Buying a digital camera in Beijing with 10 hours to kill

[chengdude]

I'll be arriving in Beijing in the morning at Beijing Station, wherever that is, and will need to meet my mom at the airport that night before moving on to Yunnan the next day.

For all those scenic Yunnan shots, I thought I might pick up a new camera while I'm killing time as choice/price/competition in BJ should be about as good as it gets in China. I just want a Panasonic Lumix FZ7 -or maybe an FZ20 as Toabao's prices look pretty good on that oldie-but-goodie- so nothing professional or expensive. Maybe some memory as well.

Would it be easy for me to get to this "Beijing Camera Equipment City" out in Haidian? Is there a more convenient/better computer city zone via public transport?

Finally, I'll tack on this logistical question: should I stash my pack in Beijing Station? There's an airport shuttle bus from the station, so I'd just subway it out to Digital Heaven and back, no??

[roddy]

There's Bainaohui / Landao Dasha, which is a lot closer. Head to Chaoyangmen Subway, and then walk east on the south side of the road, past two Starbucks if I remember correctly. It's mainly a computer place, but there are a few camera places. Can't guarantee they'll have what you are looking for though.

Camera City is further away, and involves a fair walk / short taxi ride after you get out of the subway.

As for your pack, do you have a hotel booked? I'd just dump it there if at all possible, then start your shopping. Or are you staying at the airport? I'm sure there's a left luggage place at the station, just never used it.

[chengdude]

Yeah, we're going to stay somewhere around the airport, so that's why left luggage at Beijing Station is the attractive option. Buynow/Bainaohui are ubiquitous across China; I was just at my local outlet today. Usually they have a bit of everything...the one in Nanjing is really small, but they had what I'm looking for, so perhaps we'll give it a try in BJ. Anyway, I've got time to kill. Thanks for the tips.