Buying Chinese Books in Print

[duckprintspress]

I was wondering, where do y'all buy physical books in Chinese? My preferred source recently disappeared, and I'm hoping to find something more affordable than sources I've used before. I'm in the US, but I figure that as long as people say where they are when they answer, a post like this could make a decent resource for those of us interested in purchasing physical volumes in Chinese. We can use whichever parts are relevant to our own purchasing needs/desires?

Places I've used (in no particular order):

Heartbeat Anime: this was my preferred source, but they've disappeared. I noticed they were gone right after the US tariffs were announced, though I don't know if that's why. Link is to their defunct website.

Koon Books: has been solid and reliable for me, but shipping costs are extremely high.

Books TW: Taiwanese bookstore. Shipping is high, and I'm not always sure how to tell what's in traditional vs. what's in simplified (and I'm not ready to really tackling learning traditional yet, though I've been starting a little as I'm in a group where people use both).

Shandian GO: a Canada-based group order that I've used a lot, but they're more merchandise focused.

Taobao: not linking specific shops because I can't get it to work right on my computer without a VPN. Using Taobao from a US ISP has always been challenging and now it's even harder; when I've ordered from them, I had a friend in Beijing order the books and they were shipped to her, then I paid her back and she brought them to me next time she was in the US.

Kinokuniya: I've never ordered online from them; I shop at their physical store in New York City. Obviously they're Japanese-book focused, but they've been branching out; I was able to get the TGCF art book from them, and they carry the TGCF manhua in Chinese as well. I'm hoping they'll keep adding more. They have way more books in Chinese on their webpage than they do in store. Not sure how much is traditional vs. simplified; the text on their webpage is traditional

Eastern Book Store NYC: again, I've never used their website; I go to their physical store when I'm in New York City. They definitely have things in-store that aren't on their webpage (like, I just checked priest - their website has Zhenhun but not Youfei, which I've seen while there.)

Via Lactea: sort of cheating, in that this is a Canada-based publisher who print books in Chinese, so the only books they have are the ones they publish. I've also gotten everything they've published in English.

Amiami: I've not ordered books from them, but they do carry at least a few books in Chinese I think? I've used them for merch as well.

From all of the above, my orders have always gone well and I've received virtually everything I've bought, except for one instance where Customs impounded a shipment that included some ShandianGO stuff (they weren't the target of the impound but were packaged in the same bulk shipment). Places tend to package really well, and shipping costs tend to range from "high" to "ludicrous." I'm happy to say more about my own experiences if anyone would like more info about any of the above.

Where have you ordered from, and how have things gone?

Editing to add recommendations from the comments:
Funimecity - has books and manhua, mostly related to danmei and fandom.

Cjb Bookstore on Aliexpress - currently has no shop listings, possibly related to new US tariff possibilities.

Ningbo Yingtong on Aliexpress - mixed selection of Chinese books, and also has some danmei in English.

Superbuy - an intermediary for US buyers looking to shop Taobao and other Chinese retailers.

Spreenow - another Taobao intermediary.

Ueishang - Taiwanese publisher that one can purchase from direct.

Also, conversations reminded me of this Tumblr post by Shijiujun, which has a lot of resources and is how I first found Books TW. It has some other sources, too.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!

Comments

[aurumcalendula]

I've used Shandian Go, Funimecity, and Aliexpress (I suspect the first might be the best option going forward, considering the tariff situation). Funimecity has raised it's prices, but not as much as much as I was expecting. I've had decent experiences with all of them (although with Aliexpress, I think that comes down to the particular seller/bookstore).

[duckprintspress]

I've avoided Aliexpress because I can never tell what there is legit and what's off-market. If I'm spending the money, I want to be sure the author is getting royalties and whatnot, ya know? So if you know reliable sellers, I'd love that info!

I'll check out Funimecity!!!

[duckprintspress]

I just poked at Funimecity! Vol. 1 of I Want to Be a Big Baddie was $21 list plus $40 shipping on Koon; on Funimecity, it's $36 list, but only $12 shipping. So that's a marginal improvement, tho still more than I can currently afford, sigh. Still, it's def one for my mental list of places to check. There are things I'd be prepared to spend that much on, tho that specific vol isn't one of them. :D Thanks!!!

[aurumcalendula]

I've had luck with Cjb Bookstore (https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1102377288/) before, but I'm not sure if the website is glitching or if their store isn't available in the US anymore.

[duckprintspress]

Hmm yeah they don't seem to have any books or shop listings up at the moment? Their "product" section is empty. Still, it could come back...

[lessonsinescapology]

I'm not in the US and can't read Chinese but I've bought some Chinese editions from bookshops on Aliexpress or the local Kinokuniya bookshop.

[duckprintspress]

*thumbs up* Good to know! Yeah, having a local Kinokuniya really helps. The one I go to is about a 3 hr drive for me, but my mom is in NYC and I visit her a few times a year, and I can usually swing a visit when I do. I wish they had more Chinese books, but they've had more each time I've gone starting like 3 years ago (or, well, each time recently when I've actually checked for Chinese books; when I was more in Japanese fandoms I went all the time starting circa 1998). They also carry some Japanese editions of Chinese books, especially danmei.

Any recs for Aliexpress bookshops that you're sure are legit? My inability to tell which are selling the real deal is the only reason I haven't gone that route.

[lessonsinescapology]

This bookshop is one I buy from often on Ali: nbyinto Ningbo Yingtong Official.

Link: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1881561?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_home.pcShopHead_5961088.0

I bought Chinese danmei novels and manga. They were nice enough to preorder an artbook by a Chinese illustration artist for me even though they don't carry it. The books are all legit.

