial-level professional team player as a coach costs about 200 to 300 RMB per hour. A retired city-level professional team player as a coach costs about 150 to 200 RMB per hour.
Coaches who know English are hard to find, and I’ve never seen a club with professional translators. Maybe Beijing and Shanghai have them, but I haven’t seen any.

I got quoted roughly 2500€ per month including flight. Soo.. Its really interesting that the organized thing with all the food and hotel space is almost as cheap as DIY. I need to loose the last 25kgs of weight and get some money, and I think I am gonna do this then. (right now the Dusseldorf trip killed my legs, I do not want to do the Great China experience, before I can play and walk the same day 🤣 )

 

[Haito]

If one wanted to buy a genuine W968, is it cheaper to do it so in China itself?

 

[barusu]

Everything is cheaper in China. Even esn and (majority of?) japanese rubbers 😭

 

[Haito]

Everything is cheaper in China. Even esn and (majority of?) japanese rubbers 😭

Yeah, due to VAT. There must be at least 20-25% difference due to how taxes work. Rubbers are cheap to ship in large quantities.

 

[Amaken23]

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and good night to everyone,
I’m a table tennis enthusiast from Beijing, China.
I played table tennis from age 10 to 15. Now I'm 30 and I've gotten back into it — I'm really passionate about it now.
I’m just an amateur player. My BH skill is better than my FH.
My favorite table tennis player is Zhang Jike. Now I’ve chosen the Viscaria as my one and only blade, and I don’t plan to change it in the future.
I really like TTD. Here, real players talk about equipment and technique, and it’s refreshingly pure.
Hope to discuss and learn table tennis knowledge with fellow enthusiasts from around the world.
Best regards
Z. S.

Hello
Greetings from Poland, then. I hope to one day travel to China and Japan and play with some locals there. I ALSO have my BH better than FH, so...hey . Hope you enjoy your time here and have great chats with everyone.

 

[ZSQ]

If one wanted to buy a genuine W968, is it cheaper to do it so in China itself?

Of course, I think anything is cheapest in its place of origin . As long as it’s for your own personal use, there shouldn’t be any problem bringing it through customs.

 

[Haito]

Of course, I think anything is cheapest in its place of origin . As long as it’s for your own personal use, there shouldn’t be any problem bringing it through customs.

I wonder if customs will complain that I am bringing a stack of rubbers..

Are people locally using the rubbers we are discussing here? Like is Battle 2 / Loki products / Sanwei actually used in China, or do people domesticly stick with Hurricane / import rubbers?

 

[ZSQ]

I got quoted roughly 2500€ per month including flight. Soo.. Its really interesting that the organized thing with all the food and hotel space is almost as cheap as DIY. I need to loose the last 25kgs of weight and get some money, and I think I am gonna do this then. (right now the Dusseldorf trip killed my legs, I do not want to do the Great China experience, before I can play and walk the same day 🤣 )

Before you come, I’d suggest watching videos of other people traveling here. I’m sure there are plenty of such videos on YouTube. Look at their tips and impressions, and pick one or a few cities you want to visit. But I wouldn’t recommend choosing several cities that are too far apart, because you’ll end up wasting too much time on the road.

 

[Haito]

Before you come, I’d suggest watching videos of other people traveling here. I’m sure there are plenty of such videos on YouTube. Look at their tips and impressions, and pick one or a few cities you want to visit. But I wouldn’t recommend choosing several cities that are too far apart, because you’ll end up wasting too much time on the road.

For certain reasons I would prefer not to talk about this, I am not the one who will be choosing the city I did already watched a couple of those. It will take me at least a year to get physically fit enough to survive this. So... Plenty of time.

 

[barusu]

Hi @ZSQ, I've sent you a private message. I'm hoping we can meet in person

 

[ZSQ]

Hello
Greetings from Poland, then. I hope to one day travel to China and Japan and play with some locals there. I ALSO have my BH better than FH, so...hey . Hope you enjoy your time here and have great chats with everyone.

Thanks for your greetings. 😁 You’re also welcome to visit China.
This forum is great, and I’ve really enjoyed chatting with everyone.

 

[ZSQ]

I wonder if customs will complain that I am bringing a stack of rubbers..

Are people locally using the rubbers we are discussing here? Like is Battle 2 / Loki products / Sanwei actually used in China, or do people domesticly stick with Hurricane / import rubbers?

I think they will if you bring back too many rubbers. Even if they make it through customs on our side, there’s a chance they’ll get stopped by customs on your side.

