pianos

[carlo]

I’m planning to buy an upright piano in Changzhou, which is about halfway between Shanghai and Nanjing on the high-speed railway.

I’m not a fan of Yamahas, although I’ll settle for one if I can’t find anything else. Something like a tall Petrof (Renner action), for example, would be better. But I haven’t bought a piano in ten years, and maybe there are new contenders out there.

Frankly, the music shops I’ve seen even in large Chinese cities had a pretty poor selection. There’s a Hailun shop in Changzhou that should deal with Petrofs, and a Tom Lee (通利) in Shanghai. Has anyone had any experience of buying pianos recently?

Two related issues:

- How easy is it to find a competent technician? Changzhou is wet and chilly in the winter and tropical in the summer, I can imagine becoming very good friends with the tuner guy.

- How much does it cost to ship a piano across the world? Customs duties? Maybe I could get a nice one in Europe (Hong Kong?), ship it over and recoup the investment if/when I eventually resell it in China….

[Hofmann]

Well I'd guess you've tried Hailuns, right? If not, I think you should. They're quite popular on PianoWorld.

And I think you'd be better off asking such questions over there anyway.

[carlo]

I tried a Hailun upright many years ago in a showroom in Beijing. They might have got better though. The prices on the company website are tempting. Have you ever owned one?

[Hofmann]

No. There's a short grand about an hour's drive from me, but I'm too lazy to go over and try it. I'm not in search of a piano anyway.