Store Addresses
I will add stores here as people mention them in the thread.
Tom Lee Music's Beijing Mega store
No. 57, Tiantanlu, Chongwen District
北京市崇文区天坛路57号
+86-010-6702 0099
(Recommended in thread. Beijing's biggest all-around music shop.)
China Yangzhou Longfeng Qinzheng Co Ltd
No. 91, Xinjiekou Nan Dajie, Xicheng District
北京市西城区新街口南大街91号
+86-800-8288 114
(Many brands, but but sellers aren't players. Be able to shop without direction. Bought mine here.)
Beijing Fuyue Hang Qin Hang
No. 96, Xinjiekou Nan Dajie, Xicheng District
北京市西城区新街口南大街96号
+86-010-6616 3316
(Deal in horns, but have not bought from them. Can't vouch for quality.)
Chinese horn makers
Here is some contact information for Chinese horn manufacturers. You can call them to ask where in Beijing you can buy their instruments if interested.
Tianjin Jinbao Musical Instruments Co Ltd
金宝乐器制造有限公司
+86-022-2926 7388
(Several alto models, only make one tenor and one soprano. Most known for their guitars.)
Jinyin Musical Instruments Co Ltd
河北金音乐器制造有限公司
+86-318-3727 387
(Many saxes, many models)
---
Hi all,
Just wanted to share my shopping experiences here in Beijing. I will try to avoid dropping any of the discussion bombs I've seen so far since I know some people go into seizures at the mention of horns sold or made in Asia.
Judging by Taobao, the local equivalent of eBay, it seems like Tianjin or Shanghai may be a better place to shop for instruments, since almost all the mouthpiece and horn sellers are there. In fact, I just bought my new soprano tote bag off a Shanghai seller. From what I've gathered through friends and my own experience, the two main places to buy music instruments in the city are Liulichang (near Hepingmen station) and Xinjiekou Nan Dajie (two blocks south of the Jishuitan station).
Based on my trips to Liulichang, I cannot recommend that area too much. While it is a well-known area for arts, and many people go there to buy fine art supplies, the area's music supplies are quite disappointing. That doesn't stop it from being the first name locals throw out for where to buy an instrument. The stores there were home to countless counterfeit goods. They had Les Paul tacked on random guitars with drips all through the finish and no other markings, their saxes were all quite shabby looking with every color of synthetic padding imaginable and tone holes which closed poorly, and the two shops there dealing in vintage instruments had horns that looked like they would make better lamps than for play use. If you want an old 30s to 50s sax that you will have to pour your heart into fixing up, it might be a good place to stop.
Xinjiekou is considerably less known, and is more known for its small clothing shops than a two-block stretch of nothing but music shops that has been dropped in the middle of it. While there are still a lot of shady goods there, you will find far more brand name stuff, and the finish and pricing really give me no reason to suspect they are fakes. There are around 5 stores on the street which deal in a respectable number of saxes -- as in the store has at least 20 horns on display with more in the back on request. Most all horns sold there are either intercepted US shipments or Japanese-made. Speak Chinese well, because no one there speaks English except for numbers.
The two notable Chinese brands are Jinbao and Jinyin. You will find neither of them here. Initially, I planned to buy a really cheap Jinbao since they are at least well-known in the Chinese music scene (but not for saxes). When I asked the shopkeepers why they didn't stock them, they said the instruments are terrible and they wouldn't want to deal with after-sales complains. The dominant labels were a few local ones I never heard of, and in order of price range, X-G, Heinrich and Yamaha. There were quite a few Yamaha to be found, though I never saw anything like a Yanagisawa or Selmer.
I had to ask for more information about all the horns. The Yamaha all seemed legit based on appearance, and they were priced comparably to what they would be in a US music shop. According to the seller, the Heinrich horns all come from Japan. They are made in Japan and sold in Japan, and don't appear for export. You can find info on them on Rakuten or some similar music vendor sites, but it seems to be a decent horn and it's the one I went with. The X-G horns are one of those weird deals where the parts are made overseas, then sent to China for assembly, then sent back overseas. I haven't been able to find anything about them online, but a few people I know who work in US stores tell me they've seen X-G.
The horns were quite interesting. They had this beautiful X-G made of solid copper with a black dye thrown into the metal that gave it all kinds of swirling patterns. It was very beautiful and had a deep, rich sound. My brother almost bought it when he came to visit me here in town, but was saving his money for a guitar purchase back home. I've also seen quite a few other odd metals with matte finishes to prevent corrosion but avoid that shiny appearance of lacquer. There seem to be a lot of experimental things to be had for a low price, but as always, it's buyer beware. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Chinese shopkeepers are shrewd, and they won't be selling something for any less than it should be.
Be prepared to haggle, as with everything in China. The posted price is never the real one, and I've seen firsthand a horn go from 6,800 yuan (US$900) down to 4,000 (US$525).
Also, just a side point, has anyone here tried Rillion reeds? They run about US$6 per box and I've found them to be excellent practice reeds. They seem like they rob and combine the dynamics of quite a few other brands, and generally, the price is right. I'm playing 2½s in both my saxes now.
Anyone else shopped for instruments here in Beijing? What have been your experiences. Post please
I will add stores here as people mention them in the thread.