[duckprintspress]

ah, someone else recommended them too! They def sound like the way to go for Chinese books on Aliexpress. Thank you!!!

[lessonsinescapology]

You're most welcome!

[spookykingdomstarlight]

I've used superbuy to order books from taobao/t-mall shops, though my experiences were all pre-tariffs. Shipping and proxy fees were reasonable (roughly the cost of the books themselves when converted from RMB to USD), so maybe about $25ish total per book. Obviously, uh, things will have changed there probably. There was a bit of a learning curve with how to choose the correct shipping lines and the best packaging options, but I never had a problem once I figured that out. r/superbuy was helpful there and customer service was responsive.

I've also used aliexpress in the past, though I suppose I can't vet their reliability beyond I received the books and they were legit. The bookstore I've used on there is Ningbo Yingtong. Cursory search, according to the danmeinovels reddit (lol), it's legit. This is the link if you want to check it out: Ningbo Yingtong store.

[duckprintspress]

Ah, this is super helpful, thank you! Someone on Tumblr mentioned Superbuy to me too; I hadn't heard of it before but I'm definitely thinking that's the route I'm going to go.

re: Aliexpress, there are DEFINITELY legit places on there, I didn't mean to impugn them in any general sense, merely that I know there's also piracy places on there and because I didn't know which was which, I didn't want to take any chances. So getting recs for places that are definitely legit is also really helpful. Thank you!

[spookykingdomstarlight]

Superbuy is dangerous in how easy it makes accessing taobao stores, but probably the best out of a lot of cumbersome options if what you want isn't more easily available elsewhere, especially if you're patient and wait until you have several orders in warehouse to ship together.

As far as Aliexpress goes, I definitely understand! I've had a mixed bag experience on there (though have definitely gotten lucky on the book front since at first I also wasn't as aware and kinda just going based on vibes). I just wanted to make it clear that I don't have authoritative knowledge beyond a handful of anecdotal personal experiences that didn't raise red flags and a quick google to see if anyone knew more definitively if the place I used was legitimate so you didn't have to accept trust me as an answer. 😂

[duckprintspress]

Well I tried to make an account on Superbuy and they didn't send the confirmation e-mail so that's off to a great start lmao. And gosh do I know that, all book websites are dangerous. There are so many books I want, and I'm starting to regularly read books (or, well, manhua) in Chinese, which means I can theoretically justify the purchases... damn, why does money have to be a finite resource, huh????

[autumndaze]

Seconding Funime City but encouraging moving away from Koonbooks if possible. The latter is far, far too expensive, and tends to price 2-3+ times more than anywhere else https://funimecity.com/ I've never had an issue with Funime City shipments, and I've gotten two different series from them (Little Mushroom and See You My King) in Chinese.

[duckprintspress]

yeah re: Koonbooks, I was really unhappy with how expensive they are. I did an order from them ages ago when the prices were a little lower and when I didn't know tons better - that was one of my first orders of Chinese books. But whenever else I've considered ordering from them, I take one look at the prices and nope right out. I KNOW it doesn't have to cost that much, now.

Thanks for the second Funimecity rec!!! I'm def gonna keep them in mind, they've got a few things I'd like.

[autumndaze]

I was recommended Koonbooks ages ago by a fan for a Korean fandom, and at the time I thought they were (and maybe they were) the only place to get merch for that fandom. But thankfully more folks have been opening orders for things. The way their shipping prices - and base prices!!! - have skyrocketed in the last year or so is ridiculous. I've had no issues with them, otherwise, and gotten lots of things from them. I even have a coupon from them I can't use when something was discounted by the original seller because I'd have to basically spend more than anywhere else to buy anything to use that and it sucks :/

Funime City is widening their selection, too, which is nice. Their prices aren't always the best, but they definitely at least have options lol For a while the only alternative I was finding was like Facebook pages, so they're convenient on that front. Good luck!

[banjorabbit]

Crying this post arrived just as I needed it. Just placed an order on funimecity after trying to find somewhere to order some chn books and coming up with nothing. Very excited to (eventually lol) recieve my copies of guardian! (Also ended up pre-ordering the chn ver of omniscent reader's viewpoint because its orv and how could I resist haha). Really been a boost in my motivation for studying.

Thank you OP and everyone for the suggestions, not sure where I would be without this. Will definitely be looking into the other websites suggested <3

[duckprintspress]

YAAAAY I'm glad this was helpful for you!!! I've been ordering books in Chinese semi-regularly since like 2021 and I feel like I keep having to shift where I buy from to keep up with changing prices and stuff. Having the books really helps with my studying, like, I can really see what I'm working toward, and I can study using something I love.

[momijizukamori]

I use Spreenow with Tmall for books (and with Taobao for non-books) - their fees are a little higher than Superbuy but not unreasonable and they are less overwhelming with options (and ime a little better at communication). Friends with more experience buying books and shopping in general from mainland China sources have recommended going with Tmall sellers over Taobao for books - apparently the registration process for Tmall is stricter so you are much less likely to get bootlegs marked as genuine products.

I know for some of the smaller Taiwanese publishers, you can (and in some cases, have to) order directly from them - I bought the Taiwanese print of Sha Po Lang direct from Uei Shiang - while their website is entirely in Taiwanese, they will ship internationally. Some of the baihe publishers take preorders for stuff via their Facebook pages, apparently?

[duckprintspress]

ah, very interesting, thank you!! I think I'm gonna start with Superbuy just cause I already made an account, but I'm also not ordering anything immediately cause I don't have any money right now; I'll def experiment with both.

And that's good to know re: Taiwanese publishers. I know there was a post on Tumblr a while ago with a whole lot of places to buy from, especially Taiwanese ones. That's how I first found Books TW.