Set up for the mainland: menus, apps, accounts and paperwork in Chinese
The plug is only the first thing made for a mainland home. Settings, manuals and the services behind connected items usually assume one too.
Apps, accounts and menus set up for the mainland
The plug is only the first thing made for a mainland home. Connected items, such as smart plugs, app-controlled lamps and some kitchen appliances, usually pair with an app built for the mainland market. In practice that app may be listed only in mainland app stores, may ask for a mainland mobile number to register, and may connect to servers set up for mainland users.
An app-only function may be unavailable if registration or regional service requirements cannot be met. Ask the seller which functions work without the app, which region is supported and whether registration needs a particular phone number. Do not assume an unsupported app disables every manual function of the item.
The safest reading is the plain one. If a listing’s main feature is app control, assume the app is the mainland version and ask the seller whether the item works without it.
Manuals and screens written in Chinese
Expect the paperwork and the screens to be in simplified Chinese. Manuals, quick-start cards, button labels and on-screen menus on appliances sold into mainland homes are written for those homes, and an English sheet in the box is a bonus rather than the rule.
A camera translation app handles most of it. Printed manuals translate well; small button labels and menus with abbreviations less so. Icons help more than words here: power, timer, temperature and the common cooking programmes tend to use pictures that read the same anywhere.
Before buying anything with a screen or a programme dial, look in the listing photos for the control panel. If every function is a word and none is a picture, budget some time with a translator on day one.
Region settings, voice prompts and units
Settings follow the market too. Voice prompts on appliances that talk, such as some rice cookers, air purifiers and speakers, are usually in Mandarin. Temperatures are in Celsius, which suits most readers, and cooking programmes on rice cookers and multi-cookers are named for dishes common in mainland kitchens.
Some items allow the language to be changed, and many do not. Listings rarely say either way, so ask the seller directly whether the voice and display language can be switched, and whether that needs the app.
These are inconveniences rather than faults, and none of them is covered by any warehouse check: the inspection looks at the outside, so a talking appliance arrives without anyone having heard it speak.
Paperwork in the box and who it points to
Most mainland appliances arrive with a small bundle of paper: a manual, a certificate of conformity slip from the factory, and often a warranty card. All of it points to the mainland. Service centres, hotlines and addresses on a warranty card are mainland ones, and the card generally assumes the item was bought and is used there.
100buy’s product-issue page says that if a quality problem shows up after some use, during the period its warranty card covers, and you hold the receipt from the original purchase plus that card, 100buy can take the matter up with the mainland seller for you, charging no service fee, while the return postage is yours.
In practice that means a warranty claim involves the item travelling back to China. Keep the card, the box and your order details together, and treat the warranty as a mainland one when you weigh the price against buying locally.
Plain switches over paired apps
If you are deciding between two similar items, here is how to pick a mains item that keeps working once it leaves the mainland: prefer the one whose main job does not depend on an account.
- A switch, a dial or buttons on the body beat a function that exists only in an app.
- A wide-input plate beats a single-voltage one, because it leaves the converter question out.
- A two-pin, double-insulated design is simpler to adapt than a three-pin one, provided your adaptor suits it.
- A control panel with icons beats one where every function is a word in Chinese.
- A model with a plate photo in the listing beats one where you have to ask.
None of this is about quality, which neither the plate nor the warehouse can show. It is about which item is least likely to need something from the mainland after it arrives.