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Q: Textbooks in china
Hey everybody, i'm working on getting my MBA...while still working full time. Gonna be a fun two years!
But anyway, this is expensive enough as it is and I don't relish the thought of paying US prices for books and having them shipped in.
I've seen some on taobao, but not all. Is anybody aware of a site where you can order a wide range of international textbooks. Any ideas?
Thanks everybody
Which books specifically are you looking for? Torrent sites have tons of e-textbooks available.
expatlife26:
I haven't gotten the syllabi yet. The first quarter is going to be on subjects like...business law, corporate finance or something similar if I can't register for those specific classes.
Torrents are a good thought actually. I could always just bring a torrented PDF to a print shop and have it printed out!
That's probably what i'll end up doing, thanks for your help.
Might shoot you a PM in a couple weeks if I need help getting torrents to work here (never succeeded in using them before)
Amazon + Kindle ?
expatlife26:
I thought of that as well, but that's still going to be $100-150+ per book because for some reason americans are expected to pay 2-3X as much as everyone else for textbooks.
Plus hardcopies would be better to work with.
laowaigentleman:
@scand, where can I buy a kindle in Beijing? I meant to get one when I was in Hong Kong last time. Also, what's the deal with censorship of ebooks?
Is amazon the best online bookstore?
Scandinavian:
I have no clue where to buy a Kindle, but maybe from Amazon
As to the prices at Amazon, one can VPN to a country with best prices.
royceH:
I buy books from thebookdepository.uk They deliver all over the world for free. Reliable too. Cheap.
Never been able to open Amazon.
SwedKiwi1:
There are usually some computer markets where you would be able to pick up a real or (more likely) fake Kindle cheaply. In Beijing this would be Zhongguancun and in Guangzhou you would probably find it in Gangding.
Although you might prefer to work with hardcopies, please remember the trees....
ABEBooks is like amazon.. and of course, check your university's bookshop. Sometimes they'll have free delivery (even to China!!)
Torrenting is easy, but your issue might be finding the torrent - so remember to put "torrent" into the search.
There's also a Chinese Amazon to look over
Also, I suggest you check out (somehow) the universities here in China that offer English language courses in international studies business etc. They may have the books you're after. A good choice might be to contact universities such as Nottingham ni Ningbo, or XJTLU in Suzhou...EVERYTHING they do is in English! (I think).
A deal has been made between various OS publishers and Chinese publishers, that allows them to print the book here.. the covers aren't as nice, and the page numbering might be off, but otherwise it's still the same book!
From my experience, there's going to only be a few books you won't be able to get so easily, and thus need to actually order in from OS... (after 2 master's degrees worth of online study, trust me!!! And an MBA should be easier!)
(and, BTW, you haven't seen book prices in Australia!!! Often way more than the US!!)
expatlife26:
Thanks those are also good ideas. Believe me I do like e-reading. In fact thats why I upgraded to a 5 inch phone from my old samsung iphone 4 clone. I do a lot of reading.
Its just that for this specific need, being able to flag pages and stuff for reference when taking the tests is going to be key.
expatlife26:
you're right I should have one, just haven't gotten around to it yet.
I'm currently doing an MBA at Wuhan University. The guys in my class bulk buy fake text books off taobao. Normally pay 20-30 RMB each. Maybe if your just buying one it would be a little more than that. So far we have had no problems with the quality so i'm yet to think id be better off with a real one. Every book that the course has suggested we have managed to find a fake copy. Hope that helps
expatlife26:
i see some on taobao, hopefully I'll get lucky.
I mean shit if they're 100 RMB per book that's fine by me. It's just that if you buy every book at retail the sticker price is going to add $1000s to the total cost of the program.
Shining_brow:
Many of the Taobao ones are in PDF... not that it should be an issue. I think the cheapest I paid for a book was 8RMB!! (however, this has been in Applied Linguistics/Education - not business)
Sinobear:
No need to pay on Taobao for e-books, torrent sites will have them for free. My students have purchased paper textbooks from Taobao and most have been missing chapters (politics, religion, etc.) so they're not always such a deal.
Thanks everybody, I think these are all good ideas.
I bet through some combination of all the above ideas I can get everything I need for a total program cost in the $100s of USD and not thousands.
Nearly any book that is listed on Amazon.com can be found on TaoBao. Anything from hardback to Kindle including textbooks. If a TaoBao store doesn't have it, they will offer to buy it for you (from Amazon).
I did a quick Amazon search for MKTG 8 - http://www.amazon.com/MKTG-CourseMate-Printed-Access-Card/dp/1285432622/ref=lp_468220_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412568439&sr=1-10
It's listed on TaoBao for half-price http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.18.z3i6s2&id=40929602548&ns=1#detail
Remember: If you want anything in China, you can find it.
McGraw Hill as well as another publisher whose name escapes me atm have special China Edition books for sale, those are legit books, in English, but they cost like 50-90 RMB a book instead of 750-1000 and they are only to be sold in Mainland China. I used those while studying in China a lot, and most university book shops should have them.
Edit: The cover will be joint English/Chinese language, the foreword in Chinese and they have two tables of contents, English and chines. But the main content is English and the same as other versions of the books.
good luck with your MBA
depending on the internet reductions you are experiencing, have you tried searching online for PDF versions of the books?
you can sometimes strike gold doing this getting free versions
