Some Websites set up by expats, like www.shanghaikidsbooks.com sells children's books in English, French, Spanish and Italian.

Shop like a local

If you can read enough Chinese to navigate around a Chinese Website, many more options open up as the local market actually has a healthy appetite for foreign-language publications.

For a starter, there is the Chinese-language www.amazon.cn which offers the familiar Amazon layout but with free shipping to Shanghai within two days. The selection of English-language books at 20,000 titles is predictably smaller than Amazon, but prices can be surprisingly cheap.

The other major Chinese online bookshop is www.dangdang.com which has fewer foreign books than amazon.cn although with prices typically lower than Websites catering to foreigners.

If you're looking for bargains, one of the cheapest places to buy anything, including books, is www.taobao.com. The Chinese version of ebay.com, taobao.com brings together different sellers and buyers in an auction system.

In our experiment to find the cheapest copy of "The Alchemist" by Paulho Coelho, the copy we found was by far one of the cheapest at 35 yuan compared 100 yuan in conventional shops.

To subscribe to a vast selection of foreign magazines and newspapers online see the niche Website www.spider.com.cn.

Paying safely online

Online shopping in China is still a relatively new industry with payment safety a major concern among local shoppers.

This is why Chinese online traders often offer cash on delivery (COD). Websites that offer COD include amazon.cn, 51eng.com and shanghaikidsbooks.com.

Some Websites hoping to attract overseas customers offer international Visa, Mastercard or Paypal. These include spider.com.cn, Amazon.cn and 51eng.com.