For almost any product for everyday life in Taiwan, there are three versions you can get. The American, the Hong Kong/Taiwanese, and the Chinese. That's definitely how the pricing goes, but it's not always the ranking of the quality. Sometimes the quality of the Chinese version can be better than the Hong Kong/Taiwanese version or even equal to the American version, while being only 10% of the price.
The trick is discovering for which products this is true. Sometimes the Chinese version is just awful. Thankfully the price is never that much so you don't feel too bad giving it a try.
There is also the question of health and safety. Yes the Chinese version could be cheap, but it could also be extremely unhealthy/poisonous/dangerous. So you really have to be courageous when choosing to get the Chinese version of a product. In fact this is the driving force that most Taiwanese use when they make purchasing decisions, they think that while the Taiwanese and Chinese versions may be cheaper, if they can afford it they will go with the American version as they think it's safer. I don't have the heart to tell them that there are constantly recalls on products in America, although granted there is no such thing as recalls in Taiwan.
Over the years I've gotten pretty good at figuring out for which products I should get which version. The picture shows a recent revelation. My first few years in Taiwan I only got american brand toothbrushes, as I figured health is no area to be cheap. After one day doing research on toothbrushes I decided to branch out a bit. I tried a cheap Taiwanese version that wasn't great, but wasn't too terrible. I then tried an extremely cheap version that I'm guessing was Chinese, and it was horrible. But it's ok, those became my disposable guest toothbrushes which I pushed on any person who was ever over here for a meal or even a snack.
The picture above is of my success. I decided to give Chinese versions one last try, when I saw this pack of ten which not only looked like a normal modern toothbrush, the whole pack cost less than one American brand toothbrush. I must say I was a bit nervous before my first brush, but this toothbrush is fantastic, a true joy after the last ones I've used.
After a quickly composed song to celebrate the quality of the toothbrush and my spectacular shopping ability, I went to the packaging to see exactly where it's made. I was all ready to preach the gospel of buying Chinese products, and my skill at picking the right one....when I saw where it was made.
