Good place to order/buy Sinolingua books?

[cdn_in_bj]

I am looking to buy some books published by Sinolingua, specifically their Step by Step Chinese series. I have visited the Wangfujing Bookstore and while they had other publications by Sinolingua, they did not carry this series of books.

I know that you can order directly from http://www.sinolingua.com.cn, however their prices seem a bit high (ok, I've been living in China too long...). I did find some of the books I was looking for on http://shop.aaawww.net at a better price - is this a reputable site? Are there other online bookstores which you can recommend?

Thanks in advance!

[elina]

I have visited the Wangfujing Bookstore and while they had other publications by Sinolingua, they did not carry this series of books.

When did you go there? My colleague said she saw these books at Wangfujing Bookstore several days ago:

http://www.studychineseculture.com/search.asp?keyword=Step+by+Step&thetype=bookname

If you could not find the books by yourself, you could ask the clerk to check the books’ storage in the computer on the third floor. If you are in Beijing, you can also go to 西单图书大厦 for these books.

I did find some of the books I was looking for on http://shop.aaawww.net at a better price - is this a reputable site?

Do you mean this one?

http://shop.aaawww.net/mod8/index.php?userid=7912

It’s our old site, now we use this new one:

http://www.lovemandarin.com/

http://www.studychineseculture.com/

And I don’t think our price is cheaper than http://www.sinolingua.com.cn, but much cheaper than many overseas online bookstores:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/5436-bookshops-in-beijing-and-shanghai

I think there’re some other people on this forum who have purchased products from us, till now we have not seen any complaints yet. So I suppose we’re reliable.

Are there other online bookstores which you can recommend?

http://home.dangdang.com/

Edited October 7, 2008 at 10:36 AM by elina

[cdn_in_bj]

When did you go there? My colleague said she saw these books at Wangfujing Bookstore several days ago:

http://www.lovemandarin.com/search.a...s=0&submit1=GO

I went sometime last week. We checked the Chinese language books on the 4th (?) floor, near the HSK study books. At the time I only had some small, fuzzy images of the book covers printed on a sheet of paper. When I showed this to one of their staff, she told me that these books were in the imported books section (???) a few aisles over. I went and looked but I couldn't find them there. I was in a bit of a rush at the time, and I also didn't have the ISBN numbers so I didn't bother asking them to do a search for me.

Yeah, I'd thought about checking out the bookstore at Xidan but parking is a bit of a pain there, so I decided to go the online route. And it's not like I'd be getting better service at the bookstores!

Do you mean this one?

http://shop.aaawww.net/mod8/index.php?userid=7912

It’s our old site, now we use this new one:

http://www.lovemandarin.com/

Yes, that's what I meant. Your new site looks great btw.

On Sinolingua these books are all 45RMB each (40.5 RMB "preferential price", whatever that means), so your prices are definitely better.

I do have a question regarding these particular books. On your site you specify the books as being either Chinese-English or English editions. It seems that most of the books in the series are listed as Chinese-English editions, while the Intensive-Intermediate III and IV are listed as English edition. However, Sinolingua.com.cn doesn't seem to make this distinction. Are there in fact different editions of particular titles? As an example of what I mean, are these referring to the same book:

http://www.sinolingua.com.cn/en/product.asp?id=1192

http://www.lovemandarin.com/book.asp?id=2246

The book number is the same, so I assume it's the same book. But I just want to make sure before I order. And I think I'll order from you, your English-friendly website makes things a lot easier and I like your delivery policy.

Also, does anyone have any comments about this particular series of books? I'm actually buying them for a friend, but if they are decent I may order a few for myself as well.

Thanks!

[elina]

If Wangfujing Bookstore has these books in stock, they should be sold in the 对外汉语 section, which is on the third floor turning to the right after 滚梯/ elevator.

On Sinolingua these books are all 45RMB each (40.5 RMB "preferential price", whatever that means), so your prices are definitely better.

I think Sinolingua website makes the books’ prices wrongly. We have just told them this error.

On your site you specify the books as being either Chinese-English or English editions. It seems that most of the books in the series are listed as Chinese-English editions, while the Intensive-Intermediate III and IV are listed as English edition. However, Sinolingua.com.cn doesn't seem to make this distinction. Are there in fact different editions of particular titles?

I’m sorry for the confusion. They all should be Chinese-English editions, we have just corrected the mistakes caused by our typists. This entire series of books on our site are completely the same with those on Sinolingua website.

P.S. I kinda feel Sinolingua website has virus now, because 瑞星杀毒软件实时监控 in my computer warns it, does someone else notice this?

[cdn_in_bj]

If Wangfujing Bookstore has these books in stock, they should be sold in the 对外汉语 section, which is on the third floor turning to the right after 滚梯/ elevator.

Ok, this is good to know for next time.

I’m sorry for the confusion. They all should be Chinese-English editions, we have just corrected the mistakes caused by our typists. This entire series of books on our site are completely the same with those on Sinolingua website.

Great, thanks for looking into this for me!

P.S. I kinda feel Sinolingua website has virus now, because 瑞星杀毒软件实时监控 in my computer warns it, does someone else notice this?

I'm sorry to hear that and I hope you were able to clean it up without it messing up your machine. I did run a scan this morning and noticed something new show up (and it's already been removed from my system, so I can't tell you which virus it was). I didn't think much of it at the time but it could very well have been from accessing a website - I did hit a bunch of Chinese websites today, and not just Sinolingua's. If it matters, I've only been browsing with Firefox today.

The joke here amongst the locals is that anytime you open a browser you are bound to get infected, even from the "legit" sites.

Anyways, thanks again for your help! I really appreciate it!

[flameproof]

If you could not find the books by yourself, you could ask the clerk to check the books’ storage in the computer

If you have the title and ISBN # I strongly suggest to check with the clerk FIRST. That can safe you lots of time searching the books you want. You can use that time better searching for books you don't yet want.

Additional, the sorting in the shelfs can be "tricky" and is not always logical in the way a westener would describe the word "logical".

I too love to just look at books. However, those I want I ask for straight.

[cdn_in_bj]

I just wanted to follow up and share my good experience with www.lovemandarin.com

I placed my order through their website Tuesday afternoon, and they delivered my books on Friday morning.

Their English website is very well done and they have a lot of information about the books they carry, including scanned pages for many of their books. This makes it a lot easier to "browse" and choose books. Anyways, I highly recommend them and I will be ordering from them again in the future!