What to Buy in China and Take Home

Five categories that survive the flight

• Tea: the safest good purchase in the country. Buy loose leaf from a shop that weighs it in front of you, ask for the picking date, and take the sealed tin rather than the pretty cardboard box.
• Silk and silk-blend textiles: scarves, fabric by the metre and quilted jackets. Test by feel and by price: real mulberry silk is not sold at a third of the price of the shop next door.
• Porcelain and celadon: small bowls, cups and teapots from the museum shops and established kilns. Ask for it boxed with foam, because airport handlers are not gentle.
• Seals and stationery: a stone chop carved with your name is the most personal thing you can take home, and it weighs nothing. The stationery houses on Fuzhou Road will carve one while you wait, or within a day.
• Museum shop design: the best-value category in the country right now. Reproductions, textiles and paper goods made from a collection, priced honestly, and made for carrying.

Four kinds of shop, ranked by risk

• Museum shops: the lowest-risk purchase in China. Fixed prices, decent provenance, and staff who are used to packing for travellers. Shanghai Museum and the provincial museums in Hangzhou and Suzhou all run good ones.
• Old specialist houses: tea merchants, ink and brush shops, silk companies. Higher prices, and the only places where you can ask about material and process without being improvised at.
• Craft markets and lanes: good for seals, fans, paper cuts and small ceramics, and the place to negotiate. Quality varies stall by stall, which is the point and the risk.
• Tourist bazaars: convenient, air-conditioned and priced for the coach trade. Fine for fridge magnets, poor value for anything you plan to keep.

Four categories, no exceptions

• Ivory and protected species: ivory in any form, plus coral, turtle shell, and crocodile or snake leather without a permit. China prohibits trade in these, and seizures at departure are routine rather than rare.
• Anything made before 1949: objects made in or before 1949 with historical, artistic or scientific value are in principle banned from export, and anything made in or before 1911 is banned outright. A narrow category can still be cleared: it needs export review, a wax seal and an export certificate, and it must leave through a designated port.
• Valuable herbal medicine: listed as a restricted export. Ordinary packaged tea and food are not the issue; expensive roots, animal-derived preparations and anything sold as a rare tonic are.
• Counterfeit branded goods: China will let them out, your own country will not. Customs in the EU and the US seize fake branded bags and watches, and the buyer carries the loss.

The constraint is your own border

• Tea and dry goods: almost always fine, and the reason tea is the recommendation. Keep it sealed and declare it if asked.
• Meat, dairy and fresh fruit: barred by most countries, including the EU, the UK, the US and Australia, whatever China allows out. This catches people buying vacuum-packed local specialities at the airport.
• Bird's nest and similar: restricted in both directions. Canned products are usually treated differently from dried ones, and the distinction is worth checking before you spend.
• Liquids: baijiu and rice wine in checked luggage only, within your airline's alcohol allowance, and within your destination's duty-free limit.

Getting it home in one piece

• Carry or post: post is cheaper than an extra bag for anything bulky, and shops that sell ceramics will pack and ship as a matter of course. Ask for tracking before you pay the balance.
• Pack for the hold: tea absorbs smells, so seal it. Porcelain needs foam, not newspaper. Silk in a hard case, not a soft bag.
• Tax refund: a purchase can qualify for the departure refund if the shop is registered, you spend at least 200 yuan in one shop on one day, and the goods leave unused within ninety days. The refund guide sets out the rest.
• Keep the receipts: for the refund, for your own customs at home, and for the case where a seal or a certificate turns out to matter.

Three checks you can do in the shop

• Silk: hold it against your cheek. Real mulberry silk feels cool at first and warms quickly, and it wrinkles rather than snapping back flat. A burn test settles it, but it destroys a thread, so ask before you take a lighter to anyone's stock.
• Porcelain: hold a cup to a light. Good porcelain glows through the wall, and the foot ring is smooth rather than gritty. Flick the rim: a clear ring suggests a clean firing, a dull thud suggests a crack you cannot see.
• Tea: smell the dry leaf. It should smell of the tea and nothing else, not smoke, perfume or cardboard. Ask for the picking date, look for whole leaves rather than dust, and ask to taste a brew before committing to a tin.
• Where the checks stop: none of these prove provenance or price fairness. They only separate the obvious substitute from the plausible original, which is most of the battle in a tourist market.

Primary references

• Relics: The National Cultural Heritage Administration sets out which objects need export review, the export mark and certificate, and the designated-port rule.
• Protected species: A China News Service report on a May 2026 seizure of eight ivory pieces at Huanggang shows the ban being enforced at the border.

What are the best souvenirs to buy in China?

Tea, silk textiles, small porcelain, and a carved stone seal with your name. All four are light, useful and made by identifiable people. Museum shop design is the best-value category, with fixed prices and honest materials.

Can I take antique Chinese objects home?

Rarely. Objects made in or before 1949 with historical or artistic value are in principle banned from export, and anything made in or before 1911 is banned outright. A narrow category can be cleared with an export review, a wax seal and an export certificate, and it must leave through a designated port.

Is ivory or coral sold in China legal to buy?

No. Ivory, coral, turtle shell and similar protected materials are prohibited from trade and from being carried out, and departure seizures are routine. Buying them puts the object and potentially the buyer at risk.

Can I bring Chinese food home?

Tea and sealed dry goods usually travel fine. Meat, dairy and fresh fruit are barred by most destination countries whatever China allows, so vacuum-packed local specialities bought at the airport are the most common mistake.

Can I claim a tax refund on souvenirs?

Yes, if the shop is a registered refund shop, you spend at least 200 yuan in one shop on one day, and the goods leave China unused within ninety days. You need the invoice, the refund form and the items themselves at the customs desk.

Is valuable Chinese herbal medicine allowed out?

It is a restricted export category, so expensive roots and animal-derived preparations may need approval. Ordinary packaged tea and food are not the issue. Check before you buy, not at the airport.