And yes. Most of the rubbers discussed here are also commonly used by locals—for example, the 729 Battle 2 / Loki products / Sanwei you mentioned. On the FH, they and other imported rubbers are mostly seen as alternatives to Hurricane 3. After all, there really are people—like me—who aren’t used to H3; it relies too heavily on booster and is a hassle to use.
On the BH, more people go for imported rubbers, such as Tenergy, Dignics, Donic BlueGrip, and Stiga DNA. After all, not everyone can use H3 well on the BH.

 

[ZSQ]

For certain reasons I would prefer not to talk about this, I am not the one who will be choosing the city I did already watched a couple of those. It will take me at least a year to get physically fit enough to survive this. So... Plenty of time.

Totally understand. And yeah, a year is plenty of time. Better to get fit and be ready than to rush.

Looking forward to hearing about your progress when the time comes!

 

[ZSQ]

Hi @ZSQ, I've sent you a private message. I'm hoping we can meet in person

Yes, I saw your message and replied to it late yesterday. Sorry it took me a while—I was putting my child to bed.
As I mentioned in my reply, if the day you arrive happens to be one of my days off, I’d be happy to meet up with you. And I’ll try my best to take you to a table tennis store or club to play for a bit.

 

[Archosaurus]

And yes. Most of the rubbers discussed here are also commonly used by locals—for example, the 729 Battle 2 / Loki products / Sanwei you mentioned. On the FH, they and other imported rubbers are mostly seen as alternatives to Hurricane 3. After all, there really are people—like me—who aren’t used to H3; it relies too heavily on booster and is a hassle to use.
On the BH, more people go for imported rubbers, such as Tenergy, Dignics, Donic BlueGrip, and Stiga DNA. After all, not everyone can use H3 well on the BH.

I haven't been to China personally, but from what I can tell, there are a lot more similarities than differences between hobbyist players compared to other countries.

A long time ago people acted like the Chinese are aliens, and all of the hobby players play like pros, and the only rubbers they use are Hurricane 3 and Tenergy 05, but of course in reality people play pretty normally for their experience level and just use whatever they like and can afford.

Of course there's cultural things (Most people here use Tenergy, Dignics, Rasanter, NUZN etc and only the asians and myself use Hurricane ) but in general budget players especially are almost the same anywhere.

 

[ZSQ]

I haven't been to China personally, but from what I can tell, there are a lot more similarities than differences between hobbyist players compared to other countries.

A long time ago people acted like the Chinese are aliens, and all of the hobby players play like pros, and the only rubbers they use are Hurricane 3 and Tenergy 05, but of course in reality people play pretty normally for their experience level and just use whatever they like and can afford.

Of course there's cultural things (Most people here use Tenergy, Dignics, Rasanter, NUZN etc and only the asians and myself use Hurricane ) but in general budget players especially are almost the same anywhere.

Yes. Perhaps there are more children in China who start professional table tennis training at a very young age—maybe at 10, maybe at 6, or even at 4. The best few dozen of them might make it onto city- or provincial-level professional teams. But the remaining tens of thousands of players who don’t make it onto professional teams are still vastly different from hobbyist players.
However, when it comes to real hobbyist players from different countries, the similarities really do outweigh the differences.

 

[Milton Table Tennis Club]

I’m not an equipment expert, but I’m willing to help you search other Chinese sites/forums I use for players who have actually used the 301H, their rubber setups, and their subjective impressions, so that you can make the judgment that suits you best:

• The 301H is simply a god-tier blade. Aside from the backhand not being great at borrowing force, having a certain power threshold, and needing high-support rubbers, it’s pretty much perfect. Its forgiveness is scary high. After stepping back from the table, no matter how low the ball is, you can still loop it with an explosive power loop, and the more you put into it, the stronger it gets. The fiber engagement doesn’t feel abrupt, and I can fully enjoy the inner blade’s surging power.
• In the 301 series, the penhold version is typically stronger than the shakehand version.
• There isn’t much difference between the 301T and 301H, but the 301T feels more like an outer-carbon blade.
• You can use high-quality FH rubbers like H3, Tibhar Hybrid K2 Pro(Purple sponge) , and Donic BlueGrip C1(Selected) to further enhance FH power.

Battle II and Battle II Gold are both pretty good, so you can see which one suits you better.

Xiexie, thanks for sharing that, interesting someone said the h & t are similar. My friend Dennis has the 301T but doesn't use Chinese rubbers so wasn't the best test but felt great on backhand with same rubber. I ordered the 301h from prottvip a couple of days ago and looking forward to the change.
I also put h3 blue back on and played 3.5 hrs yesterday. It's such a great rubber and a lot of fun to play. The down side is I'm at 57g with 3 applications of falco tempo long, 3g,3g and 1g at the 8 month mark.
Next time, I'll reduce to 2 layers to start and then a last application of 2g after 3 months, approx 54g max.