Tom Lee Music's Beijing Mega store
No. 57, Tiantanlu, Chongwen District
北京市崇文区天坛路57号
+86-010-6702 0099
(Recommended in thread. Beijing's biggest all-around music shop.)
China Yangzhou Longfeng Qinzheng Co Ltd
No. 91, Xinjiekou Nan Dajie, Xicheng District
北京市西城区新街口南大街91号
+86-800-8288 114
(Many brands, but but sellers aren't players. Be able to shop without direction. Bought mine here.)
Beijing Fuyue Hang Qin Hang
No. 96, Xinjiekou Nan Dajie, Xicheng District
北京市西城区新街口南大街96号
+86-010-6616 3316
(Deal in horns, but have not bought from them. Can't vouch for quality.)
Chinese horn makers
Here is some contact information for Chinese horn manufacturers. You can call them to ask where in Beijing you can buy their instruments if interested.
Tianjin Jinbao Musical Instruments Co Ltd
金宝乐器制造有限公司
+86-022-2926 7388
(Several alto models, only make one tenor and one soprano. Most known for their guitars.)
Jinyin Musical Instruments Co Ltd
河北金音乐器制造有限公司
+86-318-3727 387
(Many saxes, many models)
---
Hi all,
Just wanted to share my shopping experiences here in Beijing. I will try to avoid dropping any of the discussion bombs I've seen so far since I know some people go into seizures at the mention of horns sold or made in Asia.
Judging by Taobao, the local equivalent of eBay, it seems like Tianjin or Shanghai may be a better place to shop for instruments, since almost all the mouthpiece and horn sellers are there. In fact, I just bought my new soprano tote bag off a Shanghai seller. From what I've gathered through friends and my own experience, the two main places to buy music instruments in the city are Liulichang (near Hepingmen station) and Xinjiekou Nan Dajie (two blocks south of the Jishuitan station).
Based on my trips to Liulichang, I cannot recommend that area too much. While it is a well-known area for arts, and many people go there to buy fine art supplies, the area's music supplies are quite disappointing. That doesn't stop it from being the first name locals throw out for where to buy an instrument. The stores there were home to countless counterfeit goods. They had Les Paul tacked on random guitars with drips all through the finish and no other markings, their saxes were all quite shabby looking with every color of synthetic padding imaginable and tone holes which closed poorly, and the two shops there dealing in vintage instruments had horns that looked like they would make better lamps than for play use. If you want an old 30s to 50s sax that you will have to pour your heart into fixing up, it might be a good place to stop.
Xinjiekou is considerably less known, and is more known for its small clothing shops than a two-block stretch of nothing but music shops that has been dropped in the middle of it. While there are still a lot of shady goods there, you will find far more brand name stuff, and the finish and pricing really give me no reason to suspect they are fakes. There are around 5 stores on the street which deal in a respectable number of saxes -- as in the store has at least 20 horns on display with more in the back on request. Most all horns sold there are either intercepted US shipments or Japanese-made. Speak Chinese well, because no one there speaks English except for numbers.
The two notable Chinese brands are Jinbao and Jinyin. You will find neither of them here. Initially, I planned to buy a really cheap Jinbao since they are at least well-known in the Chinese music scene (but not for saxes). When I asked the shopkeepers why they didn't stock them, they said the instruments are terrible and they wouldn't want to deal with after-sales complains. The dominant labels were a few local ones I never heard of, and in order of price range, X-G, Heinrich and Yamaha. There were quite a few Yamaha to be found, though I never saw anything like a Yanagisawa or Selmer.
I had to ask for more information about all the horns. The Yamaha all seemed legit based on appearance, and they were priced comparably to what they would be in a US music shop. According to the seller, the Heinrich horns all come from Japan. They are made in Japan and sold in Japan, and don't appear for export. You can find info on them on Rakuten or some similar music vendor sites, but it seems to be a decent horn and it's the one I went with. The X-G horns are one of those weird deals where the parts are made overseas, then sent to China for assembly, then sent back overseas. I haven't been able to find anything about them online, but a few people I know who work in US stores tell me they've seen X-G.
The horns were quite interesting. They had this beautiful X-G made of solid copper with a black dye thrown into the metal that gave it all kinds of swirling patterns. It was very beautiful and had a deep, rich sound. My brother almost bought it when he came to visit me here in town, but was saving his money for a guitar purchase back home. I've also seen quite a few other odd metals with matte finishes to prevent corrosion but avoid that shiny appearance of lacquer. There seem to be a lot of experimental things to be had for a low price, but as always, it's buyer beware. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Chinese shopkeepers are shrewd, and they won't be selling something for any less than it should be.
Be prepared to haggle, as with everything in China. The posted price is never the real one, and I've seen firsthand a horn go from 6,800 yuan (US$900) down to 4,000 (US$525).
Also, just a side point, has anyone here tried Rillion reeds? They run about US$6 per box and I've found them to be excellent practice reeds. They seem like they rob and combine the dynamics of quite a few other brands, and generally, the price is right. I'm playing 2½s in both my saxes now.
Anyone else shopped for instruments here in Beijing? What have been your experiences. Post please
