I had to send a foreign bought MPB to the shop here, but it wasn't an official Apple store (even though the sign said it was) and they charged me for the repair.

If you go to one of the official Apple stores, then I think that they will respect the warranty.  Though, you may need to read your warranty.  Some warranties are void if you bring the product outside the home country.

Actually, Apple has the worst guarantee for its products.
I know it, because it's Apple store in Switzerland who told me this fact.
If you buy let's say your original Apple product (iPhone, iPad, etc) in the US, but during your travel or your staying in China, your product suddenly doesn't work, Apple China (real store) won't look at it or repair.
The same if you buy your Apple product in China, and you go for Business trip to US, Apple US won't repair it.
I have a original iPhone purchased in US and last year while in Switzerland for holidays, my iPhone couldn't start anymore. I brought to the local Apple store for reparation and their service center told me that Apple's policy is that they can't fix a product that was not locally purchased and I would need to go to the US to fix it.
I eventually ended up to make it fix here by a fake Apple store and everything was fine.